Quilters flock together to sew care packs for cancer patients

The Birdhouse Group has been creating care packages for those receiving treatment, and made their first donation of 10 packs to the Nowra Private Hospital on Wednesday (June 22).

Inside the care package is a neck pillow, a shoulder cushion, and a padded bag for holding infusion medicine, all contained in a matching tote.

The soft items are intended to make the treatment process more comfortable for individuals; anecdotally, the standard medical supplies can become abrasive during the lengthy process.

Quilter Narelle Murphy said the Birdhouse Group started crafting for the patients simply because someone had asked.

A local nurse, who is a family friend, saw a need for the items and got in touch with the Murphy family, knowing Narelle was a keen quilter.

Birdhouse Group was happy to lend their time and skills, while Narelle's son Craig bought any extra materials they required.

"When this came up, I took it to the ladies to see if they would like to do it - we've had two ladies in our group with breast cancer, so we said yes," she said.

"Quilters usually have lots of stash (material) on hand, so we all volunteered our extra supplies and away we went.

"One month we did all of the cutting, and the next we did the sewing, and were able to give them 10 bags full."

Birdhouse often takes on projects to help others; when the social group started over 10 years ago, the intention was to build a support network for friends facing hard times.

In essence, they are birds of a feather who flock together.

Mrs Murphy said the skilled quilters will be back on the tools soon, to make even more care packs for local patients.

"It's a circle of friends and we have been going for about 10 years or more now," she said.

"We get together at different houses to sew... we plan to do the same thing in a few months time to make more."