What's the Story?

I believe we all have those items. Things in our homes that spark a smile, evoke a memory, or even prompt us to tell "the story" when someone takes notice of them.

In our home, there's an antique buffet that sits in our family room. My husband loves to tell the story of how he found it on an online auction site, paid $21 for it, then had to carry it out of an old home down 20 flights of steps by himself on a 300 degree , humid, Virginia summer day. It is beautiful, functional and has a great story.

There's also the Walter Anderson calendar prints that have hung in every home that we've owned (there have been 6 of those). The prints tell a story as there is one for each family member's birthdate. Walter Anderson and his interesting life lead to another story. We discovered Walter Anderson and his art when we were living in Mississippi after getting married, which then tells another story.

The best one yet is the Terry Towel. I'll leave that story to your imagination, but believe me, EVERYONE asks about the story behind the Terry Towel. How could you not?

Do you see where I am going with this?

Quilts do the same thing. For some, it is a treasured quilt made by a long lost relative, or a relative who was near and dear. Maybe it was the first quilt you ever made. Or a quilt that took 20 plus years to make. The stories are endless and I think you get the idea.

Every quilt that I have ever made has a story. I could fill up this blog with only those stories. But I am going to focus on just one today. I'll save the rest for another time. Not only does this quilt tell a story, but it also taught me some lessons that I felt were important to share.

I was approached by a friend of a friend to make a quilt out of her daughter's Disney dresses. The quilt was to be a 13th birthday gift. Because our devices are so good at listening to us and tracking everything that we type and search, a patchwork Minnie Mouse quilt suddenly appeared in my feed. Crazy, huh? The client loved it and I proceeded to cut up the most adorable handmade Disney dresses that I'd ever seen. We're talking 20 or more dresses!

The quilt went together beautifully and I worked oh so carefully in my sewing studio to keep it pristine. You see, aside from dealing with very special fabrics that held a mountain of memories, the background fabric that I selected was WHITE. I'm not going to lie. In my sanctuary/studio, I drink coffee, eat chocolate, and occasionally enter with a glass of wine. Not during this project! I even kept my sidekick at bay and created a little nest for her waaaaay across the room on top of a loveseat. No paws would be touching this masterpiece!

Given the size of this beast (85"x95"), I took it to a local longarmer to quilt, rather than quilt it myself. Normally, I mail my commissioned quilts to a friend in North Carolina, but time was of the essence to get this quilt to the birthday girl before she turned 13. The new-to-me (NTM) longarmer was super kind and offered to bump me to the front of the line so I could get the quilt done and mailed off before B-Day.

I met NTM longarmer to pick up the Disney Beast, grabbed the quilt which was beautifully tied up with a bow and off I ran to stitch the giant binding on. When I unwrapped the quilt, I saw this.

Can you see it?! There's a BLACK thread tucked neatly in between the WHITE background fabric and batting. Sidenote: check out that super cool panto that I selected! Back to the issue at hand. I was freaking out! I admit that I am a bit OCD when it comes to my quilts. I've learned to let go of a lot and teach others to do the same, but this, I could not let go.

I frantically texted NTM longarmer and she apologized. I asked how I could get this monster out and she calmly (I'm sure I detected her calmness in the tone of her text) suggested that I use a type of needle that is like a tiny crochet hook to grab it and pull it out. She even sent the link to buy it from Amazon. I know I heard the choirs of angels singing because this not only meant that it could be removed, but it could be done by the next day. Remember, B-Day is approaching!

I used this magical wand made by Clover and removed the black monster. Never, have I ever, been so relieved. I proceeded to pull out a couple other monsters.

This quilt has quite a story. The birthday girl will have her own story to tell about this quilt. The stories and memories behind each of the dresses found in the quilt and the story of receiving it for her 13th birthday. My story involves a magic wand and monsters. But wait! I promised to tell you about the lessons I learned while making this quilt.

1. When using a vast amount of white in a quilt, keep a lint roller handy.

2. When receiving a quilt back from the longarmer, unfold it and review it. THIS is the time to find errors. We are human and there will be some from time to time.

3. Have a Clover magic wand (thread pick) in your toolbox. The day will come when you need it.

4. Be sure your local quilt shop carries these magic wands in the event of a time sensitive emergency.

And now for the final reveal: