THEY’RE a coveted prize at Digby’s Annual Pink Ribbon Brekkie and this year, the first-prize, handmade quilt has a story – and a value – to exceed all others.
For more than 20 years, the ‘Cox sisters’ – Ann Bull, Sue Richardson, Karen Stockdale and their mother, Joyce – have come together, with the support of the community, raising thousands of dollars to support the work of the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
For each even, a set of hand-crafted items – quilts and blankets – are prepared as prizes for raffles in the lead-up to the event.
While each piece over the years has been a unique, one-of-a-kind creation, Mrs Bull said this year’s first prize was a story, unto itself.
“(Former Digby resident) Barb Botterill, from Digby, was given the blocks by Eva Lowry’s husband, Carl; Eva passed away and her husband gave them to Barb,” Mrs Bull said.
“She said ‘I do not know what I’m going to do with these, could you use them, Ann’.
“Eva had done the 20 blocks … she had all the strips done, everything was cut, I just had to put it together and then send it to our quilter, Wendy Wilson, from Mount Gambier.
“She’s done all our breast cancer quilts since I have been doing them, we just send the quilt, the backing and the wadding to Wendy and she puts in on her big machine and quilts it.
“It’s just stunning and if you had to insure it, you’d insure it for several thousand dollars.”
A creation encompassing 20, 16-inch squares, each panel in the Queen-sized quilt uses a technique known as Brazilian embroidery and is a labour of love for any creator,
“It’s done with a silk thread and you’ll see the loops, the thread is cast onto a needle, then applied and that creates each loop,” Mrs Bull said.
“For one square, if I had to guess, per block, over time, you’re probably talking six to eight hours work in each block.
“The corner blocks are the same design, with some different colours and each of the other panels is different.
“She’s used some variegated threads; it’s stunning and we just fell in love with it.”
The first-prize quilt, along with a second-prize quilt, third-prize knitted blanket and fourth-prize table runner – also created by the late Mrs Lowry using the Brazilian technique – are now on offer as raffle prizes, with the winners to be drawn at the annual November Pink Ribbon Brekkie, held at the Digby Hall.
And while the event has been hosted by the Cox family for more than 20 years, for the past 11, the event has held a purely personal meaning.
Their youngest sister, Dorothy, last her battle with breast cancer aged just 44, leaving behind husband Alister and three young children.
“She was diagnosed just after she finished breast-feeding her youngest son,” Mrs Bull said.
“She ended up with all the secondaries, but she did have nine good years where they did a big trip to Europe, had a good holiday.
“We’re really proud, now, to do this in her memory.”
And while the Cox girls are the gracious, all-expenses-paying hosts for the annual event, Mrs Bull said it could not be done without the support of the community.
“We can fit probably, 60 or 70 people in the hall and last year, it was packed,” she said.
“We have carloads of people coming from all over … we have breast cancer survivors who come along and have a chat and share stories.
“We have Wendy Smith and Sharron Gill who come along and do all the barbecue cooking for us.
“The Great Escape Garden centre donated a rose for us last year and they have said they’re happy to do that again for us and Sandra (McGann) said to let us know how Foodworks can help, so we really get a lot of great support from the community.
For more information about the Pink Ribbon Brekkie and the quilt raffle, contact Mrs Bull on 0400 263 276.
