To My Students

Dear Students at AQS Quilt Week in Des Moines,

I was so excited to see you and spend this week with you.  The thought of teaching quilting always makes me smile.  You are the reason that I wake up stupidly early and fight the armrest wars.

In over a decade, I have never cancelled a quilt class.  Ever.  Sadly,  that changed this morning.  I received a phone call.  That phone call.  The phone call that no daughter wants to receive.  The phone call that changed everything.

This morning, my father died suddenly when an abdominal aneurysm ruptured.  This came as a total and complete shock to all of us.

I miss my dad already:

I have spent all day traveling and am now at home with my family.

Many thanks to AQS for handling a tearful early-morning phone call with grace.

Many thanks to Handi Quilter.  They sponsored my classroom at the quilt show.  With one phone call, they sent their team to pack up my classroom for me.  "Don't worry about anything," were their words to me.

Many thanks to the Marriott.  They jumped into action, drove me to the convention center and then to the airport to catch the first flight out.

Many thanks to Delta.  I made one phone call and they handled all of the details.

Many thanks to the lovely and talented Angela Walters who offered to adopt my students as hers for the week.  You, my students, are in good hands.

This morning, I received countless hugs, squeezes, and tissues from quilters, both friends and strangers.  My phone has been buzzing with emails, texts and calls of support.  Quilters are amazing, and I love and appreciate you all.