I chose to include the socks on my quilt because they are a symbol for down syndrome. Chromosomes are an important factor in this condition, and socks resemble chromosomes because of their similar shape to them. I chose to use three socks because it is three of a certain chromosome that causes this condition. The socks are arranged to show that there is a pair of chromosomes that did not get separated during meiosis then there is an extra chromosome that is added during fertilization. This symbol should remind people to wear fun, colorful, and crazy socks on Down Syndrome Awareness Day, March 21st, to recognize and support this condition. 

It was important to me to put the words, “The Lucky Few,” in big colorful letters on my quilt because it represents how parents feel to have children with down syndrome and how it’s not an unlucky situation. There was a group of moms that started this saying and one of them even wrote a book with this same text as the title. I used a squiggly yellow ribbon as a mixed media to underline the word, lucky, and draw attention to this important word in this meaningful saying. It shows that there is a brighter side to down syndrome. The reason that the text is colorful is because these parents’ lives can be hectic and busy with all of the treatment they have to give to their child, but also that their child adds more color and purpose to the lives of these parents at the same time. The text also shows all the support that is being expressed towards this syndrome and I want to highlight how important it is to support this common chromosomal condition. 

I included this tattoo design in my quilt because of the special moms that have raised awareness of down syndrome because they have children who are affected by it. They created this simple tattoo design that is bringing together the parents of children with down syndrome, and it is called the Lucky Few tattoo. The tattoo design is three black arrows all facing up. There are three arrows to recognize the trisomy 21 that is a main cause for this condition. In addition the arrows also mean “rise up and move forward.” Mica May, one of the mothers who started this tattoo idea explains the meaning behind these words by saying, “We rise the highest after we’ve been pulled back and stretched — sometimes even more than we think we can bear.” This tattoo idea spread and soon there were hundreds of parents around the country with them, all posting the #theluckyfewtattoo.