Under the auspices and sponsorship of Blank Quilting, The Alliance for American Quilts has posted the photos and stories of seven remarkable women whose lives have been touched by ovarian cancer. The pictures and biographies of the women are now a permanent part of the virtual Star Memory Quilt at the AAQ’s website, www.centerforthequilt.org.
Blank Quilting, a New York-based fabric company, has been working to heighten awareness of ovarian cancer and help fund research through its Inspiration Guild. Participants in the Inspiration Guild program make a quilt square in honor of someone whose life has been affected by ovarian cancer. Eighty-one of these blocks are assembled into a quilt and the completed quilts are auctioned off to raise money for the cause.
As each quilt is completed, it is named for someone whose life was touched by ovarian cancer, whether as a victim, caregiver or survivor, and that is the case with the seven women honored here. Some, like Melanie Normann, founder of the State Guild of New Jersey, died of ovarian cancer, while others are still living with the disease. Joyce Jensen, who continues to make quilts for her 20 grandchildren, is battling ovarian cancer for the third time.
At www.centerforthequilt.org/memoryquilt.php you can read about these brave women and see the finished quilt that was dedicated to each. The Alliance is proud to help Blank Quilting publicize the stories of these women, because our mission is to preserve and share the stories of quilts and quiltmakers, and it’s very clear that quilts helped these women make beauty and meaning in their lives.
For more information on Blank Quilting’s Inspiration Guild, go to the company’s website, www.blankquilting.com.