Quilt #28 Mary Duke donated by Bookclub Members

Mary Duke received her quilt at our 21st annual Book Club Christmas Dinner. Mary front row, far left.
She is adored by all of us.

Mary and Marilyn

Quilt # 28 was presented to Mary Duke on December 15, 2016 by members of our book club.  To know Mary is to know love. Her life is a master class in friendship and service. 2016 has been particularly rich in trials and blessings for Mary. Her beautiful mother, Shirley Sawyer passed away in July. She continues to spend time with her best friend Marilyn Eyre who is on hospice as she struggles with a terminal disease. And this year Mary has endured multiple surgeries from a biking accident that shattered her jaw two years ago. Through it all Mary's positive attitude and love for others inspires us all bear our own burdens with hope.

This pattern is called The Friendship Star.
 The fabrics are
reproduction fabrics that Mary loves.

I could write many pages about Mary Duke but I think the best way to share her with those who read these posts is to share Mary's own words in a comment she posted on Facebook the day after she received her quilt:

Mary writes,

"Trying to put down in words the feelings in my heart is difficult because what I feel can't be expressed, but I will try.

This quilt is two sided.  They are both
so beautiful.

I received the most beautiful quilt last night. These quilts are given to people who have struggled over insurmountable challenges. I don't feel worthy of this beautiful quilt. And yet at the same time it represents so much to me. Love, comfort, strength, hope, testimony and Jesus Christ himself.
Stacey shared a quote last night. "God cares about my growth more than he cares about my comfort." How powerful is that. I have thought about that a lot in the last few hours. That is so true. When we are going through these trials that life throws our way we are being stretched and molded and it hurts so much. But as I thought more about this quote, he cares so much more about our comfort too. And that comfort comes through His gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why we have the atonement.

Joan and Barbara pieced the two sided quilt. Toni did the masterful binding.
Marilyn contributed a lovely saying for the custom quilt tag.  

This quilt represents to me the beautiful gospel of Jesus Christ. He will not leave us comfortless. He has become my friend. Jesus Christ is my friend. He is so much better at being a friend to me than I am to him. But I am grateful to call him my friend. The greatest gift he has given me is of course, the atonement.  No gift can compare. But the next best gift he has given me is the gift of friends. He shows his love to me through so many friends.
In the trials that have come to me not just this year but throughout my life, it is He who has stood by me. He who has strengthened me, He who has loved me. And how has he done it? Through His gospel, and that gospel good news is the atonement  and friends.
The quote on the quilt tags says " A friend is someone who knows the song of your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words." Thank you my friends for singing to me. Again and again, you have filled me with hope, strength, love, testimony and comfort. I do not deserve you. I do not deserve the atonement. But I am so grateful for both.
My heart is full. I am so blessed by a Savior who loves me so much that he has given me the most beautiful friends in the world. Who joy in my joys, suffer in my sufferings, laugh at my silliness, and who show me over and over again who my Savior is through kind acts every day. I love you all so much!  Thank you! I sit here wrapped in such love, such strength, such hope, such goodness, such a beautiful quilt. Thank you! I love you all!
Your undeserving friend."

This is the woman that teaches us hope, joy and dignity. For her there is so much love in the stitches...

Quilt #25 Joni Griffin and Eleanor

Joni Collins

Quilt #25 was presented to Joni Griffin and her baby girl Eleanor. I learned about Joni and Eleanor from Sari Johnson, my new relative by marriage and friend by choice. Joni's baby was diagnosed with cancer when she was just weeks old.

In Joni's words:

Eleanor was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on February 2 through an ER visit which initially diagnosed a "raging uti". Further blood analysis raised suspicions and a second analysis confirmed the heartbreaking news that our 11week old had ALL. She began treatment immediately; first surgery to place a central venous line (CVL) and then a month's worth of chemotherapy to begin to combat this viscious disease. In the meantime, life went on. My husband had just started another semester of engineering school while working full time at an engineering company and my parents took over caring for our 2 year old son. 

We finished our first month of chemo and we were released March 3 to turn around 2 weeks later and start round 2 of chemotherapy. That was finished in a month, but we had to stay 2 additional weeks for certains counts to come back up and we finally released Mother's Day weekend. 

Eleanor's leukemia didn't respond to the second round of chemo as they had hoped, still 60% in her bone marrow, so they went a non-traditional route and did antibody therapy. They created an immune response similar to allergic reaction with a specific medication: fever, nausea, vomiting, etc. That was the best thing for Eleanor because 15 days on that treatment and she was in full remission--May 24 will be a day forever burned into my mind. 

Because of her lack of response to chemo, Eleanor fast tracked her way to a bone marrow transplant. The preparations for it began during her second round of chemo. We began that process July 12: 10 days of high dose chemo with the last 3 including an immune system destroying drug. Her transplant was July 22 and July 23 was "Day 1 post-transplant". Almost made it through the 14-21 day window for engraftment (new marrow taking over) with no problems, but on day 19 she was diagnosed with veno-occlusive disease.

VOD can be fatal, luckily for us her's wasn't. Eleanor kept retaining fluid no matter the amount of lasix given and she was having multiple platelet transfusions a day. The fluid overload caused her to have breathing issues and got so bad that she went to the Pediactric ICU. She spent a total of 6 weeks in the PICU undergoing continual dialysis for fluid overload and also 2 intubations due to breathing issues. 

After that 6 weeks, it was relatively easy sailing. We spent a total of 3 months from beginning to end of transplant in the hospital; discharged on October 4. We had another small hiccup and were back in the hospital 9 days later with an infection in her central line. With removal of the line, things went quickly and we were discharged AGAIN (and finally) October 28. 

We have been home over a month and things are going well. She has clinic visits every 2 weeks and will extend to monthly shortly.
I felt a special reverance for life as I worked on this quilt. It reminds me that we are supported in our trials by angel above and on this earth. Thoughts and prayers go to the Griffin family as they continue this journey of healing for Eleanor and the whole family We hope they find comfort in this little quilt knowing they are loved by so many. Love in the stitches....

Sari Johnson and Joni Griffin. I love the photo of Christ
in the background.

Quilt #27 Maidy Worthen

Our cherished Maidy

Maidy's beautiful brain

Quilt #27 was presented to Maidy Worthen on December 6, 2016.  I serve with Maidy in the Stake Young Womens Presidency. Last night we were talking about the origin of our names and we talked about how there is no one quite like Maidy and that Maidy is "mighty."  To sum her up is to know love. You will never leave her presence without feeling more joyful.

A couple of months ago Maidy started having problems hearing on her left side.  After a few appointsments, it was discovered that she has a benign tumor outside her brain sitting on her auditory nerve. At the this point she has three options; 1. Do nothing, 2. Gamma Ray treatments to shrink the tumor or 3. Surgery to remove it, risking facial nerve damage.

From the moment of her diagnoses, she demonstrated such great faith, telling us she knew she would be okay. Today she leaves for California to have a specialist at UCLA give her a second opinion.She let me know the quilt would go with her as well. Our thoughts, love and prayers go with her.

Love in the stitches...

As soon as I gave her the quilt, it went right into action.

Loha Benson, Sondra Jung and Maidy, the
members of our presidency.