I came across the latest exhibit of "Healing Quilts in Medicine" and found some wonderful quilts. Healing Quilts started in 2004-5 with the first set of quilts made by friends of Judy House, a contemporary quilter from Virginia who was fighting Cancer. She thought that the waiting rooms for Chemo and other treatments were too drab and needed some quilts to cheer them up and give the waiting patients something to look at. I don't find those first quilts online, but there are several subsequent exhibits, the latest being done by quilters in New Mexico. http://healingquiltsinmedicine.org/ You can also see a video of some of those quilts at:
Back in 2004 I selected the plant Woad which is an imported, invasive plant growing in waste land and highway verges throughout the country. It is used sometimes as a substitute for indigo dyes. But it also has possibilities as a cancer drug.
"Woad" Del Thomas 2005 24"W x 30"L
Commercial cotton fabrics, hand-dyed cotton, cotton batt, cotton threads.
Machine pieced and quilted.
Previously posted in 2008: http://delquilts.blogspot.com/2008/02/woad-02-24-08.html
Scientific Information (2005): Dyer's Woad (Isatis tinctoria) An ingredient, Indirubin, is reported to have anti-neoplastic activity and is widely used in China in the treatment of leukemia. A chemical compound isolate from Indigo, Indirubin, is being used in China for treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia, and various synthetic derivatives are in preclinical studies in Europe and in the US.
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