Postage Stamp Quilt Panel: Returned to Sender

A girlfriend has been feverishly packing and downsizing for a move to senior housing. She has been shaken by the brevity of time confronting her since her landlord announced that he was going to put the duplex, where she is living, up for sale.

When she moved in thirteen years ago, she finally had the space to set up a sewing machine and begin making quilts. First on the list were themed quilts for her grandchildren. I rounded up fabrics from my extensive stash to share with her. We scheduled time for quilting sessions where she learned techniques: pattern layout, fussy-cut, cutting, piecing, ironing, labeling. With her keen color eye, the various themed quilts lovingly came together.

Early on, we compiled a list of items that inspired us to schedule a sleepover for a marathon sewing weekend:

• A quilt top that needed pieces appliquéd before taking it in for quilting.

• Learning the intricacies of a new sewing machine (so that 1/4" became habit).

• Choosing fabrics for a set of pillow cases that had not been assembled.

• A simple summer dress pattern and yards of beautiful batik fabrics.

We completed everything that last "night," going to bed at 5:00am.

Saddened by the fact that she will not have a sewing space, my girlfriend is happy to share her fabric collection as a home-warming. And, she also returned fabric that I shared with her - all to replenish my slowly growing stash. After all, isn't that what we quilters do for each other?! In the returned stash, she included the batiks from her summer dress (shown above). Other fabrics I instantly recognized and recalled from various quilt and sewing projects - the memories all came back!

I had been collecting shell fabric - this was returned, along with the dotted fabric that I used in a couple of African quilt projects. And, there was a Giraffe Pillow that I called "Peeking in on Little Rowen" where I used a photo I took of a young giraffe while on safari.

It's always fun to collect holiday fabric. I especially liked the shades of reds and greens in these and just had to share them with her.

I had been wanting to create a leaf-themed quilt for a long time. Once I had enough of a variety, I signed up for a class. While everyone gathered their heart fabrics and worked on their broken hearts, I sketched templates of leaves and created my "Mended Leaves" quilt, donated after the 2017 Napa County wildfire. I was so appreciative that the instructor was supportive of my design change. She said the techniques were the same so it didn't bother her that I was mending leaves while others were mending hearts.

When a colleague learned that I was a quilter, she presented me with a shoebox of items from her very first quilting project. There was a stack of 4" blocks (shown above), all in creamy-whites, binding strips and a few 4-patch blocks. It was the sweetest gesture and I was honored to receive the treasure trove. I had used those 4" squares in a few projects but also shared a small stack with my girlfriend. What a nostalgic surprise to find Carolyn's squares in the stash! I'm also reminded of a book that was wrapped in the shoebox, "The Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas. It was one of the very first fiction novels that I read about quilting, and a great introduction to that writing genre. It hadn't planted the seed just then - that was to come.

"Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference." ~Helen James

And, now some of my favorite pieces from the past have been returned to sender. The sweet reminders will add to my growing fabric stash. This last find is a 12" x 12" paper-pieced Postage Stamp panel - the only one left of many. A neighbor gave me the squares, as a thank you for making a furry bear costume for their young son. Her "Auntie" had hand stitched dozens of the blocks over 40 years ago. It took me many weekends to remove the soft, yellowed paper from the back of each panel, careful not to pull out her delicate stitches. Over time, I had shared blocks with friends, made boudoir pillows, and tried to make placemats but the stitching was just too fragile.

This block is a remnant of the past, with a promise to always open up our treasure-filled chest and share with a friend.

Thank you for stopping by.

XOXOX