This is my long arm quilter, Janet-Lee Santeusanio. While I was making All Together Now she wrote to me and said how much she loved it. She likes all my quilts, but was really taken with this one. I decided I would give the quilt to her.
When I brought it to her to be quilted, I made the mistake of telling her the quilt would be hers. "Now I don't know what to do. You shouldn't have told me." Eventually we figured it out.
The morning I was to pick up the quilt I got an email from Janet-Lee. "I'm not charging you for quilting this quilt. Bring me the binding and I'll sew it on myself."
FAT CHANCE! I thought. I wrote back "I'm giving you a Lynne Tyler quilt, and you are going to get a Lynne Tyler quilt. And I sew the binding on my quilts. Besides, I don't even know what I am going to do for the binding."
I couldn't even remember what the edges of the quilt looked like. I had to go back to my pictures to find out the quilt had a white border around it. A white binding would have been OK, but I thought since the quilt had a variety of fabrics in the border, a binding of mixed black fabric would be better, so ran into the studio to search my stash for black binding fabrics.
This was three hours before I was to be at Janet-Lee's! It's an hour's drive to her house! I was still in my nightgown, and I hadn't even showered!
I picked fabrics, cut strips, marked and joined them at an angle (above) cut them apart, trimmed and pressed the seams, then pressed the binding lengthwise. I folded it up, then ran to take a shower and get going. JL liked the binding I had made, but I took the quilt and the binding home to finish.
As you can see, JL LOVES the quilt. She says she loves every inch of it and that it represents everything she loves about quilts. (Gosh I hope I got that right.)
She has since told me the quilt has already taken its place of honor on her recliner. "Don't you worry," she'd said as I was getting ready to leave, "this quilt will be USED!"
10 comments:
Fabulous--the quilt and the story. What a wonderful gift. Not only for the receiver, but for the giver--you know it will get used and loved, and not stuck in a closet :-)
To give is as great a delight as receiving, maybe even more, and the binding is wonderful with those darker fabrics.
I always think it is a magic moment when a quilt connects with a person. I love giving quilts and seeing the magic. Great job on the binding!
Fabulous!
Yummy quilt, and a lucky recipient! I love the expression she has while wrapped up in the quilt! In the last photo - do you know what the fabric(?) on the ceiling is for?
I love it when a quilt finds a good home all on its own!
Oh, I SO love it when a quilt that I give gets such a wonderful response! You must have just melted at that photo - SUCH a happy person to receive such a beautiful gift! Lovely, and thank you for sharing with all of us. We all give away many quilts, and its so satisfying to see what we give is cherished....
I agree with JL - this is one of those quilts that personifies what a quilt ought to be.
Such a happy photo her of Janet-Lee tucked inside her quilt!
beautiful quilt, beautiful story!
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