Xeni Jardin of BoingBoing received a stitched Subversive
Fuck Cancer piece from a friend. I hope it helps her with her very public battle with breast cancer. Having lost a brother to a brain tumor, I can certainly relate to the sentiment.
I have received so many stories and photos from people who have found stitching this piece to be cathartic, whether they're in the throes of cancer themselves or stitching it as a gift. Here are a few of my favorite emails:
When my mother-in-law was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer in 2007 we knew the chances of her surviving 5 years were slim. In April 2010 we found that the cancer had spread to her liver and she passed away on February 7, 2011 at the age of 54.
I made her the Fuck Cancer cross stitch last year. It took me days upon days, I don't have a crafty bone in my body. I miscounted stitches, my fingers bled and I started over several times until I just said "screw it, this is good enough." It looked like it was made by a kindergartener with poor motor skills and bad eyesight but she loved it anyway. It hung in her dining room where everyone could see it and nod in agreement and she decreed that she wanted to be buried with it. Last week it was proudly displayed at both her viewing and funeral reception as you can see in the attached image Everyone, including the nun who sat by her during her chemo treatments, enjoyed my "handiwork."
We didn't leave it with her, though, we brought it back and hung it back up where his dad can see it and be reminded not of her disease but her sense of humor. Thank you for giving us all something to laugh about during tough times.
- Heather
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My husband passed away in October 2005 after fighting a losing battle with cancer. Well, it was either something I ate or I had an epiphany: I decided to stitch your oh-so-appropriate comment on that disease, frame it in a regally baroque frame and then place it next to my husband's ashes. I have absolutely no doubt that Gary would have heartily approved this because: 1) he would have agreed with the sentiment and 2) F*** was his much used all-purpose noun/verb/adjective (and he wasn't even from Brooklyn!)
As you can see from the photo, I keep these on the computer hutch because Gary spent every non-working moment at home on the computer (on-line gamer) and now he can still be on the computer (literally). A bit of irony I think he would have appreciated.
Stephanie
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I had someone forward me your "Fuck Cancer" image. (I'm in the middle of chemo/radiation). I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making me LAUGH.
I am a soaper and have wanted to emblazon my bars with something subversive for years, however no self-respecting mold maker will make them for me and my local stamp maker won't do it either. Scardey cats.
Keep up the good work!
Billie
p.s. I've just got back from the doc and they are ready to gear me up for another round of chemo. I feel a little like a warrior when I read your Fcancer sampler.
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I just finished my "Fuck Cancer" kit and I wanted to thank you. It was HUGELY cathartic--I lost my husband in March to leukemia. He was 24.
There was anger released in every stitch. Thanks for your creativity and vision.
Amanda
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I've made a couple of these, and (unfortunately) need to make a couple of more...stitching it out is like stabbing cancer in little 14-count increments, and it's quite cathartic. -- laura
When my mother-in-law was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer in 2007 we knew the chances of her surviving 5 years were slim. In April 2010 we found that the cancer had spread to her liver and she passed away on February 7, 2011 at the age of 54.
I made her the Fuck Cancer cross stitch last year. It took me days upon days, I don't have a crafty bone in my body. I miscounted stitches, my fingers bled and I started over several times until I just said "screw it, this is good enough." It looked like it was made by a kindergartener with poor motor skills and bad eyesight but she loved it anyway. It hung in her dining room where everyone could see it and nod in agreement and she decreed that she wanted to be buried with it. Last week it was proudly displayed at both her viewing and funeral reception as you can see in the attached image Everyone, including the nun who sat by her during her chemo treatments, enjoyed my "handiwork."
We didn't leave it with her, though, we brought it back and hung it back up where his dad can see it and be reminded not of her disease but her sense of humor. Thank you for giving us all something to laugh about during tough times.
- Heather
----------------
My husband passed away in October 2005 after fighting a losing battle with cancer. Well, it was either something I ate or I had an epiphany: I decided to stitch your oh-so-appropriate comment on that disease, frame it in a regally baroque frame and then place it next to my husband's ashes. I have absolutely no doubt that Gary would have heartily approved this because: 1) he would have agreed with the sentiment and 2) F*** was his much used all-purpose noun/verb/adjective (and he wasn't even from Brooklyn!)
As you can see from the photo, I keep these on the computer hutch because Gary spent every non-working moment at home on the computer (on-line gamer) and now he can still be on the computer (literally). A bit of irony I think he would have appreciated.
Stephanie
----------------
I had someone forward me your "Fuck Cancer" image. (I'm in the middle of chemo/radiation). I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making me LAUGH.
I am a soaper and have wanted to emblazon my bars with something subversive for years, however no self-respecting mold maker will make them for me and my local stamp maker won't do it either. Scardey cats.
Keep up the good work!
Billie
p.s. I've just got back from the doc and they are ready to gear me up for another round of chemo. I feel a little like a warrior when I read your Fcancer sampler.
----------------
I just finished my "Fuck Cancer" kit and I wanted to thank you. It was HUGELY cathartic--I lost my husband in March to leukemia. He was 24.
There was anger released in every stitch. Thanks for your creativity and vision.
Amanda
----------------
I've made a couple of these, and (unfortunately) need to make a couple of more...stitching it out is like stabbing cancer in little 14-count increments, and it's quite cathartic. -- laura