Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: September 15, 2009
FROM: Linda Anderson Smith
Public Relations Director
Champaign Residential Services, Inc.
1150 Scioto Street
Urbana, Ohio 43078
937-653-1324
lsmith@crsi-oh.com
RE: Consumers Design Window Quilt Display
Urbana: “Challenges that ‘Warm’ the Heart is the name given to a Window Quilt Display’ designed by participants in the CRSI Adult Day Services program and DSP staff. The project became part of the 2009 Chamber of Commerce Barn Quilt Tour.
The CRSI display, features a wheel chair draped with a “Postage Stamp” quilt, named so because the squares are the size of a postage stamp. The pattern is an Amish designed called “Around the World”. It was made by the mother-in-law of Mary Beth McDonald, assistant chief operations officer at CRSI. The blocks are machine sewn and the cover and backing are hand quilted.
A second quilt draped beside the wheel chair is a “Cathedral Window” quilt because when you hold it up to the light, is gives a stained glass effect. Also, created by McDonald’s mother-in-law, this quilt is described as a “10 year labor of love” made up of fabric from her children’s old clothes. Each little “window” is hand quilted using a folded “origami” technique. This is a “quilt-as-you go project” where there is no backing or quilting to be done once the quilt top is complete. It simply grows and grows until there are enough “windows” to be satisfied with the size. This “labor of love” was a wedding present for the McDonalds.
Other hand-crafted items in the display were made by CRSI consumers and will be part of a craft fair to be held before the holidays.
The thirteen consumers participating in the creation of this display “enjoyed this activity”, said Molly Vance, day habilitation director. “They enjoyed making the crafts and would like to work on more”.
The CRSI Adult Day Services program is provided for people with developmental disabilities and offers a daily recreational or vocational habilitation experience that enriches the lives of individuals with challenges - as did this 2009 ‘window quilt’ project.