cancer diagnosis – Lovelli Quilts

Thank you so much Madame Samm and Pat Broe for such a fun pattern and blog hop. We all used this wonderful retro pattern by Madame Samm, which you can purchase by e-mailing her: madamesamm@me.com for $12.00. Madame Samm created the pattern and the original quilt to help a friend who was facing a cancer diagnosis. Throughout the blog hop I have read touching and interesting stories about each blogger’s experience with cancer or other serious illness. Every project has been touching and thoughtful.

When I first signed up for the hop I was clueless about what I was going to create, although I thought it should be fun, practical and inspiring. Our family has experienced a lot of loss, cancer, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, heart disease…. I would love to give each one of those who I’ve lost one more hug. However, with each of those losses I was fortunate to see family members care for each other. My quilt is for the care givers. Those are the people who care–Eight Days a Week, 25 hours a day. I was inspired by The Beatles song “Eight Days a Week” by Paul McCartney and John Lennon:

Hold me, love me, hold me, love me

I ain’t got nothing but love, babe

Eight days a week

I love you

Eight days a week

Is not enough to show I care

I was also inspired by an exhibit of ‘envelope’ quilts which were made for Veterans and shown at the AQS show in Paducah last year. Each block had an envelope pocket made of fabric into which people added notes, or gift cards, or other trinkets. Earlier in the year a group of friends created a friendship quilt for one of us who had been experiencing health issues. Each of us wrote a message on our block to encourage her. All of these ideas tumbled around in my brain until I had a lightbulb moment! I made each of the bra cups, fully lined and padded :), into a little pocket, just the right size for a little note of encouragement or a gift card. Because each caregiver ‘loves’ Eight Days a Week, there is a bra for each of those days. In keeping with the retro feeling, I hand embroidered each with the days of the week..

And yes, there is an ‘itsy, bitsy, teeny, weeny, yellow polka dot bikini’ in there as well, because we all need to laugh and smile, even if it is through tears. You may notice some of the straps are twisted and some bras are a little lopsided, because my sense of humor is twisted and lopsided, er, not my sewing.