Teen sews quilt from heart for cancer survivor

CELINA - Every 4-H project at the Mercer County Fair has a special story.

However, few could represent more of a giving heart and a sympathetic spirit than a 54-inch-by-68-inch quilt made by a Coldwater High School student for a 2016 Cavaliers graduate.

Lylly Vagedes, who has been part of the Philothea Hustlers 4-H club for the past eight years, used her talent to touch the life of recent graduate Sarah Bruns, who had been battling cancer. Vagedes will be a junior this fall.

"Sarah was diagnosed with cancer her senior year at Coldwater High School," Vagedes said. "Every night she spent at the hospital down in Dayton's Children's Hospital, they would give her a new pillowcase."

Bruns accumulated about 40 pillowcases during her stays. One of the hospital workers suggested turning them into a quilt.

"Her mom heard that I make quilts, so she asked me if I could make a quilt for her," Vagedes recalled.

She agreed, and soon took the 40 cases and began to consider how to turn the material into one special quilt. The teen settled on a weaving pattern, using half squares of cloth, which increased the project's difficulty.

"I had the more colorful parts go one way and the blacks and whites go the other direction," she described. "Eventually I came up with that design, and I also designed the cancer ribbon in the middle of it."

After creating the front of the blanket, she still had plenty of leftover pillowcase fabric and decided to use it to design the quilt's backside.

"I decided to make it kind of brick looking. There was also a pillowcase which had the handprints of a preschool class. I didn't want to cut that up, so I put that on the back so all the 'bricks' are surrounding that," she said.

The remaining unused pieces made the border, and finally, the time came to present Bruns with the finished quilt.

"She loves the quilt," Vagedes said. "She thinks it looks awesome. She was kind of disappointed when I told her I was still bringing it to the fair."

The quilt not only brought a smile to her friend's face but it also qualified to go to the Ohio State Fair.

"I didn't receive anything at state. But still, I went to state, so that was good enough," she said.

This was Vagedes' most ambitious quilting project to date. Her previous biggest project had been a queen-sized quilt with a complex design she made for her mother. But this gift was different, intended for someone outside of her family with special meaning. The lap-sized quilt is used by Bruns as a cover on her bed and just around the house. It also will come in handy when she moves to college at the end of summer.

The work not only brought happiness and comfort to a cancer survivor but it also brought happiness to the person who worked so hard on it. Vagedes estimated it took her about six weeks to turn a pile of pillowcases into a beautiful quilt.

"I love this quilt. This is like my pride and joy," she beamed.

Bruns has been cancer-free for a couple of months and is ready for college. Vagedes will turn 17 in September and plans to pursue a career in the medical field. The two share a unique bond through the quilt.

Vagedes is already thinking about her next quilting project, something suitable for next year's Mercer County Fair. The idea begins with that cancer ribbon design on her friend's quilt.

"What I am hoping to do is have all the different colors of cancer ribbons, and in the background there will be a giant lavender cancer ribbon for all cancers, she said. "I'm hoping to make that for next year."

She also is hoping to donate that quilt to a cancer hospital to raise money.