Crafters are doing great things in their communities, mixing their crafting talents with community-driven activism.
Huntington resident Olivia Dreizen, 22, has been quilting for eight years and also runs a Web-based apparel store. She creates handmade quilts for children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need through a volunteer program called Project Linus.
Olivia Dreizen's act of crafitivism is truly admirable. Read on to learn more about her experience:
How did you first learn about Project Linus?
I first learned about Project Linus through my mother. She's a quilter too. When she first told me about quilting for sick children in hospitals it really hit home for me. As an infant, I spent time in the hospital for open heart surgery. I knew I wanted to help out in some way and my mother got me started quilting over letters and simple shapes. I still have that quilt today to remind me that I started nervously, and small, but with practice and dedication my confidence rapidly grew.
Why did you want to try your hand at quilting?
I wanted to try quilting because I love to sew. I grew up around sewing machines my mother and grandmother owned. I began to sew at age six and never looked back. My great- grandmother, grandmother, and my mother all sew. My grandmother is all about patterns and my mother despises them. I inherited a bit of both women's talent. However, I'm not good with patterns, so making clothing was out of the question.
I love quilting because a quilt starts as one little piece of fabric and becomes an entity never made before and never to be made again. Quilting is definitely an art, but it's an art unlike any other form or method. With most artists, they start with a blank canvas and work their way up to color, but with quilting you start with a many different colors and work your way backwards, in a sense.
In high school, one of the popular, athletic boys looked at my quilt and asked where the fun was in cutting up fabric and sewing it together again. I laughed and replied that the fun is the fact that you can change it every single time you sew. No two quilts are the same; you're making your own fabric and weaving your own future as you sew patches together.
Do people ever say you're too young to be quilting?
I think quilting is making a comeback! I mean, how cool is it to find vintage fabrics and mix them with new fabrics? I think there's a difference between "grandmother quilting" and the type of quilting I do. Older forms of quilting were largely based on the actual quilting part, the stitches put in at the end to hold the backing and the front piece together. My quilting is all about the fabric I chose and the order I sew it in and the stitching comes second.
How do you feel when you read testimonials from families that have received your handmade quilts?
There's nothing better than finding out that your quilt was there for the tears and smiles. When I give quilts to people -- Project Linus does anonymous donations, but I also give quilts to sick children elsewhere -- I tell them "get this quilt dirty!" I want them to use it. My worst fear is to discover someone is saving my quilts for posterity's sake! On the Project Linus Web site people post e-mails about how their child received a quilt and how it changed their life. It is for those reasons that I continue to sew. Quilts are not just a blanket, they are warmth, security, love and safety. I want to be able to give those feelings to anyone who needs it.
What new projects are you working on?
I'm quilting as much as possible and I'm looking into making my own fabrics and playing with personalized quilts for people and families. I love the idea of scrapbook quilts -- a quilt with pictures, much like a scrapbook-- and I definitely want to try making one.
Do you have any plans to sell your quilts?
I've thought about selling my quilts, and I would like to eventually, but I have so much fabric and love quilting so much that I would rather give the quilts to kids that actually need them. I would like to try my hand at opening a store on Etsy.com, an online marketplace, and I would love to sell them at quilt shops. I think my quilts are unlike anything else on the market.
For more information about Olivia's handmade quilts, please contact her via e-mail: oliviamarch@oliviamarch.com.
To volunteer or learn more about this program, contact Project Linus: www.projectlinus.org
Comments (2)
Congrats Olivia on being featured and for brining attention to this great cause!
Congrats to Olivia and to Newsday for bringing her work into the public eye. My family has been on the receiving end of this work-- with both of my daughters (ages 4 and 1) snuggling under one of Olivia's colorful, comfortable and lovingly crafted quilts.
Thank you, Olivia!