I’m Janet Wise, the person behind this company/idea. Here’s how this whole thing started:

In 2005, my formerly healthy husband was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Fortunately, his cancer was slow growing and low grade, and after 6 weeks of radiation and 6 months of chemotherapy, it went into remission, where we hope it will remain for many years. I know firsthand how debilitating the treatment for cancer can be, how stressful it can be on the patient and his/her loved ones, and how much it means to know that people are thinking of you during that time. It made me realize how under-funded so many different research programs are. It also made me realize how lucky I am, and it made me want to somehow do something for others who aren’t so lucky.

Earlier this year, a friend and relative who lives across the country was diagnosed with recurring breast cancer. I wanted to let her know that I was thinking about her and that I cared. Cards and/or flowers didn’t seem to be enough. I thought about baking something, but I realized that people undergoing chemotherapy usually have a hard time finding anything they want to eat. I thought back to when my husband was undergoing treatment, and suddenly it came to me: When going for treatments or recovering at home afterwards, he always seemed to be cold. So what would help? A blanket!

I love to sew, and I especially love to make quilts, so when thinking about a blanket, I thought of a quilt. However, I wanted a quilt that met a number of criteria:

1. Lightweight, yet warm
2. Machine washable
3. Soft and cuddly
4. Large enough to cover an adult, but also small enough to fold up and take to chemo or other treatments
5. Made from colors that cheered or soothed and that had significance

I worked at it for a while, and I finally came up with the Caring Quilt -- a lap quilt made up of fleece and cotton flannel, pieced and quilted on my sewing machine. I sent it to my friend, and she loved it and took it with her to chemotherapy, where it really did live up to its motto:

“May this Caring Quilt bring you comfort, help you cope, let you heal, and give you hope”

I had come up with a gift for my friend, but in the process, I also had some other ideas, which snowballed into starting this company:

• I wanted to make one-of-a-kind Caring Quilts to give other people--people I didn’t necessarily know—comfort
• I wanted to donate more money to charities than I could do on my own
• I wanted to make and sell other quilted items, such as baby blankets or art quilts or table runners

Quilts 4 Cures, LLC, is not my sole source of income, which is why I can afford to donate 50% of the profits to charity. I have a ‘day’ job that I also enjoy and I don’t see myself wanting or being able to quit it anytime in the foreseeable future, but I would love for Quilts 4 Cures to be successful—and by ‘successful,’ I mean that the gifts make people happy and generate lots of money for charity.