Cooperative project: the cancer quilt
Waking a Sleeping Dragon
Bringing ideas to life is my #2 high. Helping others feel that feeling is #1.
After the fulfillment of this volunteer creative project, I’d say a close third is learning that the project giftee has reaped profound meaning and sustenance from the gift (which happened, and it was heart-melting). However, keeping in mind that a real gift is given without any obligations attached, we’ll call this one a Nice to Have.
I was a member of the Colourlovers website and creative community during its peak community days. At one point, I noticed they’d set up a partnership with Spoonflower, a custom fabric-on-demand site. New to the idea at the time, excited about the potential, and eager to share knowledge with other site members, I used the site’s group function to create the Colourlovers on Spoonflower group.
This is how the Cancer Healing Quilt project was born. When it was completed, it was gifted by the group to a beloved Colourlovers member who’d been undergoing breast cancer treatment.
The project was a bumpy ride, with disproportionate labor assigned to too few*, but we were fortunate to have generous sponsorship from Colourlovers, Spoonflower and CreateMixedMedia, (now Interweave).
The project began when I decided to celebrate our 75-member milestone by proposing a cooperative project to the group—perhaps a quilt? The enthusiastic response was immediate and intoxicating. It was like tossing a tiny kite up to the wind and seeing it unfurl into a huge, winged and multicolored dragon. I did everything I could to honor that incredible enthusiasm, to feed it… and I continue to unearth more secrets of purposely, consciously releasing that spark.
The palette test swatch was a simple way to show how dye choke and spread would behave across thick and thin color bands on the intended fabric base.
We learned later that the quilt was given at the perfect moment. Our giftee was scheduled for her sixth recovery surgery the same week she received the quilt. See the original Colourlovers article about this project to learn more about how another team member orchestrated the connection. We did have some (gnawing) doubts about how the gift would be received. To our relief, she was overjoyed. The quilt went with her to the hospital on the day her surgery.
Danielle basking alongside a job beautifully done.
Ketisse at left, Linda at right—smiles everywhere.
What I learned
For this project, there was so much pure good fortune—the stars simply seemed to be aligned. When a project goes so well, can anything be learned? Absolutely. Here are a few gems I carried forward to other projects:
Make sure the load is balanced. Team members (including the one writing this article) get caught up in the excitement of the moment, before they fully realize what they’re promising.
As a project leader working with new and emerging processes, ask questions until you understand. Do this early on, so backups and fixes can be arranged in time.
Build a super clear, concise list of basic rules, and repeat them in every group communication. After the first couple, they can go to the bottom, but they need to be there, every time. Include a link to the longer set of rules, too.
Protect the team. Contact volunteers privately and make sure they understand the deadlines and other expectations, and can really do them. This gives them the respectful space to check themselves. If there is concern, adjust promises made to the group, and to sponsors.
It is great to guide someone across the bridge from dreams to reality, and tremendous to facilitate their creative growth in the process: Consciously provide the framework for growth. This allows me to bring creative and leadership lessons forward to the next project, and provides a pathway for those participants who’d like the option to do the same.
I began a “Postpartum Thread” for the group, restricted to creative growth (rather than general venting), and salted it with specific questions, such as, “What did I learn about designing for fabric? What do I wish I had done differently? What do I want to try next?”
About that Sleeping Dragon
My best guess about the “sleeping dragon” is that it wasn’t really sleeping—it was at least stirring. People joined the group because they had a lot of the same questions I had. For many, there was a desire to explore the bridge between the creative tools on the Colourlovers site and the ability to do more with one’s ideas. Because it was a newish idea, and because bringing one’s ideas to life involves crossing personal thresholds, the bridge feels gated. But there was “pressure” against it—people tapping and pressing, unsure about how to step through.
Combine that with the fact that the site itself was very active, very positive, very supportive. People felt safer there to stick their necks out a bit. As a result, the culture was already in place to produce a sparky and productive experience.
* The entire quilt was sewn by one person—Dannielle Buckley (sundancer on Colourlovers), who contributed weeks of intensive work to make the deadline; In addition to clarifying the vision, writing regular group updates, and general communication, I landed the job of uploading everyone’s patterns to Spoonflower. The quilt blocks needed to be ordered from a single account—and I had to do it as quickly as possible to buy maximum sewing time for Dannielle. That, combined with scores of private emails encouraging group members and helping them through the unfamiliar steps, added up to more late nights!