My Quilting Buddy

A lot of the things I do in my life are solitary -- writing, gardening, and quilting. But I do have a buddy when it comes to quilting. She's younger than my oldest kid, which tells you something. She keeps me young and in touch with things that are going on in the world now.

Mainly, we go to quilt shops and quilt shows to buy fabric and get ideas. One Saturday a month, we go to our local quilt show, sit through a demonstration of all the new gimmicks and patterns and look at the new fabrics that have arived at the store. Then we get the bits of fabric and the directions for a quilt block, and at the end of the year, we'll have enough block to make a small quilt.

This sounds rather cut and dried, but that's because you don't know my friend. She has a wild sense of humor. When she tells a story, she talks so fast that she leaves gaps, and I fill in with mental pictures. It's hard to tell when things have happened, because time gets warped, but I've learned to keep up. And ask very few questions. It's better that way.

The great thing is that we see each other as equals, although people sometimes think I'm her mother. She fills the gap of feminine company in my life. She also fills my life with laughter.

Everybody ought to have a friend like that.