Operation Save the Quilt

You really do just have to love the Internet. After 9.5 years of not seeing one another in person, Donna and I reunited in her front hall and it was as though I'd seen her the evening before. That's really something, isn't it? I met her wonderful husband and tooth achingly sweet daughters and I must say, she keeps good company, my Donna! After she filled our bellies with some fantastic fare (note to self: get recipe for that honey mustard sauce), a trip to the fabric store (like I really needed more!) and some quality time with the family, the girls were tucked in "snug as bugs in rugs" and Operation Save the Quilt began.

We were joined by the lovely Holly, of A Fish in the Water (note to self #2: show the blogging world the adorable mushroom ornament she gifted you). Three crafters are better than two, especially when you're rescuing a quilt! Donna, Holly and I regularly share the fruits of our crafty trawl of the www in case one of us missed a gem in our travels. For all the time we've been doing this, I've never met Holly in person (my first honest to goodness e-friend!). Finally, like three ships passing in the night, we three were crafting in the same room together. All was right in the world.

By crafting, I mean ripping out more than 80 blocks, spraying them with starch, pressing them, squaring up said 80 blocks, pinning the heck out of them and sewing until they made 40 blocks...then 20. Just when we thought the squaring up was well behind us, we squared up some more and then pinned some more, sewed some more and ironed some more. Donna is very close to a quilt top that looks not unlike the one we ripped apart some hours earlier.

When I got home and was trolling around house on hill road, I found out that the problem Donna was having was likely not so much the fault of the individual blocks, but the bias of the top vs. the not bias of the border. Who knew? The night wasn't a total loss though, because we all learned the importance of squaring up at every juncture and that large doses of pressing and pinning may seem like a pain when you're in the throes of it, but really just add to the glory in the end. Even more important was the confirmation that "No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." ~Robert Southey

Thank you for your friendship, my Kindred Crafter!

~Sara