The Rack

Call it karma, or serendipity, but sometimes things happen just at the right time.

Two weekends ago when Julie was visiting, I was telling her that I had too many quilts and not enough walls on which to display them. Julie has almost 200 quilts at her house, and there are probably 60 out on display - on racks, on quilt ladders, on the backs of couches and chairs, on beds, over tables, in cabinets and hanging on walls.

Julie's answer wasn't a surprise. "You need a quilt rack."

I tried to think about the places in my apartment where I could put one. "Mmm..."

"...Or a quilt ladder," Julie continued, "you don't have room for a quilt cabinet."

"No."

We pulled into the parking lot at Quilted Threads and during the three hours we spent ogling and fondling fabric, we joked about which of us would end up with the higher bill. (She did, an easy guess given that she bought ten yards of one particular fabric to use for the back of a large quilt.)

Afterwards, we were walking to a nearby restaurant for lunch and we met a woman walking in the opposite direction. "Were you looking for me?" she asked. Um, no.  She explained that she was the proprietor for the "gently used" gift shop steps away. "I just have an errand, I'll be back in a few minutes. You should stop by."

I smiled politely, but Julie replied, "We'll visit your shop after we have lunch." I wasn't exactly thrilled. I think "going shopping" when you have nothing in mind to buy to be only slightly worse than going to the dentist for a filling.

Julie and I had a lovely lunch, and then walked back down the street toward the lady's shop.  On the sidewalk outside the door was a quilt rack.  We stopped.

A quilt rack. Too funny.  Julie reached over and looked at the price tag, then turned to me. "Do you like this? Could you find a place for it?"

I thought a minute. "Actually, yes. I could put it in the dining room, right underneath the spot where my sampler quilt usually hangs."

"Would it be in the way?" Julie asked.

Mentally I measured the rack, and thought about that wall in the dining room. "No. It would fit perfectly."

"Good," Julie replied, picking up the rack, and carrying it into the shop. "Happy Birthday."





(That's her quilt, What Matters Most on the front, and my sampler quilt, Letters From Home behind it. The Black Crayons quilt is behind that. I'll show Julie's quilt to my students in July, since it has butterflies, birds, asterisk flowers and hearts on it, then send it back to her when the class is over.)

About AQS Chattanooga, no, I will not be traveling to visit The Black Box at the show. If you go to the show and see my quilt, send me a picture and tell me what you think. Julie's See Rock City quilt will be there too.