Quilt stitched for a cancer cure

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 27, 2003

MARYSVILLE — The tiny tag that says "for Beth" stitched onto one of the gifts on the vibrantly colored quilt looks like Christmas, but tells a true tale of thanksgiving.

Beth Hansen, 22, of Snohomish recently was diagnosed with leukemia and is scheduled for a bone marrow transplant Dec. 19 at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. She has to live within a 15-minute drive of the center for three months and will have to rent a nearby apartment.

A family friend stitched an art quilt that will be raffled off at noon Friday to raise money for Hansen’s medical and living expenses. Already, her story and the quilt depicting Santa and numerous gifts have raised more than $14,000.

As Hansen’s bills mounted, Kathy McNeil, a nurse who has been surgical services partner to Hansen’s mother, Cris, at Providence Everett Medical Center for 26 years, decided she couldn’t just stand by.

"The costs were mounting and I just felt it wasn’t fair for her mom to have to work for the rest of her life just because her kid got leukemia," McNeil said. "I said, ‘We have to do something about this.’ "

McNeil’s hobby is stitching hand-sewn, textured art quilts that tell stories of her life. She was working on her third Christmas quilt when Hansen’s illness was diagnosed. She decided to name her 33-inch-by-39-inch quilt "Gifts of Love" in honor of Hansen.

The material alone cost about $200, and McNeil quilted it with 847 pieces taking 310 hours using 98 fabrics.

There’s one catch. The raffle winner will have to let the quilt be shown, particularly next Christmas season. That’s when it will be among about 10 of McNeil’s quilts featured in an exhibition from October to January at the National Quilting Museum in Paducah, Ky.

"It will significantly increase the value of this quilt to have it be at the museum, if (the owners) were to turn around and sell it," McNeil said.

She retains the right to show and publish it. Her two previous holiday quilts have graced the cover of the Quilter’s Newsletter, a national magazine. The current issue features her Nutcracker quilt depicting many of the ballet’s scenes. Last year’s December cover featured her "Christmas in the Forest" quilt, with Father Christmas, a reindeer and 13 small animals.

In all, she’s made about 26 quilts. "They’re all art quilts, the kind that go on the wall. They’re like painting with fabric," McNeil said.

She began making them about seven years ago when her daughter asked for a quilt to take to college. McNeil had done drawing and painting before that.

"I saw an art quilt when I went to the fabric store and said, ‘Oh, my God, I can do that, but with texture,’ " she said.

Since then, she’s won international awards and just learned that the national museum wants a selection of her works for its exhibition next year.

In addition, she’ll have a solo exhibition beginning Jan. 16 at the La Conner Quilt Museum, 703 S. Second St., in La Conner.

"I’m trying to crank out one more before January," she said. "I can make about four a year."

McNeil’s quilts are about her life. She recently finished a quilt called "Catrina’s Firebird." It depicts a firebird, a symbol of renewal of the spirit, in honor of a best friend who had just undergone breast cancer treatment, including a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.

She named another quilt "Don’t Touch My Heart." That one depicts a mother penguin leaning over a little penguin. There’s a hole through the quilt where the baby penguin’s heart should be. That stemmed from her work as a respite care parent for families that have children with attachment disorder, something one of her own children has.

"I wouldn’t say it’s cheaper than therapy anymore, but it’s as helpful as therapy," she said of quilting. "There are lots of highs and lots of lows.

"But being able to do something like this … You throw this little pebble of a quilt out there into this pool of generosity, and it has just continued to ripple out there. It has been an amazing experience."

McNeil asked friends to sell raffle tickets and to get the quilt into the community to display it.

"The stories are just awesome," she said. "My husband sold a ticket to a construction worker who went without lunch just to buy a ticket."

A woman donated a substantial portion of an insurance settlement by buying tickets in Beth Hansen’s name, hoping Hansen will win the quilt herself. Surgeons and others also have purchased tickets in Hansen’s name, so she now has about $1,000 worth of tickets.

"At this time of year when you get a little saddened by something like this (diagnosis), you just get overwhelmed," McNeil said.

"We started about five weeks ago. We are just blown away and speechless — $14,000 later. I hoped to make maybe $3,000," she said.

Hansen’s leukemia is in remission, McNeil said.

"Certainly this big group of people who have come forward who don’t even know her … for the whole family it has been so uplifting and supportive," McNeil said.

Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.