Promised Re-Post of "Quilters Around the World"

A while back, I said I would be re-posting an old, long blog entry from my previous APQ Blog.  This one will be even longer!  Sorry!  You may want to hurriedly scroll down to the end just to get past it; but don't miss the new picture there.    My first APQ blog post was 3-27-2008, so it took me just ten days to form this opinion, thanks to you wonderful blogger/quilters!  I still stand by every word I penned (keyed?) back in 2008.    Fortunately, I had saved this one and a few others in a Word file!  This is copied exactly as it appeared originally:

Posted 4/7/2008 1:20 AM CDT 
I enjoy crazy things sometimes, but other times I get a little serious. I guess this is one of those serious times, so please just be patient with me through this "epistle". As I'm sure you've noticed, sometimes I'm a compulsive writer. This surely is one of those times!

It has been said that Music is the Universal Language! And of course, it is one, but there is another one. QUILTING, as experienced among the bloggers on this website, certainly is a Universal Language!

When I was a child, I had a Pen Pal who lived in California. I never met her personally, but we shared letters by snail mail each week. What fun that was! Sharing everyday happenings, and even some secrets, with a girl about my age, all the way from Texas to California, was very exciting, as well as educational. (Neither I nor my parents ever questioned that maybe she was not a girl my age! I'm wondering if any of my grandsons have ever considered a Pen Pal; I also wonder, in today's world, if I'd want them to!)

Yet here I am, in 2008, an old lady, with many new electronic Pen Pals whom I probably will never meet face to face; yet I feel perfectly comfortable in the experience. What a wonderful thing it is! I have met many new friends via computer, from my home State of Texas, to Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Utah, Minnesota, British Columbia, and even Australia! No doubt I have, or will, meet many others through this medium. And do you know what's so special about the experience? Well, let me tell you!

We all share the same Universal Language called QUILTING! It does not matter where one lives, whether rich or poor, young or old, employed or retired, what her religion, political leaning, race, physical condition, or appearance is. (I guess most of us are "her"s --- ha! --- Maybe not! --- Sorry! Actually I do know some men who are excellent quilters; you probably do too. But they just do it; they don't feel the need to communicate about it like we gals do.)

We all share the same addiction, for which there is no fix, short of going fabric shopping, or beginning, or finishing, a new quilt! None of us can ever get our hands on enough fabric; we all want the best sewing machine(s) we can afford; we all love delving through quilt magazines and books; we all look at the same patterns, but each of us sees them in different colors and fabrics; we all love to go to every quilt show (within our fuel price range these days, or our credit card limit!); we insist all our friends, neighbors, and relatives to take a look at our newest creation, maybe still under construction (I don't give mine a choice; they simply must see each step as the quilt progresses!); if they won't take time to look at it, we make them listen for hours about it; you know the drill --- we all are guilty as sin of everything I've mentioned! ---- Well, aren't you? --- Don't relate? Hmmmm --- I thought my readers would all be quilters! Maybe I was wrong. (My H.S. English teacher would be telling me THAT is a "Run-On Paragraph!" She would be right! Giggle!)

Now I came from a musical family. I do believe that music is one fantastic Universal Language! It truly speaks to the hearts of people all around the world. But so does QUILTING! Don't ever forget that! You can't, if you are truly a quilter. Quilts warm not only our bodies; quilts also warm our hearts! Quilts draw us together, even as much as musicians in an orchestra, a choir, or any other musical ensemble. Many are the times we as quilters must be supported by other quilters as we make pattern and color choices; that support from other quilters is as necessary as the bass line in music that lays the foundation, the support, if you please, for the melody and other harmony parts in a sheet of music.

I'm so glad that I'm finding that support, that foundation, from this great group of quilters in the APQ Blogger group. One of the first things I do each morning is check to see who is working on what, their progress or the problems they've encountered. Or maybe I'm looking for help myself, or an answer to a question I've had. It is rare for me not to check again before I go to bed. There's always someone, make that several someones, offering encouragement and/or solutions to quilting situations. The advice is always excellent, usually is from that quilter's experience, and often is helpful to several of us. Friendships evolve each day as compassion and caring are expressed between members on matters in life other than quilting.

We are becoming FAMILY! And that's a good thing!

We may never meet all our new quilting friends from all over the world, but we all speak very fluently that Universal Language --- QUILTING!

Now --- I'm going to go do it, every opportunity I get!

Happy Quilting to everyone!   ---"Love"
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That was then - 2008; this is now - 2010: 

When I recently announced this re-post would be coming, many of you in your comments, (totally unaware of what the re-post would be), stated again the same ideas as in my 2008 post  --- that you are so glad our little APQ gang has stayed close.  Now, in 2010, I must tell you nothing has given me more pleasure than talking "quilting" with each one of you every week.  It just seems appropriate to say "Blest be the tie that binds".  Almost all of us are here at Blogger, our new home, still together and still encouraging one another. A few old quilter friends are missing;  I may list some of their names in another blog sometime in the hope of locating them again.   Isn't it wonderful that we've also added some new "Quilting Cousins" along the way?  It is exciting to me that a few of us have been able to meet in person one or more of the group.

You may be wondering why that old blog affected me so when I read it last week.  Well, most of you have just recently confirmed your feelings of "Family" among us by taking part in the block swap event. 

That's the reason for my own little version which will be a constant reminder of my "Family" of quilting buddies from around the world.  I had intended to wait to re-post until one of you got your APQ quilt together,  but when I finally finished mine,  I just couldn't wait any longer!  You had seen the top before, minus the border, on 3-30-2010; those pictures are clearer!  It is 34" x 30".  Click to enlarge it a second time to read the names and my title at the bottom. I may need to make another one to add more friends' names!

Thanks to each of you for being a "Friend"!  *big smile*

---"Love"