Crafting with a Cause
Among the numerous groups and organizations that gather here at Four Lakes Golf Club, there is a very special set of women coming together with a common cause. They call themselves the “Four Lakes Fidget Ladies” and they are using their love of art and creativity to improve the quality of life in local residents and patients with Alzheimer’s disease, by making “Fidget quilts”.
A fidget quilt is a lap-size blanket that provides sensory and tactile stimulation for the restless hands of someone with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.
Fidget quilts can help those with dementia feel calm while also keeping them occupied. Since these interactive textiles are meant to stimulate memory, it is important that the quilts trigger the senses by using different textures and embellishments as much as possible.
Long term resident, Jan Carney, says the group has been getting together for 2 years now and will typically meet at her home on Saturday afternoons to craft the quilts. This activity is not only fun and engaging but also rewarding in knowing you’re helping those in need. Each of the 11 individual ladies have their own style and technique they use to design, sew and assemble these colorful creations. The quilts often include zippers, buttons, key chains, braids, ribbon and string. The materials used feature a variety of textures from smooth and silky to rough, fluffy, and velvety. In merely one afternoon they can make up to a dozen blankets!
So far this year, the Fidget Ladies have proudly donated 78 quilts to local facilities around the area such as Spring Haven and Vienna Square. One of the key factors that make this operation such a success is the donations that come in for the materials they use to make the quilts. Fellow Four Lakers have banned together to donate items such as worn jeans, fabric scraps, ribbon and other various materials. Currently, the group has no set “goal” of donations to reach by the end of 2020 but will continue to craft as long as supplies remain abundant & available.
Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” I think the sun shines a bit brighter and the world’s a bit kinder thanks to the caring actions of these exemplary residents known as the Four Lakes Fidget Ladies.
~ Megan Meroni
If you would like to learn more, contact us: 800-826-7076
