Decorative quilt donated to Cranberry cancer site
CRANBERRY TWP — When she saw an opportunity to make quilts supporting patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer, it was something she had to do.
As a child, Karen Womack learned to sew and quilt from her mother, who passed away from breast cancer. She said that by volunteering her time to help make these quilts, she pays an homage to her mom.
“I thought this was a great way to honor her,” Womack said.
Monday, Womack presented the staff at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center at UPMC Passavant — Cranberry with a Ford Warrior Quilt, a decorative quilt made of supportive messages on a pink background for cancer patients.
The 72 patches memorialize certain people, offer support to individual patients or contain encouraging messages, such as “keep your eyes fixed on the sun,” “stay strong” or “keep hope alive.”
Womack said the quilt took her five weeks to make, though that work was not continuous. She often would rearrange the patches to create a more cohesive layout, she said.
“I think being able to allow our patients to be able to see that people are going through the same thing or thinking of them as they're going through this, it's just a little hope and inspiration and strength as they're coming through,” Keith Lorenz, UPMC Passavant's director of operations, said.
The quilt will hang on the wall in the hallway just past the hospital's main entrance. Lorenz said it will offer support to patients undergoing any type of treatment.
“Anybody that's going through to receive treatment, there are people (who) are always thinking of them and offering the encouragement to get through what they're going through,” he added.
Richard Bazzy, owner of Shults Ford Dealerships, said the quilt reminds him of the people who took the time to create the patches and of those for whom the patches were made.
“Looking at this, and Karen's work on this ... I just think it represents so much,” Bazzy said.
The patches on the quilt were made by those close to people undergoing treatment for cancer, family members and friends of those who passed away from cancer and patients themselves.
