This past week I learned that a very dear friend of mine passed away at her home in Arizona. Evelyn and I met many, many years ago at the Log Cabin Quilt Guild in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. We connected right away and I was excited to join in a small group she put together called the “Quilty Bees”. We all collected bee fabrics and made fun projects from them, but Evelyn was definitely the Queen Bee.

She was a very talented quilter, teacher and lecturer. She was known for her beautiful vests and embellished art quilts. I wrote a post about some of her amazing work five years ago. Please click here to read all about it (and be aware that the first part of this post is from long ago ~ and not current information).

I learned a lot from her over the years, especially about paint sticks. On a visit with her in Arizona she shared her knowledge and helped me to make a quilt that ended up winning awards. She even used them to make the shadow along the lower edge of the flying geese in our collaboration quilt: Intragalactic Journey (aka Out of the Bathtub).

In 2008 Evelyn joined Wendy and me on our quilter’s riverboat cruise in France. We had a pre-trip contest in which we sent fabric to each participant and asked them to make something for the trip. Evelyn’s vest was the winner, and her prize was her very own Quilt Sissie. She named her QuiltTilly.

Evelyn’s sister Hazel was also a quilter, and she shared Evelyn’s love for life ~ and quilting. In 2010 they invited me travel to Alaska, and teach for a few guilds near Hazel and Eddie’s home in Kenai. What a fantastic adventure that was! I met so many lovely people and saw many amazing sites. The classes went well, and the best part was who I was with.

Then in 2012 I was invited to teach for shops and guilds in Arizona ~ while staying with Evelyn once again (Hazel lived there half the year). This was my bedroom (and her studio) there.

Our time in Mesa (and the surrounding area) was great. Plus we made a trip to a quilt show in Tucson. What a wonderful adventure!

The following year Wendy and I invited the sisters to join us on our annual trip to Paducah for the AQS show.

We even got to meet Quiltman and Bobbin while having lunch at Grace Church.

We had a lot of fun, but all good things come to an end. After we took Evelyn and Hazel to the airport we discovered that Evelyn had left QuiltTilly behind. That started one of the silliest adventures I’ve ever blogged about! If you’ve never read the story (I have posted about it before), and you’d like a good laugh, you’ll want to visit the links below (and be aware ~ the saga of QuiltTilly is at the end of each of these posts). To begin with, we noticed QuiltTilly was in rough shape. She’d traveled all over the world with Evelyn and seemed to be suffering a bit (one hand was actually missing!)
So Wendy and I conspired to send a ransom note while driving home from Paducah (click here to read about it).

While QuiltTilly stayed with me she got into a bit of mischief (click here and then here for that part of the story).

In the end the ransom was paid and there was a happy reunion (click here for the conclusion!) I told you it was silly ~ and I’m so grateful for friends I can be silly with!

A few years later Wendy and I led a trip to the quilt show in Sisters, Oregon. Evelyn, Hazel, and their Quilt Sisters joined us for another wonderful adventure.

This was followed by a cruise of the St. Lawrence River from Quebec to Boston a few years later.

One of my fondest memories of time spent with Evelyn was prior to my trip to Japan. She wasn’t able to travel with me that time, but she called me a few months before and told me I needed to make a jacket along with her. The jacket she’d made previously with this particular pattern had worn out, and I was delighted to spend time with her making our new jackets. I love wearing it, but the time spent with her is the best part of it’s story (click here for that story).

For my 60th birthday Wendy arranged to have my friends send me blocks (to read about that click here). I made them into a quilt that I use often. I’m so grateful to have Evelyn’s block in that quilt. Every time I snuggle under it and read her block, it reminds me of my dear friend and all our wonderful adventures.

I miss you Evelyn! And I’m so grateful for all the precious moments we’ve had together!