Quilt #59 Tre Quenneville donated by Barbara Holt

Quilt #59 was given to an adorable little guy named Tre Quenneville by my dear friend Barbara Holt.

At the end of November 2017, just a few weeks after his 2nd birthday, Tre Quenneville, the 6th child of Allison and Matt, was diagnosed with a golf ball sized tumor on the back of his brain. Allison his mom,had noticed something was not right and insisted on having an MRI done. He was rushed into emergency surgery at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City where the lump was removed. The next day a second MRI showed spots of the cancer down his spine. On the 7th of December the biopsy came back and little Tre was diagnosed with Stage 4 Medullablastoma.



The card Barbara made to go with the quilt

Tre has had 4 rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant over the past 5 months, spending most of the time in the hospital. He and his mom are so happy when they get to come home for a few days between treatments. He began his 5th round on April 23, 2018. He will have 2 more stem cell transplants and one more round of chemo after this.

Through all of this, Tre has had a big smile on his face and has faced this with courage and resilience. We are all amazed at this little lighter. I wanted to make Tre a quilt that fit his journey. I loved this pattern with arrows. This quote summed it up beautifully.

Tre's family has created a blog to chronicle his journey: https://www.facebook.com/TheTrestrong/

She added:
Did you know that 43 kids are diagnosed with cancer in the USA every single day? It is not rare. Tre is one of those kids. Adults get over 96% of government allotted cancer research funding while pediatric funding is less than 4%. This is a good link if you would like to learn more and  see how you can help these sweet babies like Tre Quenneville. More needs to be done to address childhood cancer.

https://nationalpcf.org/facts-about-childhood-cancer/

There is love in the stitches for this little warrior...

Quilt #58 Cory and Kirsten Nilsson

Quilt #58 was presented to Cory and Kirsten Nilsson. They were recommended by my dear friend, Cherie Johnson.

On August 30, Cory was biking down Hobble Creek Canyon when a rapidly moving storm hit and a large tree fell from the mountain, striking him. He was critically injured, and was left paralyzed with multiple injuries.

Cory and Kirsten

The lives of the Nilsson family have been turned upside down and forever changed. However, their faith, courage and the love and support from family and friends has sustained them. They continue to inspire others as they endure this trial with gratitude for victories, great and small.

There is a FaceBook page which chronicles their journey through the many surgeries and procedures. They have a quote posted by Brene Brown that reads, "Courage is a heart word. Be brave. Love Hard."

Nilsson Family

It is clear that this is exactly the way they are facing this challenging journey.

In Kirsten's text to me she noted that Cory was cold tonight when she got to his hospital room and the Duncan quilt helped warm him up quickly. There is "love in the stitches" and the hope is that when they see this quilt they will again be reminded of the love and support that surrounds them from near and far.

Quilt #57 Pamela Evans donated by Toni Martin

This quilt touched a few hands on it's way to Pamela. The fabric and pattern were a Christmas gift to me from my daughter Michaela. Then while it was being cut out, my dear friend Toni Martin offtered to finish it. I wan't sure where it was supposed to go until I was talking to my Sister in Law, Eileen Tate. She told me about her dear friend Pam who was battling cancer. The beauty of this project for me is the clarity of thought when the recipients are selected. Sometimes the quilt recipient is known in advance and sometimes, the quilt is finished and we wait for inspiration to see who it belongs to.

Here is Pamela's story written in her words:

Last Friday I was on my way to my second chemo treatment feeling pretty down and anxious about it. My first round of chemo was pretty rough on me so I was not looking forward to the second. As we were leaving my dear friend Eileen Tate told me to expect a package. We stopped at the mailbox on our way and the package was there so I decided to open it before my treatment. Inside was my beautiful quilt and the letter about The Duncan Project! I was in tears as I went into my appointment with renewed spirit and strength.

My story started in November 2017. I had been noticing for a while I wasn't feeling very well. At Thanksgiving I wasn't up to making dinner so we decided as a family to go to a restarant instead of making a big meal at home. My energy was fading quickly and I just wasn't feeling right. I had extreme pain in my upper abdomen and it was making it hard for me to sleep. I finally went to the doctor, and after spending the majority of the first part of December in every  kind of scanning machine they had, it was discovered that I had a very large tumor in my upper abdoment. I was lead through many special hands especially I believe my Heavenly Father's hand to an amazing group of very specialized surgeons. 

My surgery ultimately took place on December 29th. After 7 hours, 3 surgeons together ended up removing the 11 centimeter tumor, my right kidney, adrenal gland, gallbladder, part of my liver, repair work to my diaphragm and grafting my Vena Cava artery with a stint. The vein was so damaged by the tumor that it wasn't getting blood flow to my legs and was the reason I had been so dizzy and walking so poorly. Dispite the extensive surgery, finally after 11 days in the hospital I wa able to come home with the diagnosis that my tumor was in fact Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

It has been a rough road but the love and unbelievable kindness that has been shown to me by so many takes my breath away. I am so, so blessed. The doctors have given me a hopeful prognoses and I can't wait for the end of my treatments in July.

The Duncan Project Quilt is just proof of my continued blessings during my difficult journey with "Love in Stitches" from those who do not even know me. Thank you dear ones. I will cherish it always.

Pam, we are so glad the quilt provided a measure of comfort. So grateful that you are a part of The Duncan Project.

Quilt #56 Amanda Weston

Quilt #56 was presented to Amanda (and David) Weston.
Amanda is my daughter and her Dad and I often talked about what a great mother she would be. Amanda was 10 when her sister was born and she spent many years caring for her younger sister and brother.

Amanda and David married in 2012 and after a brief period of time decided to start a family. After 5+ years and four rounds of IVF, Amanda and David will have their first child, a little girl, in April.

Through these trials and disappointments, they have both exhibited great faith and perseverance. They have truly learned what it means to "wait upon the Lord."

It makes me think of the scripture in Samuel, where Hannah says, "For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition which I ask of him." This child has been the subject of much prayer and we share her parents joy and excitement as she joins our family.

There is Grandma love in the stitches....

Quilt #55 Janelle Rafferty

Quilt #55 was presented to Janelle Rafferty. Janelle is my niece by marriage and has always been one of my family favorites. She has a great design eye and many years ago she introduced me to Feng Shui. She has a keen mind and a great sense of humor. If she recommends a book or movie, I will always check it out.

Last December Janelle was experiencing significant pain. They had scanned earlier for tumors and found nothing but only 10 days later, the tests showed a number of very fast growing tumors. To date she has completed 4 rounds of chemo and is continuing to receive additional treatment. The chemo is proving to be effective and she remains hopeful that she will soon be cancer free.  

We had a very interesting conversation about empathy. Her observations reminded me to be more thoughtful and resist the urge to offer unsolicited advice. Just having a safe place to express your true feelings can be so helpful.

I am also so impressed with her continued strength and faith in the midst of her trials. She inspires me.

I love this amazing woman and pray for her comfort and healing. There is love in the stitches for my dear friend Janelle.                           

#54 Carter Low

Carter with his quilt beginning another round of chemo

Quilt #54 was presented to Carter Low on February 5, 2018. Carter is valiantly battling cancer. His positive attitude, strength and faith are awe inspiring.

His mother Colleen writes:

Carter was serving a mandarin speaking mission in Houston Texas South Mission. After 14 months and while mucking houses after Hurricane Harvey Carter started experiencing some health challenges. He returned home on October 7 and was admitted to UC Irvine Medical Center. He was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma Stage 3. He has now been in and out of Children's Hospital of Orange County multiple times since then. He is back today getting another round of high risk chemo-he is always smiling. We feel as if his mission calling was changed from Texas to CHOC. We are hoping he will be cancer free soon.

Carter and his family have chosen to give back to those who serve the sick at CHOC. On Christmas Day they were able to pull of a miracle, providing breakfast for the staff who were away from their families that day. They have chosen to serve during this difficult trial. Soliticing donations and gas gift cards for the families with sick children.

Carter's quilt is a pattern called Stacked Blocks. It is supposed to look as though you tossed the blocks and sewed them together as they landed. I think it is interesting to make something beautiful out of chaos. Which is exactly what the Lows are doing. Serving others in the midst of their own darkness. Coleen wrote that she has never felt closer to the Savior than since the cancer was diagnosed in October. There is a FB page that follows his journey @CarterCrushesCancer.

Carter on his mission on Texas

There is love and HOPE in the stitches for Carter.

#53 RC donated by Hickham Quilting Cooperative

Quilt #53 was donated to a most courageous woman. In The Duncan Project about 50% of the recipients are nominated by friends of mine. This has been such a tender part of the experience. To know that a quilt is given without expectation or obligation to some deserving person that I do not know. It has increased my understanding that we all experience and are refined by trials.

The trial experienced by RC's family is unbelievable. A false accusation and poor legal representation led to the false imprisonment of a very good man. His family is left to struggle under the weight of injustice and undeserved hardship.

Some weeks are pretty tough for this sweet wife and mother. In a message she shared how grateful she was. She wrote, " My heart is so full. I've had a really hard week and this touched my heart. As a side note it has elephants on it and they are my favorite animal."

Upon reading this, I got goosebumps as the Spirit testified about the rightness of the timing of this gift. I had her on my list and had material for a quilt for her a couple months ago. While working on that quilt, it was clear it was needed for another recipient.

Little elephants

It is a small thing but the fact that there were elephants in this fabric reminded me that God is mindful of us in our darkest times.

RC and I texted back and forth a bit and in her final text she wrote, "My family and I continue to wait on the Lord and plead that He will deliver us and like Job restore all that we've lost." Such great faith. I add my prayer to hers.

I am also grateful to the wonderful friend who shared this sister's story with me.

Love in the stitches....