Woven with love: Community invited to help weave wall hanging

Every twist, pull and turn of fabric offers a chance to connect people together.

That’s the way Patty Fulton sees it. The artistry of weaving does not simply result in a beautiful creation in brilliant colors. When neighbors come together to work on a fabric art project as one, it presents an opportunity to build bonds and strengthen community.

“One thing that goes along with all-around health and wellness is connection. Art is one way to connect with people, and co-creating something to together is a really cool way to encourage that,” she said.

Fulton has created a local initiative, Weaving in Community, to do just that. From 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, the Greenwood resident will be set up at Strange Brew Coffee with her loom. Anyone who stops in for a cup of coffee or to enjoy their morning is invited to help add a swath of fabric fringe to a wall hanging Fulton has designed in honor of World Alzheimer’s Day.

The finished work will be presented at a later date to Greenwood Village South’s memory care unit.

“You can tie a piece on and go on with your day. You could do it in memory of someone, a family member or friend who suffered from Alzheimer’s, in honor of someone going through it, in honor of the caregivers, in commitment to your own brain health,” she said. “I think we can weave a lot of love into this.”

With retirement looming, Fulton was searching for a new way to fill her time. She had worked at Eli Lilly Co. for 18 years, most recently serving as associate director for clinical trial operations before retiring in January.

Though she was ready for a new phase in her life, she didn’t want to rush to fill her time with other activities.

“I got some really good advice from my uncle before I retired, where he told me to not just jump right in and fill the space; take your time and just be and think,” she said. “I had done some thinking time before I retired, going to a career coach about retirement. I saw retirement as an active time, not a passive time.”

Fulton was scrolling through Pinterest one day when she came across a piece of weaving that piqued her interest. Curious about how it was done, she bought a small loom and brought out some yard she had stashed from previous knitting projects.

“I started doing it, and just really loved it,” she said. “The first eight months of my retirement, I had some family commitments and other things I was doing, but I was also doing these pieces on the side for my family and my own house, just learning different things about it.”

At the same time, Fulton was become more involved in advocacy for Alzheimer’s disease. In her final project at Eli Lilly, she was working on a drug trial to treat Alzheimer’s disease and was researching more about the disease, including ways to prevent it.

Her searching led her to the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, an organization founded by journalist Maria Shriver as the world’s first organization devoted exclusively to women and Alzheimer’s disease.

As Fulton settled into her retirement, she knew she wanted to take up activities that benefited the community — those impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and other social causes as well.

“This kind of started bubbling up in my mind as something I could do, combining the weaving and also focusing on causes and charities that I would partner up with,” she said.

Weaving in Community was born. She started an Instagram account to document her activities and share where she’ll be doing events in the future.

For the initial project, Fulton teamed up with Strange Brew to host the at-your-own pace event on Saturday. People don’t need to do anything in advance; instead, they can simply stop over where the loom is set up to add a piece of fabric to the piece.

“In the end, I think we’ll have something stunning,” she said.

The design she chose incorporates varying shades of purple — the official color of the Alzheimer’s movement — and she plans on having handouts on brain health provided by the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement available for people who stop by.

“I liked this project because it’s very shareable,” she said. “This is my iteration of involving the community and giving back.”

Though the Weaving in Community movement is just getting started, Fulton already see momentum in the reception from the community. Her work with Greenwood Village South’s memory care unit led to an invitation for her to come teach the residents some basic fabric arts.

She will be volunteering at Franciscan Health Indianapolis in its infusion center, providing weaving activities for patients to pass the time while receiving treatment. She’s also volunteering with the health care system’s Sista Strut breast cancer awareness event in October.

In the spring, her plan is to do weaving at a fundraiser for Indiana Women in Need Foundation, which supports women across the state through their breast cancer journeys.

“It’s quickly gotten some legs,” she said. “It’s just been a blessing and a beautiful thing. I like to do this, and I like the ability to give back to the community, doing things with people and sharing the results of what we’ve made.”

IF YOU GO

Weaving in Community

What: A community initiative inviting people to spend a few minutes helping created a fabric art wall hanging in honor of World Alzheimer’s Day as well as building fellowship.

When: 8 a.m. to noon Saturday

Where: Strange Brew Coffee, 4800 Smith Valley Road, Greenwood

How to take part: No advance registration is required; people can simply come to the shop and take part.

More information: Follow along on Instagram at weavingincommunity