One of the best parts of sharing my gifts of sewing (literal and figurative gifts!) is the unexpected friendships that bloom. Creating is a universal language. If you have the skill, you already have something in common. If you can appreciate the skill, you already have something to talk about. If you need someone with the skill, you have a conversation starter!
My conversation about quilting started at a WalMart in Lexington, Kentucky in 2010. At that point, I had been sewing for about 5 years and was working on growing my fabric stash. I was buying some “just because I like it” fabric when I got talking to the nice lady working the cutting table. I remarked that I had no idea what I was going to use this for, I just liked it, musing that one day I’ll make a quilt… Lo and behold, Ms. Paulette (as I came to know her) was part of a quilting group that met on Thursdays at her church and she had a whole physical photo album of quilts they had made, right there under the cutting table! As she was flipping through the pictures, she invited me out to join them and shared the name of the church. I went home, smiling from our interaction, and shared with my bestie/roommate, who was also interested in sewing. Turns out, she had always wanted to learn to quilt as well! So what did we spend the rest of our Thursdays, senior year of college, doing? That’s right. Hanging out with Paulette, Juanita, Ginger, and a few other ladies who were at least twice our age. It was great! One of our favorite things to talk about was Paulette’s “beau” and their dates to Cracker Barrel! They eventually got married, which was the sweetest thing, considering they were both in their 70s! 11 years later, I send Ginger my quilt tops for her to quilt on her big machine!
Since beginning my quilting journey, I have been commissioned for many t-shirt and memory quilts. I hear stories of Saturdays spent at the ball field, siblings wearing the same outfit, high school extracurriculars, college sororities and fraternities, and endless miles of training and races. One family had 4 children go through the same schools - 3 boys and 1 girl. Mom had saved all of their shirts, which ended up being 2 queen-sized quilts with lots of red for the LaSalle Lancers! Another family asked me to make a quilt for their son who was graduating high school, but the most special part of that was that he was in the very first class of students I ever taught! One of his shirts from elementary school had all of the names of his classmates, and I spent some time reminiscing while cutting it out. Another friend commissioned a quilt for her dad out of the annual fishing trip shirts from his recently-passed buddy. That was a fun project - to see the 30-year collection of the same design, in different colors, sizes, and levels of wear!
Most recently, I made a quilt for a woman who got my name from a friend of hers, and she wanted a quilt made out of her son’s baby clothes for her soon-to-be first grandbaby! Of course I said yes, and when I met her to pick up the shirts, we got to talking and realized how much our paths had already crossed. I went to school with her son, and though we didn’t have the same friend group, we knew of each other. My husband (then fiancé) and I used to meet at her family’s restaurant for weekly date nights after we both had evening classes and thoroughly enjoyed their Pie Thursdays! We had the punch card and everything :) She and I spent quite a bit of time texting back and forth, with me sending pictures of quilt layouts, and her suggesting ways to move things around. When the mom-to-be received this quilt, there were tears of joy, which is why I do what I do.
The friendships made through quilting are ones that will last a lifetime. I have grown friendships with acquaintances from running group, moms of students, individual students, and a mom from the Anderson Mom's group. It's pretty neat to see this thread (yes, pun intended!) connecting all of us!
Quilting is something I hope to still be doing when I'm old and gray, and something I hope to pass on to my children and someday, grandchildren. Though sometimes it gets a bit hectic being a full-time working mom with a side hustle, I love making people happy. I love turning their memories into something tangible that they can treasure forever and won’t just sit in a box.
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