Birthday Surprises!

I made it home from California last night!  It was 11pm by the time I was home and in bed…and that bed never felt so good!

I didn’t even bother to unpack the suitcases ----they are still there waiting for me to do that today, but first things first!

I was gone 10 days….and this morning I walked into the dining room to find a HUGE stack of mail…and BOXES!!

Of course I went for the biggest one first!  On my goodness!  There is something “squishy” in here!  And a letter at the top….I try to be patient, and read the letter first…..here’s an excerpt:

Dear Bonnie,
I have made a large number of quilts and given them to everyone in my family and to friends.  None of them would appreciate this particular quilt as much as you would.  I am sure you recognize it as a 1930’s era quilt.  The only information I have about it is that we found it (with others) in a closet at my mother-in-law’s house after she passed away and we were cleaning out her things. My husband tells me that his mother had friends from the church in to help sew and quilt at her home, and he remembers hiding under the quilting frame as they sewed.

I am at the point in my life when I need to find new homes for some things I have treasured.  I realize you must have a large number of quilts in your collection and I hope you think this one is worth keeping, at least until you have to decide where your quilts will go when that time comes for you.

((Insert note from me…….she says this as I am turning 50 on Monday, and feeling that time already closer now that I am OVER the HILL!?? LOLOL!!! I love her sense of timing!!))

Bonnie, I know you will accept this gift in the spirit it is given.  I am fortunate that I met you when you still lived in Waxahachie TX and you quilted several quilts for me, two over a weekend while I went to a dog show!  Keep on doing what you are doing, live life to the fullest, and keep on quilting!
Mary Ann P

Here’s a closer up of the corner of this quilt ---I think this is a “birds in the air” variation, and I just love the softness of the 30’s fabrics and the muslin ----and what a great inner border!

Mary Ann, I can’t thank you enough for your generosity!  This may turn out to be the best birthday yet! 50 can be MORE than nifty!  At least I’m going to MAKE it so!

And that wasn’t all….I can’t believe how generous quilters are as a whole!

The River City Quilt Guild sent a box with lots of wonderful teas, scraps and more!

 

I removed the teas, found strips, and bags of scraps and…..even….

A couple of gorgeous 100% cotton shirts to add to my shirt fabric collection!  Thank you thank you!!

These strips are going to find a happy home in amongst all my other strips!  Can’t wait to start sewing with them!

“Auntie Em” sent along a box of bonus triangles for my crumb bins, a fabric business card holder that she made, and a roll of batting seam tape!  I guess she is tired of me taking the time to zig zag that batting and wants me to give this a try..LOL!  Okay! I’ll try it --- Thank you Emily!!

When I was at Sandi D’s in San Diego, she was showing me how her Bloc-Loc rulers worked for trimming units down…..and here is one in my mail!  The funny thing is, it didn't come from Sandi, but from from Tracy!

She says:

Hi Bonnie,

I hope this package gets to you.. I wasn't sure if this was your home address or a busniess.  I feel a bit like a stalker --- sorry!!

((LOL! This cracked me up!)) 

I just wanted to thank you for brightening my days and stretching my creativity, but mostly for helping me find ways to reduce my stash.  I just finished Orcas Bay today.  I am going to quilt it after Road 2 California.  I had a lot of fun sewing with the quiltvillechat group, and I am proud to say I kept up with each step.

I've enclosed a ruler that I use to help square up half square triangles and quarter square triangles.  I really found it to be a great help.

Tracy

Tracy --- Thank you so much!  If you haven't used this ruler before, the little carved out groove in the back of the ruler locks onto your seam allowance where you have pressed to the dark side, and makes trimming easy! I’m anxious to give this a try too…..

I’ve got so much to catch up on at home it isn’t even funny.  I’ll get a load of laundry going in a minute, and start working on the to-do list that is about as long as both of my arms.  I’m taking it kind of slow – I’ve picked up a bit of a cold over the past week, and I do not want this to settle into bronchitis, so I’m babying it along!

The one thing I wish for?  Time to SEW!!  I’m going to crank through the chores and see if I can carve myself out some time ---

Happy Thursday Everyone!