Quilt draws attention to Relay for Life cause
By MICHELLE BOSWORTH
Staff writer
Marie Kessler of Kessler Creations in rural Lehigh, is helping fight cancer with her creative abilities and sewing machine.
She designed, made, and donated a quilt to be given away at this year's Marion County Relay for Life.
The event honors cancer patients, survivors, and those who've lost the battle with cancer while raising awareness and money for cancer research.
When Paul Jantzen heard Kessler was going to create a quilt from previous years' Relay for Life T-shirts, he was skeptical. "I can't imagine a quilt out of T-shirts. It will look like a big T-shirt," he predicted.
After viewing the finished product though, Jantzen was amazed. "It doesn't look like a T-shirt. It looks like a quilt," he said.
"That was the best compliment I've received about the quilt," said Kessler.
Estimating the quilt took about two weeks to complete, Kessler said she designed it in March.
"I laid the T-shirts out, stared at them, got graph paper, and the idea just hit," said Kessler.
The star represents people diagnosed with cancer who are "stars" for bearing with it. Purple stands for the survivors and pink represents the American Cancer Society. Framing the large star are multiple panels bearing the names of previous years' sponsors.
During a marathon sewing session, Kessler spent three days sewing the quilt top. She spent a weekend quilting and binding it on a 14-foot hand-guided quilter.
The Relay for Life quilt resonates with a poignant connection for Kessler. She took it to work at Agco in Hesston to see what her co-worker and friend, Peggy Sadowsky, thought of it.
"She loved it," said Kessler.
That same afternoon, Sadowsky was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer.
She underwent surgery July 13. Her prognosis for recovery is good. But for Kessler, the effects of cancer have struck too close to home.
For her friend's sake, and the sake of others dealing with the devastating effects of cancer, she has a wish concerning her relay quilt.
"I hope it raises a lot of money," she says.
The Relay for Life quilt has been on display in the window of Nancy's Fashions, and currently is showcased at Quilts and Quilt Racks.
A visual reminder of the American Cancer Society's efforts to bring hope to each life affected by cancer, the quilt will be given away during a drawing at 9 p.m. July 29 during the Relay for Life event at Tabor College track.
Tickets for the drawing are $1 each or six for $5 and are available at Nancy's Fashions and Quilts and Quilt Racks. They also will be available at the relay.
This year's event will kick off at 7 p.m. July 29 and will run until 7 a.m. July 30.
The first lap around the track is reserved for cancer survivors. Then various teams from all over Marion County will pound the pavement for a good cause.
Eight to 15-member teams, sometimes including parents pushing baby strollers or cancer survivors in wheelchairs, participate in the 12-hour relay.
Hillsboro currently has three teams entered in the event: a business team (co-leaders are Nancy Klaassen and Diane Claassen), Hillsboro Community Medical Center (contact Lisa Donahue and Wendy McCarty), and the First Mennonite Church and Friends (contact Elaine Jantzen and Lenna Knoll). Some teams still have room for more participants.
Spectators are free to come and go throughout the night, but at 10 p.m. lights will be extinguished so the crowd can enjoy the beauty of hundreds of luminaries while names of those touched by cancer are read over a loudspeaker.
Relay for Life will have a DJ, giveaways, and pizza at midnight. Then, between 6 and 7 a.m. Hillsboro Lions Club will offer breakfast.
Luminaries in honor of a survivor or in memory of someone who has died of cancer may be purchased for $10 from team members, Elaine Jantzen, 947-5433, or Jan Helmer, chairman of the event, 620-382-2588. Other donations are welcome as well.
