Hello? hello? is this thing on... (taps microphone...)
I thought I'd better haul myself out from hiding under the pier to thank everybody involved for the most fantastic and beautiful HUG quilt that arrived with me today... I've been involved in making a few hug quilts in the dim and distant past, never ever thought that I would be in a situation where I would be the recipient...
For those of you who are now scratching your heads trying to remember me, I was Suzie B, married to Paul aka Corporal_Bang... he left me 2.5 years ago and we are now divorced and I've gone back to my maiden name, so I'm now Suzie H. Still living in sunny Southend on Sea, still within walking distance of the pier lol... still living by myself altho I do have a new fella who loves me to pieces and puts up with me so it's not all bad! Never thought I'd get over Paul, but time is a great healer - we still see each other from time to time and have remained friendly & are on speaking terms.
I'm not quilting so much these days (hey who am I trying to kid, I've not picked up a needle for anything more than a hem for ages!) as my interests are now firmly in scrapbooking and papercrafting... however I still have enough patchwork fabric to go someways towards sinking the Titanic for a second time.
Workwise I'm still with HM Revenue & Customs, but sadly lost my part- time job at the craft shop as it ceased trading in July due to the recession. I'm still looking for a replacement job, those bills won't pay themselves unfortunately.
Right, thats enough hi-jacking of the newsgroup with waffle, back to MY HUG... I got home from work this afternoon to find a card from Kate saying that something was on its way to me from RCTQ, and there was also a red/white card from the Post Office to collect a parcel... it didn't even dawn on me to put 2 and 2 together until I got to the Sorting Office and he brought this huge box out (I was expecting a jiffy bag with some ATC's in it lol) On seeing the names and addresses of the senders on it and feeling the weight, I immediately knew what it was and choked up... its really hard driving home with tears streaming down your face...
It actually took me a while to summon up the courage to even open the box, I almost waited for when my fella comes round later on but eventually decided to carefully open it - then took MY HUG into the bedroom, lay on the bed, wrapped myself in MY HUG and cried solidly for a long time, totally overwhelmed by my emotions... this beautiful quilt has been a long time in the making by the looks of things but it certainly doesn't diminish the love and affection that has been stitched into every single inch from friends from all over the world... there's blocks from the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe, UK; blocks made by my friends in the quilting world... the sashing and borders are purple and so is the back and its beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The quilting is amazing, it just brings the whole thing together.
Did I say it was beautiful? well it is, and I feel very honoured, priviledged and very humbled to think that I have joined a rather special group of people who have received a very precious gift from quilters all around the world. We may never meet in person, we sometimes just know them as a usenet username, and its very humbling to think that they have taken some time out of their own lives to help create something that I will treasure forever. I will try and get pictures up onto my blog later on, and let you know my blog details, can't think straight right now...
Ironically, the one person in my life who would understand exactly how I am feeling now is my ex-husband... he was involved with RCTQ from the sidelines for a long while and knew all about hug quilts... but this is a gift for me and I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. May each and every one of you always find a sharp needle and have your seams lie flat.
With hugs, Suzie xx
(who will try and stay un-lurked now - at least for a while!)