Each 6-by-6-inch section of cloth in a quilt being made as part of an art project in Ellensburg represents someone’s spirit, their journey, their struggles.
The finished quilt will represent those who found their way back and those who did not.
"99 Reasons Why" is a creative process that will include 99 different people willing to draw or write something that represents their experience in recovery from substance abuse disorders, or people or families who have been affected by substance abuse or alcoholism.
Local artist Robin Mayberry is hoping it will be a healing process and a way to bring awareness to an ongoing affliction. The quilt will be a real testament to the power of recovery, she said.
“I’m a recovering alcoholic. I’ve been sober 18 years,” Mayberry said. “I know a few different people that lost kids to the fentanyl epidemic that was going through town. That’s really when I started thinking and becoming aware that this is a problem in our community that people aren’t necessarily aware.
“There are misconceptions with addiction and alcoholism. My hope when I wrote a grant and they funded it is that we can increase awareness. Yes, there are problems in our community, but we can deal with it, and we can heal people.”
The project is supported by the Ellensburg Arts Commission, which gave the project $1,000, allowing Mayberry and her team to send 99 messages about substance abuse and the recovery.
As she sat at a table in her studio at Gallery One Visual Arts Center, Mayberry pointed out that some of the submissions were drawings of handcuffs or depictions of where addiction or alcoholism took people.
Others focused on where recovery is taking them.
“My vision is to have this quilt with 99 different messages on how people have been impacted and how people’s lives have dramatically improved when they came into recovery,” Mayberry said.
People from the recovery community are invited to submit a drawing or text to the project. The illustrations and words are then transferred to a fabric square and embroidered. Ultimately, 100 squares will be pieced and quilted. The 100th square will say "thank you."
“We have about 20 (contributions) that have come back in and about 50 submissions we’re waiting to receive,” Mayberry said. “We need another 50 people to offer their voice to the project.
Participants need no special art skills or talents.
"It’s a message from the heart, and if it helps even one person then it’s done its job,” she said.
The message is ultimately about the solutions, she said. There are solutions, whether through a 12-step program, Celebrate Recovery, programs offered by local recovery groups, church groups or local treatment centers.
There is a way out, even for families who have been traumatized by a family member in the throngs of the disease, she said.
Hope is the message 99 Reasons Why offers, Mayberry said.
There also is a sign-up sheet on the website, www.99reasonsquilt.com, for people who might want to join the stitch circle, which will meet again on Feb. 13 and again on Feb. 27.
“All 99 quilt blocks need to be pieced before the quilt goes to the long-arm and is then bound,” Mayberry said. “Anybody that wants to come and stitch a few squares and join us for a weekly stitch circle would be much appreciated. All materials will be provided.”
Upon completion, the plan is to have the quilt in a rotating display at various public locations.
“The display locations haven’t been ironed out," she said. "Right new we’d like to encourage people to help with the message of hope."
