My lucky day occurred two weeks ago, and I am still marveling at my good fortune.

I was at the December meeting of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild, which I joined last spring. The guild was having a membership renewal drive, and those who renewed at the meeting were eligible for prizes. Of course I renewed on the spot. I’ve only made it to a few meetings this year but I have been so impressed with the creativity and talent of the women (and a few men) who belong to the guild. And every one is so friendly. I usually sit down next to someone I don’t know and introduce myself. By the end of the evening I have a new friend. This time it was a lovely woman named Vickie.

There must have been 15 or 20 prizes awarded to renewing members, fun things like new books and bundles of fabric. Alas, I didn’t win a thing. Then one more prize was announced: a quilting session with Nancy Stovall of Just Quilting. Can you imagine how thrilled I was when I heard my name called? Nancy is an award-winning longarm quilter. “What does ‘quilting session’ mean?” I whispered to Vickie. “It means she will quilt a quilt for you!” answered Vickie.

I was so excited that the very next day I took a newly-finished quilt top to Nancy’s studio, and we talked about motifs and auditioned threads. Today I dropped off the backing, and now I just have to sit back and wait till Nancy works her magic. This is the quilt top:

I’ve named it Cosmic Kaleidoscopes. Right now it measures 62″ x 82″, although the quilting process will draw it up somewhat. My goal is to get it bound and labeled in time for “show and tell” at the Jan. 17 meeting of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild and for the Pine Needle’s Open House Jan. 18 and 19.