"This is my first quilt ever"

"This is my first quilt ever."

I thought she was kidding..you know, teasing me. 

 I had a customer order some fabric a few weeks ago and we had trouble making ourselves clear via the internet, so she gave me a call. What a story she had.

The quilt shown above was the first piece of quilting she ever did. Her name is Mary and she is a character! Mary had never quilted a day in her life. Her sister was a quilter though. And Mary saw a picture of a Paula Nadelstern quick and promptly called her sister to request one be made for her. Well, much to Mary's surprise, her sister was not much into those teeny tiny little kaleidescope pieces. 

So Mary set out to make this quilt herself. She did not even have a complete book. She had a class pamphlet she had found somewhere and when she neared the end of her project she realized there were pages missing. So, her husband, who was a surveyor by trade, took his vast knowledge of angles and together they figured  out how to finish her project!!!

She went into her local quilt shop to get something to complete the project and the ladies were having a guild meeting in the back. The cashier that waited on her engaged Mary in a conversation during which Mary said, " I am not a quilter". Now, she had that stunning piece of art with her. So the cashier yells back to the guild ladies.."hey, y'all come look-this gal says she's not a quilter!!"...

Below are some other photos of her "young" work. She clearly, in my opinion has a gift that is rare.

 These were quilted by the renowned Timna Tarr, who said she had to sit down when and breathe when she first began to work on Mary's quilts. 

I am not sure when I have ever been more inspired..To sit down with a book, well, sort of a book, and do work of this quality is just breath-taking! You go Mary! (She's only in her 60's-imagine what she'll do when she gets some experience lolol!!!)

What a pleasure it is to serve my wonderful customers! Especially when I get to know them a little!

Happy Quilting on this first day of Fall!

barb