Heartworks Quilt Donation Inspires Act of Reciprocity
By CASPAR EWIG
FLY CREEK
It is rare that one sees the act of “paying it forward” and “completing the circle” all in the same transaction. And yet, that is exactly the scenario that recently played out at Margaret Wolff’s Heartworks Quilts and Fabrics.
Many will remember Jim Wolff, the former Otsego town justice and member of the Fly Creek Volunteer Fire Department, and some may remember that in 1991, Jim first received diagnosis of the cancer that eventually took his life in 2020. What many do not know is that when Margaret, better known as Bunny, first brought Jim to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts for treatment, she would encounter The Jimmy Fund, a cancer charity founded in 1948 to support patients and families faced with pediatric cancer.
Bunny knew that one of the side effects of chemotherapy is that the patients get very cold during treatment, and so it occurred to her that quilts might not only dispel the gloom but also alleviate the discomfort. She approached a group of her regular quilters, who agreed to donate their time to stitch and sew and, with material provided by Heartworks, the first group of quilts was ready to be delivered to fund officials.
The end result was that every time Jim went for treatment, Bunny would accompany him with an armful of quilts, sometimes 25-30 per trip.
“Considering the number of trips we made in those 28 years, especially at the beginning, I estimate Heartworks’ quilters must have donated over 400 quilts,” Bunny recalled. “I started out delivering them to the people running the fund, but soon I found myself giving them out in the Dana-Farber’s head and neck clinic as well as its colon cancer clinic. People were really so appreciative.”
Then, out of nowhere, Bunny received a call from Wende O’Brien, letting her know that Wende’s son, Schuyler, was a recipient of one of those quilts.
“Schuyler was diagnosed with cancer while in grade school in 2003 and went to the Dana-Farber clinic for treatment,” Wende said.
She went on to describe how Schuyler fought the disease all through his undergraduate time at SUNY Albany until he died in 2019, just a few weeks short of receiving a doctorate degree in nuclear oncology from the University of Utah.
“In the process of clearing out the many keepsakes Schuyler left behind when he went off to college, my husband Kevin and I came across a bag with an absolutely adorable quilt he had gotten while at the clinic, and in that bag was a business card from Heartworks Quilts and Fabrics,” Wende recounted.
There the story could have ended. But as luck would have it, Wende and Kevin had operated a business selling comforters at country fairs and trade shows, and—when they decided to call it quits—they found themselves with many bolts of unused fabric stored in their cellar. They could think of no better idea than to contact Bunny, to see whether Heartworks might have an interest.
Upon hearing from Wende and Kevin, Bunny immediately contacted Heartworks devotees and asked whether anyone would be interested in the materials, with the caveat that they be used to make quilts and other items for charitable purposes.
The response was an emphatic “yes.”
On Friday, May 16, members of the Ilion Piecemakers Quilt Guild, Sewl Sisters of the Schoharie County Home of Ongoing Learning, the Mayfield Quilt Gang, and Fenimore Quilt Club, among others quilting groups, arrived at Heartworks to gather their bolts of fabric for “use in the creation of quilts and walker bags and other items to be donated to those who need them,” as stated by Maureen Webster of Piecemakers.
The gift of a quilt gave rise to the donation of fabrics that will now be used to make additional quilts for those in need of comfort in trying times. This circle is now complete, but it remains to be seen where the ripple effect may lead.