Do you have a favorite quilt that you’ve made? If so, why is it a favorite? If you want to write about it on you blog and leave a link in the comments, I think that will work, or you can just comment if you’d like. I’ve written about it before on my blog but I’ve had several people ask me lately if I have a favorite quilt. I do and this is it:
Here’s the story, copied from 2005:
Here’s the story, as written on June 13, 2005:
Back when American Patchwork & Quilting magazine began collecting blocks for the breast cancer auction, maybe in early 2004, I was a member of Alex Anderson’s message board (AAMB – which no longer exists). We decided to have everyone who wanted to participate send me a friendship star . . light pink star on a dark pink background or vice versa. And, they were to send me a fq of the background fabric for the sashing. So, I made the quilt, quilted it and sent it in.
I patiently waited for the auction to begin so I could try to get our quilt back. It was in one of the first few batches of quilts and I began to bid and bid and bid! Like everything I really want on ebay, someone else really wanted it too! So, it got way above my price range and I gave up. Right before the auction ended, I ran back to ebay and tried a couple more times but by now it was WAY above what I could pay and I was pretty relieved when this determined person outbid me AGAIN.
There’s a very generous lady who was also on Alex Anderson’s MB named Vicky. I asked one of our mutual friends if Vicky was the one bidding and she had no idea (so she said!). After the auction ended, this friend did a little investigating and tracked the winning bidder back to somewhere in east Texas. She even gave me the lady’s name and I looked her up on whitepages.com. Another friend said she had a sister near this person and she would contact her and let her know the details of the quilt. This was all back in July or August, 2004 I think. Both these friends (and most everyone else) knew it was really Vicky and they were probably sweating buckshot when I said I might contact this person myself! Thankfully I didn’t try to contact that person.
So, from last summer til this summer, I would think about that quilt every now and then and wondered why someone had wanted it so badly who had not been a part of the group making the quilt. I’d wake up some mornings and as I was laying in bed thinking about what I’d work on that day, I’d think about the pink quilt. I had decided that the winning bidder had someone special in her life who had been touched by breast cancer, this person loves pink and so . . she kept outbidding me to get the quilt.
Then, last weekend I hosted a retreat at Paducah. There were 37 of who us attended and almost all of us had met and gotten to be friends on the AAMB. Vicky was to come but she couldn’t be there. The first night, one of the ladies said she had a note to read from Vicky because everyone was so disappointed she couldn’t be there. Well, it wasn’t a note to everyone at all but a note to me from Vicky telling me how much I had helped her along the way with her quilting and they presented me with that quilt. I was so shocked and so thrilled. I felt so bad that I had been bidding against Vicky on that quilt and . .everyone else at the retreat had known for months that Vicky had the quilt and was going to give it to me. Wasn’t that the sweetest thing? I still can’t read Vicky’s note without crying!
We call it the “boomerang quilt” because it came back to me and I am so thrilled to have it back!
New Note: One day I’m going to have a pink bedroom. It may be a guest room but that quilt will have a home on my bed one day. I rotate my quilts on the bed and every now and then, I get tempted to put the boomerang quilt on the bed but I’m not about to take a chance on messing it up. It’s one of the very few, maybe the only, quilts that we have that we don’t dare use. I love and it means the world to me. Of course, with her blog, we all now know Vicky. And, though I’ve told her many times before, THANKS!
Gwen says
I love that quilt! I love that story!
Bon says
As well as I know the story (all along) it still makes me tear up when I read this post about it. It is great to have a quilt that means so much.
HUGS
Bon
Dot says
Love your story. Here is link to my favorite quilt. http://morequilting.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-favorite-quilt.html
Darlynn Venne says
Through tearful eyes, I say thank you for sharing and thank you to Vicky for your generosity.
Jean says
That’s a wonderful story & a beautiful quilt. I do have a favorite quilt, but the story is not as interesting as yours. I will try to post about it later.
Bobbie says
That Vicky !!!!! She is really something and I love her to pieces and her heart is big as gold. I’m glad I got to read about this. Hugs
Howdy says
Judy I loved working on that project… I always try to find my blocks when you post a picture. I still have the instruction pictures we used for the project – LOL. I am always amazed at how a simple block with a fantastic setting can produce such a stunning quilt. Your work was wonderful. It was a fun project that had a delightful twist at the end with you getting it back.
It’s always fun to look back and remember because so many of our quilts have great stories and memories attached… here is my attempt at ‘having just one favorite’…
http://howdyblogs.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-favorite-quilt-or-two-or.html
Thanks for the trip down memory lane… now if I don’t go make lunch my husband is gonna get mad that I’m still sitting around.
Suzanne says
What a beautiful quilt and an equally beautiful story!
To see my favorite quilt:
http://www.minousminute.blogspot.com/
Terry says
What a cool story! I’ll be back later to post about my favorite quilt. :0)
karylsquilts says
http://karylsquilts.blogspot.com/2007/12/winter-quilt.html
blue white snowflake:
This one I drafted myself using a ruler and red pencil on newspaper. The idea came from a daine phalen note card.. it has quilts hanging outside in the winter with a red barn behind them. I had held onto this card for many years before fianaly getting brave enough to start drawing. The back ground quilting is blowing snow…. It is machine peiced with hand quilting. ~~k
Kathleen says
Here is a link to my favorite quilt.
http://quiltldy.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-favorite-quilt.html
Lindsey says
Great story…every quilt has a story of some sort…sometimes those stories live on and sometimes they are lost. Yours has a great ending. How do you pick one favorite? It’s tough but one of mine is posted on my blog today. Have a look and tell me what you think the story may be. Thanks for the inspiration. fivehealthyhearts.blogspot.com
Vicky says
Ah, the Boomerang quilt! I had more fun bidding on that quilt — but you almost bought it yourself because you wouldn’t quit bidding! ROFLOL. I hated to see it go to just anyone because it belonged with you! ILY
Linda says
Wow, sorry you had such a bad day, but glad everything worked out.
About husbands being home………….mine has taken to following me around & watching what I’m doing………..drives me nuts………..he retires in 5 yrs. if he doesn’t get laid off first. God, I’ll have to find a full-time job to keep my sanity!! Every year for Christmas I spend quite a few of my hard earned bucks to buy him a hunting & fishing permit……the gift that keeps on giving, I call it…..keeps him out of the house quite a bit. Does Vince have any interest in hunting & fishing? Could he develop some?
Shasta says
My favorite quilt is one of the first ones I made. We spilled something on it, so had to wash it. The purple faded a bit. Now it is all crinkly and beautifully old. I would put it on my daughter when she took a nap, or when she was sick. She still uses it to keep warm around the house. Most people who look at my quilts choose that one as a favorite as well. It just has a comforting quality about it.