Choosing a present for a quilt-a-holic is the easy part. Writing the little tag is where most of us freeze, pen hovering, because how do you sum up a woman who plans vacations around quilt shops and once rearranged the living room for a design wall? Gifts for the Quilt-a-Holic is our collection for her, and every design in it already says half of what you mean. Here is how to finish the sentence.
The tag that says: I know where you want to go next
A good share of this collection comes from our Stitchin In Beauty national park designs, each one a soft, hand-drawn badge with the park's name arched over a wild neighbor. The Carlsbad Caverns bat spreads its wings, the Pinnacles falcon keeps watch, and the Congaree otter stands up tall and curious. There is a sunning seal for Acadia, a bighorn for Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a Dall sheep for Wrangell-St. Elias and a grizzly for Yellowstone. Bison graze through Badlands, Wind Cave and Theodore Roosevelt, while foxes turn up in Channel Islands, Acadia and Arches. Write the park she keeps mentioning on the tag, and add one word: soon.
The tag that says: home is wherever your stash lives
Some quilters would rather sew close to home, and that is a love story too. The state designs outline the whole map in the same gentle linework, with a few quiet words underneath. Alabama reads River Country, Alaska reads Wide Horizons, Arizona reads Open Silence, and California blooms with wildflowers. Pick her home state, or the one where she learned to quilt at her grandmother's elbow, and let the tag say, "This one is yours."
The tag that says: yes, you really can make that
Every quilt-a-holic has stood in a boutique, turned over a price tag and whispered the famous words. I Can Totally Make That says it in bright rainbow letters, for the friend who has never met a store-bought thing she couldn't reverse engineer. I Turn Coffee into Quilts shows a steaming cup under a sunny sky, for the one who measures her sewing time in refills. And Vivi Quickstitch, our jewel-toned hummingbird, hovers beside an embroidery hoop as if she has been waiting all morning to help thread the needle.
For the quilter who has everything except this
She owns the good scissors and her stash is spoken for, so give her something that shows you pay attention: the park on her someday list, the state she calls home, or the saying she mutters under her breath. Picture her face when she opens it. That is SO her, and she will know you know it. As for the tag itself, keep it short and heartfelt, and tuck it under the ribbon. She will want to save the ribbon anyway. It might make lovely binding.
Written by Judy. Thanks for reading.
