I met Mary Van Grinsvin at a PTO meeting when our sons were in middle school and we decided to volunteer to be co-presidents. We soon discovered that we both were quilters. We enjoyed some fun times together, but then our sons headed off to different high schools after which Mary and her family moved away. She and her husband recently retired to a beautiful home on a lake in northern Wisconsin and she became connected to a quilt guild in Minocqua. As fate would have it she volunteered to co-chair the program committee with Glennes Youngbauer, another quilter I had known years ago through a guild in the Milwaukee area. I’ve run into both Mary and Glennes at quilt shows over the years and was so pleased when they invited me to teach for the Ladies of the Lake quilt guild last weekend. It is a very talented and friendly guild and both workshops were a lot of fun (at least for me they were :-)). Silly me, I forgot to get my camera out during the classes, but Mary did send me a picture of some of ladies and the Mariner’s Compasses they made in class.
Not only were the classes a blessing, but I had a wonderful time staying with Mary and Greg. Their home is lovely, but what blew me away was her studio.
What wonderful natural light and everything is so neat (she did admit to picking up a little before I arrived). Mary is an organizational genius and after seeing her storage closet, I knew I had a blog topic to share.
She had her shelves built with 8″ between them and she places each of her projects in a bin. She found these bins through a medical supply company and had to order 100 of them. She has used 64 so far and sent one home with me. Doesn’t this inspire you to get organized? It certainly has given me the organizing bug.
After class each night we had a bit of time on the lake. A ride in Greg’s new boat was a joy on Saturday and on Sunday Mary and I chased a loon while kayaking. What fun!
Thanks Mary for a delightful weekend!
The Quiltilly Conclusion
To refresh your memory – last week Quiltilly ran away and got into some mischief. Upon her return she decided to hide because she knew Chris wasn’t too happy about her nose ring!
While Chris looked high and low for that naughty Quiltilly, Quiltanna felt it her responsibility to expose her hiding place (the fishbowl of scraps):
After climbing out everyone talked it through and the Quiltsissies were back to having fun. So much so that they were found hanging from the rafters.
It was at this point Chris realized how much Tilly’s missing hand hindered her and she decided to do something about it – a cup hook fit the bill handily!
All too soon this little adventure was reaching a conclusion. Evelyn was heading to the Baltics for an exciting cruise and she really wanted to take Quiltilly along. Chris invited her to lunch (Wendy wasn’t able to be there) and Evelyn arrived with the ransom in hand. She was a bit reticent to hand it over, but Chris was happy to take it:
Joy only a Mom can display!
But Evelyn wasn’t too sure about the hook!
The Quiltsissies served a yummy lunch and afterwards Chris sent this note to Wendy:
“Diamonds! And they’re batiks! We’re rich! Evelyn and Quiltilly were happily reunited and excited about their trip to the Baltics next week. Only wish you and Quiltina could’ve been here. All’s well that ends well!”
and they all lived happily ever after.
The End
PS Chris received this note a few hours later:
“We had to drive thru almost blinding rain but Quiltillie and I are safe at home. Quiltillie cried all the way. She has been thru such an ordeal. I was so glad to rescue her from the clutches of her kidnappers. I’ll probably have to take her to a psychiatrist.”
Perhaps not everyone lived happily ever after :-(.