ABOUT CATHY

Cathy started quilting in the 1970s, completely self-taught — and her first efforts showed it. The very first quilt she made was for her brother: a rainbow.

Hand quilting was the technique back then, and she used that same approach when she made a quilt for her fiancé. (Lord only knows where that quilt lives now.) Let's just say he didn't marry her for her quilting — though, for the record, she also made him a steak dinner in her Redlands home and started a kitchen fire. She must have been very good-looking.

As a stay-at-home mom, she kept quilting, getting a little better with each one. The hand quilting continued until it couldn't — carpal tunnel and quilting don't mix. Now she machine-pieces the quilt top, and only rarely machine-quilts it herself. But somewhere along the way, she discovered something: people liked her quilts.

Cathy used to be a salesperson, so she thought — there are all these causes I'd love to support: kids, peace, freedom, animals, parks, the homeless, disaster relief, and on and on. Closest to her heart is finding a cure for cancer. In 1995, she was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer. Many of her quilts now benefit Susan G. Komen, the organization that helped catch her cancer early enough for her to survive. Along the way, she found other causes close to home too, including childhood cancer research.

Her first charity quilts went directly to children battling cancer, and others to breast cancer fighters. Then she had another thought: what if people wanted to join the fight themselves? Offer them a raffle ticket, and the combined effort could go so much further.

What she didn't realize at the time was that she was also giving other people an outlet — a way for them to make a difference too. Thousands of dollars later, she's still quilting, still raising awareness for worthy causes, and hopefully making a much bigger impact than she ever could have alone.

You're invited to join us. It's fun! It's meaningful, and you can — and will — make a difference. Spread the word!