Some UB staff members involved in this year's State Employee Federated Appeal (SEFA) campaign have quite literally stitched together a whole new fund-raising idea.

The UB Quilt Project is an effort to raise money to help pay for mammograms for women who cannot otherwise afford them, with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society, a SEFA-United Way agency. Mary Camille Schwindler, a degree auditor in the Office of Records and Registration who's heading up the effort, said she was inspired to piece together the quilt project by an 18-year-old quilter from Indiana who became involved in the "Yes Mam!" challenge, a nonprofit project established in 1990 that encourages quiltmakers to create quilts for the purpose of fund-raising.

Schwindler read about the young woman in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine and wanted to adopt the idea at UB through the SEFA campaign.

"We're in pieces right now," Schwindler said laughingly of the unfinished quilt, the pattern for which is an exploding star. "We're selling squares to commemorate someone who has had and overcome, or someone who has lost the fight with cancer."

Schwindler and her 14-person volunteer crew have been busy stitching their way to a finished quilt.

"I thought it might be a way to get people interested or involved," she said of the project. "Some people cut fabric, some people laid out (the fabric pieces) or did simple sewing and some people (sewed) big squares," she said, adding that the skills of those participating run the gamut, from having no experience to being quite proficient.

Schwindler said employees in the departments that are part of the SEFA committee of the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education-Student Accounts, Records and Registration, Financial Aid, Admissions and Advisement-are not only interested in putting together the quilt, but also are interested in remembering a loved one.

"It just astonishes me how so many people have been touched by (cancer)," she said, noting that roughly 26 people have purchased squares thus far, and plans are in the works to promote the quilt project outside the university in the hopes of generating more interest and money.

Schwindler said the project, which began in September and will run through the beginning of November, will be featured at the American Cancer Society's "Making Strides" walk for breast cancer on Sunday.

The "squares," which are offered in three different shapes and sell for $5, $10 and $15, will contain a name and, for those who desire, a memento.

Schwindler said the daughter of a bus driver who lost his battle with cancer requested that a school bus be placed on the square as well as her father's name. For one of their own-a woman who once worked in Schwindler's office and who lost her battle with cancer-the square will feature angels, which she collected, and her favorite colors.

Once completed, the quilt will measure 46 inches by 46 inches, but Schwindler said a border will be added to extend the quilt as more names are submitted. In addition to money raised through the purchase of quilt squares, the project-through the "Yes Mam!" challenge-could bring back to the Western New York chapter of the American Cancer Society as much as $1,500 if the quilt wins the non-juried competition at the annual Quilt America show, being held in Indianapolis in July.

"I'm hoping we'll win something next year," she said, adding that after the competition the quilt will be raffled off locally, with the money raised from that event also going to the cancer society.

"It's a campus project, but a community effort," she said, adding that she's grateful for all who have helped make this stitch in UB history.

For further information, or to buy a square, contact Schwindler at 829-3627.