Stitched Together
During her stays at The Doorways for treatment, guest Holly created a quilted wall hanging inspired by the people, emotions, and journeys she encountered here.
Alongside the quilt, Holly shared a personal reflection about the meaning stitched into every square, color, and pattern. We are honored to share her words below.
I have been staying at The Doorways every three weeks for treatments. I am a quilter and wanted to design a wall-hanging for this special place. I hope this will help you understand the meaning of this wall-hanging. When you look at it what do you notice first, the black background, the individual blocks or the border. Each were chosen for a reason.
The black background represents the fear of not knowing how or what will happen to our family while you or your loved one receives treatment. When you are referred to The Doorways, little do we know that we become a member of a family, from the moment we enter the door. Everyone here has one thing in common: illness. It doesn’t matter what type or where you come from.
You are family.
The Doorways is always welcoming and provides a respite from your day no matter what it may bring. When someone has received difficult news, there always seems to be a guest to offer comfort.
The blocks are two-inch squares. When you look at the blocks you will notice that they are all different. Some with a number of different colors, some with only one. The blocks represent individual families or the one individual who is here alone. Each different in its own way, but yet part of the whole. There are baskets, flowers, birds, stars, too many blocks to name. The border is made up of all the colors except the white – the back ground color of the blocks. Hand quilted in the border are foot prints representing the journey we are traveling. Not all journeys end in joy. The black represents sadness for the ones who could not finish the journey. The larger blocks on the corners are stars each representing the wins on our journeys.
The Doorways provides us with a safe place on one of the toughest journeys of our life.
Thank You for all your kindness.
Holly, 2026
