I signed up in early January to meet a deadline during the third week of February. In fear, I procrastinated January away. Why on earth would I send a quilted piece to another quilter? I wasn't a quilter!
My in-laws came for a visit during the last few days of January and right after returning home to CA, my father-in-law unexpectedly passed away. As we were making arrangements to fly out in a blizzard, I was stressing about how I was going to get my mug rugs completed! I talked with my children's art teacher who said she would help me, if needed, when I returned, but not to take the project with me. Good advice!
I returned home two weeks later (with one week to spare before the deadline) and under pressure busted out two beautiful mug rugs. I was very pleased with what I had produced. Again, my fear had been overcome and I even made extra mug rugs and gave them away as gifts. I enjoyed the creative process so much!
My spring was taken up with preparations for my daughter's wedding and we ended up moving out of the 'burbs to the country at the end of summer. Life was full and quilting had been put on hold. I hadn't quilted since February and now with a new homeschooling year and house to settle, it didn't look like any new projects were in my near future.
Within a couple of days of moving, my sister-in-law and I went to check out a small country town nearby. When we walked into the local thrift store there were 4 boxes of quilt material on a table near the doorway. It was a beautiful sight! Each box had color-coordinated materials (red/blues in one, green/browns in another, etc). The materials had an old-time quality about them, as if some dear older lady had passed away and someone had donated her stash. My mind was filled with wonder.
Another quilter came over to the boxes where I was elbow-deep and started looking through the stash. An ugly little spirit of "It's all mine!" crept into my heart as the woman expressed an interest in the $100 collection of material. I exclaimed over their beauty and that I was certainly interested in the material (when I wanted to say, "I was here first!"). I was just hesitant about spending that much money on material right after moving. Could I justify investing that amount when all I had made was a changing pad and a few mug rugs? I called my husband who quickly said, "Buy Them!" (Don't you love when your men support you!) I hemmed and hawed over the price and which colors I would like and the other lady grew tired of looking through the boxes. Before walking away, she said, "I don't know why I'm looking at this, I have a room full of material at home!" I blurted out, "I don't have any!" How embarrassing!
As soon as my rival moved a few feet away, I actually hollered across the store to the lady at the counter, "I want all of these boxes!" She casually walked over with a sold sign and attached it to one of the boxes. I said, "Please, put a sold sign on all four boxes. I don't want anyone to think they're available." She chuckled and went to get more signs.
When she returned she said, "I hope you'll really use all of this. Doesn't it seem like it's someone quilting stash?" I got teary ('cause that's what I do) and said, "Yes. I think so. I will definitely be honored to use this for quilting." She then looked at me and said, "You know, I will give these to you for $80." I left the store feeling like I had more than one legacy to carry into the future.
The Stash
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