Candy Stripes

This lovely, predominantly pastel pink and magenta, sampler quilt was presented to me as a thank you gift. I know that it was pieced, stitched and hand quilted by someone dear to our family, and that she was a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). I wish I knew more about this precious quilt.

No, the quilt does not have a label - where we look for the history behind the quilt's creation, for provenance, to pass on to the next generation.

This is the perfect quilt to begin sharing my process for creating a short story with you.

I've created a blank story sheet where I outline main points to help me write any details that should appear in the narrative. I am hoping that a nursing theme connects with readers. The title often comes to me as I spend time with a quilt. For this writing, it is the back of the quilt that has inspired me to call it Candy Stripes.

The main character will be, Clara - yes, named after Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. A quick search online confirms that she was a nurse, recognized for her heroic humanitarian work during the Civil War.

I also search to find information about The Candy Striper program: a volunteer program started by Marian McQuade in the 1940s. The program provided support, compassion, and companionship to patients and staff of the healthcare system, eventually phased out by the 1990s and early 2000s. The term Candy Striper came from the white and pink-striped uniform that resembled a peppermint candy,

I display the quilt in my studio as I begin writing.

There are 25 different blocks for me to admire and research. The storyline comes to me fairly quickly and I detail how the plot will unfold on my story sheet. Its purpose is to help me provide meaningful events that will hold your interest and convey an emotional message that we can all relate to.

"When you're a nurse, you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours." ~Unknown

So, while it is a quilt that our modern-day Clara pieced together with her purpose and her identity, the short story will show that the Candy Stripes quilt represents much more than that.

Thank you for stopping by.

XOXOX