For the last five years, the Ritzy Thimble Quilting Guild has offered a unique kind of support to the guests of the Hospitality Houses. The guild has provided handmade lap quilts for each patient staying at the houses.

As one quilter said, they are created to keep patients warm inside and out. Edgar commented that patients receiving chemotherapy are often cold and will take their quilts with them everywhere. While the fabric keeps bodies warm, the detail and thought that goes into each Ritzy Thimble quilt keep spirits up.

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Ritzy Thimble quilters, MMC Foundation board members, staff and volunteers take time to admire the 27 quilts donated to the Hospitality Houses this year.


OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - The Hospitality Houses of Methodist Medical Center have been a refuge for hundreds of guests as they travel to the hospital for treatment. The houses provide a welcoming home-like atmosphere for its guests, who are often cancer patients and their families, who may need to stay at the houses for as many as three months while receiving chemotherapy or radiation treatments.

The Hospitality Houses are supported by the Methodist Medical Center Foundation as well as through the generous donations and support from the community. For the last five years, the Ritzy Thimble Quilting Guild has offered a unique kind of support to the guests of the Hospitality Houses. The guild has provided handmade lap quilts for each patient staying at the houses.

"It's the heart of their stay," said Jenny Edgar, Hospitality House manager. To date, Ritzy Thimble has donated 111 quilts to the houses, and while each quilt is different, they are all made in the same pattern of generosity and compassion.

Guests choose their quilt at the beginning of their stay and often use these cozy pieces of art throughout their treatments. As one quilter said, they are created to keep patients warm inside and out. Edgar commented that patients receiving chemotherapy are often cold and will take their quilts with them everywhere. While the fabric keeps bodies warm, the detail and thought that goes into each Ritzy Thimble quilt keep spirits up.

"Patients cuddle up with their quilts while receiving treatment," said Melinda Tilley, who recently retired from Cumberland Oncology & Hematology. "It really brightens up the chemotherapy room... it's a beautiful thing to see."

On June 16 Methodist and its Hospitality Houses hosted a reception to celebrate the fifth anniversary of this special partnership with the Ritzy Thimble Quilting Guild and to thank the quilters for their generosity to the houses and their guests.

The room was filled with color from the 27 quilts on display, which were this year's donation to the Hospitality Houses. The theme for the collection was "stars," and each quilt incorporated a star pattern into its design. But the stars of the celebration were the quilters and the work they do for the Hospitality Houses. As Karen Wilken, director of Clinical Speciality Services for Methodist, said to the guild members, "No one exemplifies a star more than you."

The Ritzy Thimble Quilting Guild meets the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Civic Center Social Room. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information about the guild, call Cora Nappo, president, at (865) 574-7097. For more information about opportunities to support Methodist's Hospitality Houses, call 835-4355.