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I've been living in Abu Dhabi for the last five years and it was here that I discovered quilting, at a local Guild Show. I was actually at the Equestrian Club so my son could feed the horses and it was really hot. I noticed a sign for an exhibition and suggested to my husband that we go in and pretend to look so we could cool off in the AC. I'd been unenthusiastic about quilts up to that point. I couldn't figure out why people would spend so much time making "blankets" when they could just buy one in a few minutes for $20 down at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I'd only seen really old antique utility quilts and the designs didn't really impress me for the most part. So I went into the Show and walked around. Was I ever in for a shock. I've always loved art museums and have my retinue of favorite painters. I've taken drawing and painting classes. I think art should be everywhere and have even painted all over my car (sure made it easy to find in a parking lot). But I'd never seen art on a bed before and the quilts I saw that day were certainly NOT ordinary. There were striking geometric quilts and photographic quilts. Quilts that changed as you moved around them and ones that demanded to be looked at because of their bold color combinations. I was immediately smitten. I ran downstairs and asked how I could learn. Summer was quickly approaching so I had to wait until Fall and then I had the matter of delivering my second child to get past. Three weeks after my daughter was born, I started classes with Sharon Jackson, now living back in South Africa. She was a tremendous teacher and a wonderful person. My newborn daughter would lay there for over two hours every week quietly while I learned. Since then, I've been bitten by the fabric bug, pattern bug, magazine bug and every quilting disease you can imagine. My projects to make list has topped a thousand and my patterns probably 40. At this rate I will have to live to be 4,137 years old to accomplish everything I'd like to try and only if I never look at another magazine again! I did manage to tame myself a bit this summer in buying only tone-on-tones to make better use of all the focal fabrics I've accumulated here. I do think we should lobby together to get a special luggage allowance rate for quilters on airlines. What they have now is just ridiculous! I love quilts that feature illusion, bold geometrics, historical patterns, applique, how can I list them all? My husband is very supportive of this hobby - what husband wouldn't when this hobby keeps us home with the family and yields precious family heirlooms? My children love to play in the fabrics and choose their favorites. My son, nearly six now, started learning EQ5 at the age of four and could pull up blocks, remove the color, pick a palette of swatches, color the blocks, save them and start over again! Maybe he will be a quilter too! Quilting provides a way to give back as well. Last year I started a quilt ministry, a chapter of Prayers & Squares, at the church I attend where we give hand tied quilts to people in emotional, physical or spiritual crisis. The quilts are tied by congregation members who say a prayer as they tie the knot. Each knot represents a prayer that was said for that person and when they quilt lies over them, the symbolism is that they are covered in prayer. It has been hugely successful and well-received. We've been flooded with volunteers. My great-aunt Aelcidean is a quilter and I'd once seen approximately 300 quilts in her basement folded up (only off-white muslin backings showing) that she'd made. At the time I didn't appreciate or know much about quilts so I never asked to see any of them. What a devastating mistake! She recently wanted to sell them but was convinced by my dad to keep them since she'd never get what they were worth. She gave them away in half dozen increments to relatives. Relatives I am sure don't appreciate the value since they are not quilters. He did manage to get about 12 for himself and says they are mine whenever I want them. Once I settle somewhere they are coming HOME!
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