Quilts Provide Comfort and Heal the Heart

Mar. 21, 2008— -- When the late Joyce Koontz was diagnosed with cancer she was overwhelmed with the love and support she received from her church, the Central Christian Church in Henderson, Nev.

Eventually, all that encouragement sustained her to the point where she wanted to give a little something back.

The result was the Piecemakers Quilting Group, composed of church members whom she taught to quilt. And they now give their creations to chemotherapy patients to keep them warm.

"God's word is written on every quilt that goes out," group member Kathy Biser said. Adds fellow Piecemaker Dorothy Fletcher, "The verses that are on the quilts we picked to bring comfort, to bring peace and to bring hope."

Koontz died two years ago, but her legacy lives on through almost 800 quilts that have been made and distributed to grateful cancer patients and other sick people. The group also makes smaller quilts for children who are ill.

Do you want to donate to this group or do you know of someone who could use a quilt? Submit your comments below and a member of the church will contact you.

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Originally, given only to church members, the quilts now go to anyone who needs them. Carol Grodin, for instance, cried this week upon receiving her quilt as a gift. She is a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient.

"We just never know where these quilts are going to end up," Fletcher says. "It brings sometimes comfort to the person, to the survivors after their loved ones have passed on. And that's a double blessing."

For the past five years, the group has donated a community quilt for the "Relay for Life" fundraisng event for the American Cancer Society. Each woman creates a large square, which is later stitched together. This year's quilt is a resplendent mix of red, green and beige in a pattern that is called a "twisted nine patch." It is valued at $350 in quilting materials.