'It shows all the love': How one woman's love of quilting is helping her face cancer

Paula Gallant has never had any trouble keeping busy. 

It's just who she is, says her husband Ernest. For years she owned a successful bakery business that she ran out of her home near Wellington, P.E.I., making rolls and biscuits day-to-day and thousands of meat pies during the holiday season.

But that came to an end in 2011, after her doctor told her she had Stage 4 breast cancer. Forced to close her business, she said keeping busy is now more important than ever. 

Gallant has found a way to do that with quilts. 

"Of course when I got sick, I said, 'Well, I've got to do something with my life, I'm not going to give up now.' So I started making quilts for my family."   

She's lost count, but she knows she's made more than 20 quilts since her diagnosis, and she has ideas for more in the works. Quilting has become an escape for her, she said, allowing her to focus on all the positive things she has in her life. 

"It's almost 13 years and I'm still fighting," she said.

When you're dealing with what I'm dealing with, why worry about it? You can get depressed.— Paula Gallant

Gallant started with a plan to make quilts for all her nine siblings, but that's since expanded to include many other relatives. 

"I love doing it because when you're dealing with what I'm dealing with, why worry about it? You can get depressed," she said. 

"I just can't sit in a chair, watch TV and sleep all day, because then I knew I'd go down. I'll give up. [So] I said to hell with this, I've got to keep on going."

Community donates materials

Gallant's quilting now has quite a reputation in her community.

People often stop in to offer her fabric and materials. Sometimes she'll find bags of patches left at her doorstep.

She puts together the patterns and puts the finishing touches on with the help of her mother-in-law.

Since she started making the quilts, she's begun using the time during chemotherapy treatments to come up with new designs and ideas, often looking at photos of her family with their quilts.

Her family also shares her work on social media so that it can reach more people.

"It gives me a little boost, you know?" she said. 

When Gallant comes home, she starts putting those new ideas into her next project.

Her husband says it has helped her through even the tougher parts of treatment.

"Just coming home and being able to go to her sewing room and quilting these pieces together makes her forget about the whole thing." he said.

'My family is all in that quilt' 

Paula Gallant said each quilt is unique and personalized for the person it's going to.

Ernest Gallant's quilt is a reminder of his years of work, when he wore a tie every day. When a woman donated a bag of hundreds of ties for Paula to use in her quilts, he knew that one had to be his, with a few of his own ties included.

"It's very, very special," he said.

There is one quilt that Gallant made especially for herself.

She asked all of her family members to give her a piece of their clothing and a photo of themselves, which she turned into the different squares of her quilt.

There are squares dedicated to Ernest, her parents, her children, grandchildren and her dog Sophie.

"It's just amazing how we grew that little quilt… It shows all the love. My family is all in that quilt," she said. 

"It's coming with me; I'm taking it with me." 

She said she'll continue quilting as long as she can and hopes by sharing her work, she can inspire others facing illness with hope.

"Don't give up, because I know it's rough out there, it's a big journey to tackle. If you have your family and your friends and lots of love around you, you have the best medicine."