Our Opportunity Quilt Winner
An Art Quilt Story…
It was a dark and stormy night. The rain was falling like a vertical
river…just kidding! It was a beautiful, sunny, and warm morning and my
favorite day of the week. I like Thursdays because I get to hang out with
my quilt guild members in the morning and have dinner with my family in the
evening. A perfect day.
April 16th.
The guild’s biggest fundraiser of the year, a drawing for two quilts.
Usually it’s just one quilt, this year it’s two: an art quilt and a large
bed quilt. The air was electric with excitement, at least for me. In my
mind’s eye, I saw my family sitting around the dinner table laughing,
talking, and eating. And then it happened: I hear our President, Linda
Hooper, read the name ‘Jacqui Cass…’, ‘Casa…’, ‘Casarotti’!
“Oh, My God!”, I screamed. “That’s my daughter, Jacqui Casarotti!”
I was overwhelmed. I felt like I was beaming rays of light from my
happy heart. Jacqui really deserved this quilt. She opens her home and her
heart to anyone in need and I’m so proud of her I could bust. I decided to
tell her at our weekly dinner.
It was incredibly hard for me not to blurt the news beforehand. By the
middle of dinner, I was beside myself. Deciding the time was right, I took
the winning ticket from my pocket, passed it down the table and watched as
Jacqui took it. Her eyes widened as she read it and she asked, “What does
this mean?”
“It means you won the raffle for the art quilt!”, I said.
There were hoots, hollers, high-fives, fist-bumps and even some dancing.
Then we got busy scheduling the mountain of chores that needed to be done
before such a grand item could be displayed. Finally, late Saturday, after
cleaning carpets, baseboards, and windows the quilt was hung on a black,
“iron-esqe” rod with glass finials. The country theme of the quilt blends
with the vineyards and hills outside her dining room window and the colors
add a warmth that lights the room.
I read the label, noting the women I know now like pretty Genie Becker –
the designer, Jan Head – quilter extraordinaire, Selma Sklar – one of my
Block -of- the -Month friends, and the other women whose names I recognize
but don’t yet know like Linda Sims, Diane Land, Joyce Marty, Nancy Mc
Dermit, Linda Morand and Cathy Ortell — but hope to over time. I thought
my life was rich before I met you gals. Now your goodness is spilling over
into my family’s lives as well in extraordinary and remarkable ways.
Much Thanks,
Rhonda Denny
