SewPINK 2026 - Running With Scissors

"I fed the birds for her."

Those were the words my husband said to me when he called me from his mom's house to tell me that she had passed away.

Susan loved birds. Feeding them was one of those small, ordinary things that was simply part of who she was. So after she died, he went outside and fed them for her.

I've thought about those words ever since.

Susan died from kidney cancer. When I began thinking about what I wanted to make for this year's SewPINK initiative, my first instinct was to make something orange—the awareness color for kidney cancer. It seemed like the obvious way to honor her.

But grief isn't always obvious. And neither is love.

Sometimes it's feeding the birds.

So instead of choosing fabric because it matched a ribbon, I found myself looking at these beautiful, colorful birds and thinking of Susan.

And suddenly I knew what I wanted to make.

Running With Scissors

For my SewPINK project this year, I made ByAnnie's Running With Scissors.

It's a wonderfully useful organizer designed to hold sewing and crafting tools, with lots of pockets, zippered compartments, mesh, vinyl, and places for all those little things that otherwise disappear exactly when you need them.

I use ByAnnie's Lightweight Mesh in turquoise, Fold-over Elastic in turquoise, Zippers by the Yard in turquoise, and Premium Clear Vinyl. The beautiful ribbons and strapping are from Renaissance Ribbons.

For the main fabric, I used Tula Pink's Baby Geo, with its gorgeous turquoise geometric print and tiny sparks of color. Lazy Stripe became the binding, and I love how that bright chartreuse stripe frames every pocket and compartment.

But the fabric that made this project mine is the lining.

Birds. Bright, exuberant, impossible-to-ignore birds.

I love that they're tucked inside. From the outside, the organizer is mostly geometric—turquoise, chartreuse, little flashes of color, and some ridiculously cheerful ladybugs. Then you unzip it and the birds appear everywhere: beneath the vinyl, behind the mesh, inside the pockets, across the interior.

It feels appropriate somehow. Not everything meaningful has to announce itself from the outside.

Sewing Through Grief

SewPINK began as an initiative to raise awareness about breast cancer, but one of the things I've always appreciated about it is the larger conversation it creates: about cancer, about the people we love, about prevention and early detection, and about taking care of ourselves and each other.

Cancer has many ribbon colors. Breast cancer is pink. Kidney cancer is orange.

But Susan, to me, is birds.

That's the thing I've kept coming back to while making this project. We use ribbons because they give us a common language. They help us raise awareness, show support, and recognize a cause at a glance. But the people themselves are so much bigger than their disease.

When someone we love dies from cancer, cancer doesn't get to become the most important thing about them.

Susan wasn't kidney cancer.

She was a whole person who had a family who loved her. She had things that delighted her. She had routines and preferences and stories and ordinary little pieces of life that belonged specifically to her.

She loved birds.

And after she was gone, someone who loved her made sure they were still fed.

Make Something That Means Something

Sewing is practical. We make bags and quilts and clothes and organizers because we want something useful or beautiful.

But sometimes we sew because fabric gives us a language for things that are difficult to say.

A color can mean something. A print can mean something. Even a bird hidden inside a pocket can mean something.

My Running With Scissors will get used. It will eventually be stuffed with sewing tools and probably contain at least one thing I've been frantically searching for while insisting that I know I put it in here somewhere.

But every time I open it, I'll see the birds and I'll think of Susan.

So this year, I didn't make an orange project for kidney cancer.

I fed the birds for her.

The #SewPINK Initiative’s mission is to raise awareness, promote screenings, foster community, and support cancer research throughout the year.

Efforts culminate in an annual blog hop during October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but our commitment to cancer awareness and support continues year-round.

To learn more and see the calendar of events, visit: https://www.ByAnnie.com/SewPINK