One lady in our community, Em Bayly from Florida has asked us to share her story with you.

A few years ago I made my first queen-sized quilt to give to my son on his 50th birthday. He had just gotten out of the hospital following a difficult time in his life. I composed the following comments on a scratch pad to use on his card attached to the quilt.

I was invited by Jeanne, my long-time neighbour and friend, to join a group of five “new” quilters. Along with Jeanne and I, her daughter and three other young working women met once a month so as to set aside time in their busy schedule to quilt. We rotated from home to home to make it easier.

When it was my time to host, Jeanne noticed the above note I had written hanging over my sewing machine. Later, she asked for a copy of it and I said I would email it to her but she wanted a copy of the original, hand-written draft. Sadly she passed away shortly afterwards.

A few months later when the group was gathered at her daughter’s house, she said to us that she had found this poignant prose among her mother’s papers adding that she did not know where it came from but thought it was beautiful as she read it aloud.

I smiled and quietly said “I wrote that”