Quilts for the Cure Recap and Behind the Seams with Director, Holly Anne Knight!

Thank you to all who participated in this year's Quilts for Cure Program!

I am so happy to announce Michael Miller Fabrics received over 703 Quilt blocks submissions. This led to 13 quilts, pieced and sashed by 10 amazing quilters all located around the United States. 

A huge shout out and thank you goes out to our quilters (listed below) and our generous partners, Aurifil Threads and Hobbs batting for supplying the quilting materials! 

Stella M.

Denise G. 

Beryl R. 

Jennie T. 

Winifred W. 

Elizabeth C. 

Lorie B. 

Lacey S.

Lisa P.

Lydia M. 

Stella M.

Cheryl Schuh

Here are some behind the scene images provided by our lovely volunteers.......

Sashing Process Provided by Lydia M.

Blocks organized and displayed on Lydia M's design Wall

     

Completed Quilt by Beryl R.

Thank you again to those who contributed and donated blocks, you should be very proud as these quilts will be helping children who are fighting cancer!
It's never too late to help the cause by donating at https://quiltsforcure.givingfuel.com/donate  



Stay tuned for future programs like these with Michael Miller Fabrics.  

Sashed and Binded by Lisa P.

 

Blocks Pieced by Lisa P.

 

Blocks pieced  by Denise G.

Here is an insider look to Holly Anne Knight, the director of "Quilts for the Cure" who provides more information on the organization's philanthropy and history.

Quilts for Cure started two years ago (2017) in memory of Smiley Kylie Myers. We are a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to providing quilts for children in the United States who have been diagnosed with cancer.

"I had the privilege of being teacher’s assistant to Kylie in 2008 when she was just starting elementary school. She was bright, vivacious, encouraging, and so, so creative. Kylie especially loved theatre, but she loved arts and crafts, too. When Kylie was in 4^th grade, her best friend Bailey was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer. Bailey fought hard and had a rotation plasty amputation of her right leg but her cancer responded to treatment, and today she is healthy and strong. Unfortunately, three years later, Kylie was also diagnosed with bone cancer. Her cancer did not respond to the treatment. Less than a year after diagnosis, days before her thirteenth birthday, Kylie’s battled to survived and just like that her life ended.

This beautiful, bright, burning force of energy and creativity and joy was cut short.

Cancer, especially childhood cancer, is one of those things it’s hard to look at straight on. Often the best we can really do is give it a resentful side eye before we’re so horrified and overwhelmed that we look away again and try to forget that a school bus full of children will receive a life-altering, and life threatening, diagnosis TODAY. And some of those children, ones diagnosed with cancers like DIPG which have no treatment nor cure, will effectively be handed a death sentence.

Kylie’s dying wish was for cancer to die instead. For a cure to be found.

I’m not a scientist, just a quilter looking to wage a little war on this beast called cancer, so I invite every quilter I can to join me in shining some creative, loving, Kylie-like light into hospital rooms and making quilts for kiddos to snuggle in (and maybe sometimes hide under) while they endure treatment. While Kylie’s dad, Mark Myers, and the team at CURE Childhood Cancer fundraise for research and a pharmaceutical cure, we quilters do what we do best—we fight evil with love through needle and thread.

In the last couple of years, hundreds of quilters have made blocks, tops, and finished quilts for our cause. We have donated over 60 quilts to date to individuals and through several pediatric oncology hospitals. We hope to donate another 40+ quilts this year (2019). Almost half that number will be through our amazing relationship with Michael Miller Fabrics. 

When I was first starting Quilts for Cure, I was connected to Kathy Miller through a friend of a friend and had the opportunity to meet her at QuiltCon 2017. Michael Miller is known for its generous charity quilting projects, and Quilts for Cure was selected to help finish and receive the quilts made from the QuiltCon 2017 block drive. At QuiltCon 2018, Michael Miller used its booth to broadcast the mission of Quilts for Cure to everyone who attended. As a result, we will be completing over 15 quilts from the QuiltCon2018 block drive. Michael Miller’s voice and support has made a huge difference in the reach of our message. As a result, more families will be comforted and encouraged!

Our biggest event each year is called Operation Smiley which is an online quilt drive running from February to April in honor of Kylie’s birthday on February 24^th. Quilters are encouraged to make throw sized quilts featuring heart blocks in yellow, white, and navy to celebrate Kylie’s life and memory. One of Kylie’s greatest joys was bringing joy to others, so we remember her by making quilts to make kids smile. These quilts are a wonderful opportunity for guilds and groups to work together to make a quilt. All working together, a top could easily be made in just a few hours—talk about a well-spent afternoon!

We accept quilt donations (baby to twin sized, though throw sized is best)) year round, and we encourage you to donate financially as well to cover the cost of shipping quilts across the country. You can find information about donating quilts and finances as well as more about us at www.quiltsforcure.org "

-HollyAnne Knight, Founder & Chair of the Board