My Dad Called Me 'Willful"

As a matter of fact, I am going to open this little space. I want to spend whatever time I have with people I enjoy; so, come on over and see what's happening on the farm.

When my daughter was born, someone said, "Save her clothes so you can have them made into a quilt when she gets married." Please note that the person said, "...have them made into a quilt." She did not say, "...so you can make them into a quilt yourself."

I honestly thought that I would take a big tub of clothes to someone and say, "Please make a quilt out of these." It turns out, that's not a thing. Who knew? God has funny ways of putting little blessings at your footsteps; I found someone who said that she would teach me how to make the quilt.

Well, many months, three sewing machines, part of a finger, and thousands of dollars later, that quilt was ready in time for my daughter's baby shower. I do not have a more precious memory than the memory of her opening that quilt. I had recently lost both of my parents, so I put some of their clothes in the quilt too. When she opened the package, she saw a piece of one of my dad's shirts. She immediately pulled the quilt to her face and inhaled what she hoped to be the memory of her favorite human. There was not one dry eye in the building. It was such a tender moment that demonstrated the beauty of what a quilt can do.

I was hooked. In that moment, I started planning multitudes of other quilts that I would make.

Five (or six) sewing machines, three years, a mid arm, a long arm, many [more] thousands of dollars later, and here we are.

Early this year, I told my husband that I wanted a place (on the farm) where I could host quilty friends. Being the great sport that he is, a building design began.

Like everything else I've done, I just decided that I would do it and I did - my Dad called me 'willful.' Literal blood, sweat, and tears (when I thought I wasn't going to get something the way I wanted it) went into this idea.

Now it is here and I want you to come see what we did. It is SUCH a happy place. You can see where I sew; you can see where you can sew; you can see the idea behind "The Patriotic Pincushion" name (if you know me at all, you already know this part); you can see all of our farm animals (and the neighbor's). You might not see what you expect, but you will see what I love.

January 1st and 2nd from noon - 4:00, we will have a little project set up for you to sew on the shop Featherweight. We will have hourly prizes. We will have little treats. And, best of all, we will get a few minutes to visit.

Please plan to join me. Let's ring in 2022 together! For more specific information and to register, use this link.

M-