I get by with a little help with my friends...

When my grandfather died almost 20 years ago, i took the vests from his very dapper 3 piece suits, out of his closet. I didn't tell my mother or ask my grandmother. I wore them (Annie Hall influence even though i hadn't seen the movie). Then i put them in boxes and carried them around with me, move after move. A couple of years ago i got the idea to make them into a quilt for my mom. every holiday i wrote it on my to do list, but never got around to it. Recently she told me she had finally gotten rid of my grandfather's suits. She had been driving around with them in her car for a couple of weeks.

I guess that lit a fire under me and i completed the top of the quilt, but then i got stuck with the backing and binding and it sat around for another 6 months or so! Mother's Day seemed the perfect goal to get it done, but when i got out my sewing machine, I discovered that my son had worked little bits and pieces off of the machine, and I can't find them all!

Discouraged, depressed, angry at myself, i finally admitted that I needed help. I had to humble myself and I needed to ask someone for help.

I am very lucky becus i have three friends who immediately said "yes" and set a date to help me! I arrived at Kathy Grady's house on a hot day at the end of May. She was sitting outside on her patio under an awning with Lisa Basile and Susan Brauner. They looked at the quilt and quickly sent me back to my house to get a different fabric for the backing than the one I had brought. They were right, of course, i was settling for the fabric i could easily find. After some frantic digging, I found the one i wanted and returned. Everyone was busy working, cutting and ironing the binding (made from the silk lining of the vests). Susan has a really simple elegant way of doing the binding and she showed me how it works.

I felt so much pleasure in having the quilt finished, (well, i still had to go home and do some hand sewing, but practically done), and so grateful to my friends for this gift that i wondered if someone had slipped me some Ecstasy! It reminded me of when i lived in New York City and my 18 year old roommate (i was 29), and her friend were doing ecstasy. They gave me a big hug and said, "We love you Kristen! We love the way you bring home junk from the street and fill up the whole apartment!"