Better Late than Never

It was a combination of putting off and kept forgetting that I never blogged about this. I decided today was the day. I thought I would show you the place I hang my hat when it comes to quilt stores. Some of you living in Ontario will recognize this place and know a quilter can have a lot of fun there. They also were chosen from thousands to be included in the Quilt Sampler magazine. I was so happy for them when it happened. This is the last issue from the magazine and the store is featured on page 44. It is called Quilters Cupboard .

Sue the owner of the store is an amazing person in more ways than one. To hear her explain how a store gets to "audition" for the magazine is a story all by itself. I never knew there was so much work involved. It's not just phoning them up and saying you'd like to offer your story. There were all kinds of preparations before the magazine decided to run their story and many months afterwards when the magazine decided to finally feature the store. Many nights with little sleep trying to meet deadlines and coping with all the changes made. Sue kept it all light hearted and managed to survive that. After all, she is a survivor of another sort. Sue was diagnosed with cancer (she had no signs whatsoever) and the prognosis was not good but with a lot of prayer and a lot of friendship from all she managed. During her various medical regimes she decided to host a cancer-quilt-marathon. She organized groups quilting around the frame non-stop (and I mean 24hours) for many days. People signed up for sewing, feeding the masses, entertaining, serving, quilting etc. The word got out throughout the town and even men were dropping in to see what the fuss was all about. Some even tried their hand at quilting. There were pledges signed and things sold through auctions via the store. People then started coming from all around to participate in this worthwhile cause. Sue also had a bet going with another quilt store to do the same (raise money for cancer) in another part of the province. Other quilt stores throughout Canada heard about it and did their bit as well. When Sue totaled the money that her store alone raised for the cancer society we all fell off our chairs. In the matter of 2 weeks (I believe) Sue's store raised over $30,000. Yes, more than $30,000. You have to remember that Uxbridge, where the store is located, is just a small town. It is in farm country. To me that showed how much Sue and her store is loved and how much the town and all that participated wanted to help fight a terrible disease. Word spread throughout the "land" and more and more people wanted to "help" so Sue organized another marathon the following year. I don't know how much that one raised but I'm sure it was a vast sum again. There have been other marathons for cancer put on by other quilt stores in Canada but to date no one has matched Sue's amount collected. There is more to this story but have kept it brief. Visit Sue sometime and she'll fill in the details for you. Besides, this will give you another reason to visit the store (besides shopping) and meet her in person. You won't regret going. If you live too far away turn to page 44 in the magazine to read about her store. Too bad the article wasn't longer. There is so much more to say. Then turn to the pattern section where Sherri designed a quilt for the article in the magazine. Wonderful, in a word. Sew-long!