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This post is going out all over blogland, in the hope that some of the ladies listed might see it and remember our quilting friendship on FIDOnet of long ago.
It was back in 1995, that I (and the ladies listed here) were part of a FIDOnet BBS system. We were quilters and we participated in swaps and lottos and messages back and forth. This was WAAAAY before the internet as we know it today even existed. There was no such thing as posting a message and getting a practically instant response. Messages that you posted to the BBS system had to be passed along to the member systems, where replies to your original post would be entered and *eventually* you'd see the replies show up on the BBS system that was your "home base".
But, it was a wonder! I connected with lots and lots of quilters, most of whom I had no idea where they lived. Through the swaps that we did, we obviously needed to share home addresses and it was then that we all realized the international flavor of our quilting forum.
In June 1995, I happened to win that month's lotto. When I received all the blocks I was due, I figured out a layout for them .. but that was as far as I got. I am really, *really*, REALLY great at procrastination and this one was a doozy.
The layout is certainly non-traditional. I had two blocks that definitely needed to be presented on-point. I picked two other blocks that didn't have an orientation, so that it didn't matter which end was "up". Those four blocks became the center "diamond" medallion. I just plopped the rest of the blocks around the medallion, spacing them so that it looked pleasing. The resultant layout certainly gives me a bit of negative space to do some interesting quilting, when that time comes.
Let's fast forward to November 2016. I had pulled this long-ago UFO from my bin of UFOs and *finally* assembled all the blocks! Yeah, it only took me 21 years. :-) BUT, it got done and I feel very pleased with myself on this accomplishment.
This pieced top has now been put in the ever-growing Pile of Tops to be Quilted. My focus *now*, as it has been for the past year or so, is to work on my UFO bins ... to get those assembled fabrics into a pieced top, ready to be quilted. The actual quilting will come at a later date .. but right now, I feel absolutely compelled to empty those bins by actually making the tops.
The ladies who participated in this lotto are listed below. I would just LOVE it if any .. or most! .. of them would contact me. (Leave me a comment below or I'm on Facebook, too) :-) Because I failed to retain the envelopes the blocks came in, the only information I have is what was signed on the blocks, which means in many cases, it's only a name. *Sometimes* I have a location .. and that location is only correct as of 1995. It certainly may have changed in the intervening 21 years.
Fatimah Abdallah
Nora Bellaart
Shirley Benoit [sent Facebook message]
Susan Bewick - contact made! woo hoo!
Nancy Brassea
Vickie Claar [sent Facebook message]
Sandy Colby of Ferndale, MI [sent Facebook message]
Nancy Coleman of Hollandale, MS (she did the most AMAZING hand-stitched Dresden Star) (sent email)
Yvonne Didde
Tricia (Pat) Knox - contact made! woo hoo!
Ruth Hahn of Cremona, Alberta, Canada
Mary Jordan
Terri Lehoux
Lori Liatto
Kay Mainguth - contact made! woo hoo!
Cheryl Nelson
Kathy Oganezov of Portage, WI. Passed away 10/2016 at age 55. :-(
Donna Brassea Ransdell of Poway, CA [sent Facebook message]
Lisa Reeves
Julia Sidebottom - contact made! woo hoo!
Andrea Suais - contact made! woo hoo!
Pam Whitehead
Doris Wills of Mt. Sterling, KY
You certainly are cranking out those UFOs and a record breaking rate!!!! Amazing that you have been able to contact so many of the people in this block lotto. Social media certainly has come a long way.
ReplyDeleteHiya, Ami. Yeah, I feel very accomplished at working through the UFO bins. Since Tom & I are now free-range parents :-) , I no longer have the children-oriented things to do. However, let's not talk about the housework and cooking that I'm not doing. :-)
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