Hello all, Mary Ellen again.

We all were so impressed by Kelly’s  (Kelly Miller, the chairwoman of our quilt show) speech at our preview party. I am sharing it here with you. Thank you to Kelly for permission, and for providing the text.

“Quilts, Glorious Quilts.  It’s finally here!  We made it to the show.  All of the planning and preparation has come to an end and we get to enjoy the result of all our combined efforts.  Quilts, Glorious, Quilts!  What a truly grand name for a quilt show.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about this show title when we first voted on it as a guild.  I thought that maybe it was lacking a theme.  No garden flowers, no sea of quilts, no artist’s palette, no theme… But that might be because I trained as a teacher and many teachers group their lessons by themes.  However, then it dawned on me…. We don’t need a theme, we have quilts!  And glorious ones at that!  But what exactly makes these quilts glorious I thought?

One day after a trip to a fabric shop, as I was playing with my fabric choices and colors for a quilt, I got to thinking about my puzzle.  Does a quilt need to win an award to make it glorious?  Does the maker of the quilt need to be famous or well-known?  Is it the fabric that makes a quilt glorious?  Or, is it the careful planning and artistry that goes in to a quilt that makes a quilt glorious?  Well, may be sometimes the fabric an artist chooses for a quilt can just simple wow us when we see the finished product, but I don’t believe that is what makes a quilt glorious in itself.  And sometimes quilts are simply made for warmth or necessity, so what makes those quilts special?  What is the answer to this puzzle?  I bet all the quilters in the audience are thinking about what makes their quilts special, right now.  Take a minute to think about why these quilts are special.  Were they made for loved ones, or are they memories of friends  we no longer have with us?  Were they made for a special occasion such as a wedding or a birth?  Even if the quilt was made for a loved one or a special occasion, what makes it glorious?

Well, I guess you all want to know my conclusion to this puzzle. And to really answer this, I need to tell a story.  Yes, a story.

Here is my quilt. It’s a simple quilt with cows on it.  I chose the name, Penguins in the Farmyard, for this quilt.  Now I know most of you just turned to the person sitting next to you with a puzzled look on your face.  And without knowing the story behind this quilt, I don’t blame you.  You see, my story starts back in February when our guild held its annual auction.  Members donated unwanted fabric, patterns, books, and sewing notions so we could all bid on these treasures and make them our own.  We had so many things to bid on that our auctioneer ran short of time.  This pattern, along with several others, came to the auction block.  Our fabulous auctioneer was calling out some of the patterns and called this one-“penguins”.  And after calling for a bid or two, she did a double take and said, “oh, cows!”. We all had a good chuckle.  You see, many of the ladies in this guild have been members for a long time and have become a close group.  But even as a new member five years ago, I have always felt welcome at the meetings and events.  Maybe that’s why I jumped right in to chair the 2010 quilt show and had so much fun that I did it again for 2012.  We as a guild, shared a moment, a story that evening.  And I believe that what makes a quilt glorious, is the story behind it.  And I think many quilters will agree with me.  It is not the fabric, the planning, the artist, but rather the way a quilt comes to be, the inspiration behind it, that makes it glorious.  So, as you look at all of these glorious quilts this weekend, I invite you to find a quilter and share a story!”

Nice speech, isn’t it? Now it’s your turn–make a quilt and share it’s story!