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Mitsy quilts despite blindness and dementia

Mitsy quilts despite blindness and dementia

My mom, Mitsy, was a seamstress most of her life. So, it was naturally devastating for her to lose her ability to sew after becoming blind due to Retinitis Pigmentosa. Later, in addition to facing a world without sight, Mitsy began losing her memory to dementia. In her late eighties, Mitsy was losing her independence and purpose, until God inspired a beautiful intervention. The attached picture is a quilt made by my mom at age 92, despite her total blindness and dementia. She created this quilt by hand stitching 32 half square triangle pieces adapted with the Mitsy Kit tactile guides, and even threaded all her own regular hand sewing needles by touch! Mitsy Kit, named after my mom Mitsy, is a patented tactile sewing system and method of use that I believe God inspired as I sought to help my mother re-engage in life and overcome depression. The invention simply makes hand stitching quilts easy to do by providing tactile guides on precut fabric pieces that insure straight and perfectly positioned seam allowances and perfectly connected points. All done by touch with no sight or special skills required. Since Mitsy Kit launched three years ago, the sewing and crafting kits have evolved to help countless people including those who are blind, memory impaired, stroke impaired, and others with physical and cognitive disabilities to participate in creation of beautiful sewing projects. Our kits have increased in number to over 20 variations to address the diverse needs and preferences of the many disability groups served, including no sew kits that help people create pillows, bags, and even wall hanging half square triangle quilts with plastic needles and ribbon. The key component of Mitsy Kit success is the product development mindset to continually refine products and services in response to what we learn from our customers product use and feedback. Future plans exist to create new tactile guided products in the crafting family that may be more appealing to more men as well. So I post this picture and story to help get the word out that there is hope for those with vision, memory, and other physical and cognitive impairments to continue creating and be part of an inclusive sewing and crafting community. Our mission is to provide accessible, adaptable, and easy to use craft kits that help build inclusive communities, create cherished memories, and connect lives across generations. For more information see www.Mitsykit.org and www.Facebook.com\Mitsykit or call 978-419-1824

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