Here It Is!!!

After five years of working on these 16 quilts in the privacy of my own brain, my own imagination, my own storehouse of fabric, my own studio, my own blog, it is with absolute joy, absolute glee, absolute delight, absolute amazement -- that I am now able to take the quilts into schools, libraries and conferences and share them. There's a whole, beyond amazing, story about the journey of the quilts between the time the book was printed and this photo being snapped.... when they went off on their own rogue adventure. That's a story still too amazing for me to think about, cuz it gives me shivers. It's all too-happy an ending-to-imagine, is the type of conclusion that you'd catch on an episode of Kweezletown. Let me just say, at the moment this picture was taken -- (I chose this little smile from the front row, because his red t-shirt had a picture of the flag in silhouette of our country's map) -- this was truly one of the top-ten happiest moments of my professional career. I'm so grateful to have it captured for posterity. It makes me smile from the top of my hair to the tingles of my toes.

This school is very close to the Wright-Patterson Air Force base. As I was preparing for the kiddos to arrive, it was amazing to see several children being dropped off at school by a parent in their complete military uniform. Having a husband who served our country in the Navy and two sons-in-law who are currently sporting their branch's respective uniforms, and with SIL Scott at this very moment deployed, away from his family who love & miss him daily, I have an ever deeper respect for all that goes on to protect what we love about our country. It's mornings like this one that make me mindful and appreciative -- all at the same time.