Those of you who spend time making quilts will understand how dear they are to us all - the many hours spent lovingly tending each wee stitch . . . so when my little log cabin was stolen from our previous shop just over twelve months ago, I was extremely upset . . yes, I certainly have enough fabric to make a trillion more of them, but that little quilt meant so much to me . . .
Over the past twelve months in our new location, at least once a month I would say to Deirdre "I'll just check in these old suitcases again" . . . "I'll just check in these old boxes again" . . . and so on it went, just hoping that it would magically appear out of nowhere, but knowing deep down that someone out there loved it just as much as me and thought that it was free for the taking.
I had already left for the day when one of our dear customers came in to shop. Whilst Deirdre was cutting her fabric, she was looking at all of our little quilts folded up in an old cradle and commented how delightful they were. She told Deirdre how lucky she was that recently she picked up a little quilt at one of our local markets. Then she turned around and saw the big sister log cabin . . .
"Oh, it was just like that one" she said and then Deirdre really sprang to attention and starting asking about the size and colours, then proceeded to show her a picture of it. "Yep, that's it". She then went on to describe it in detail and Deirdre knew straight away that it was mine.
Our customer then went on to explain how this lovely lady on the stand at the market had talked to her for about half an hour about all the years she had been sewing and how she had made this quilt and many others like it. Deirdre asked if she would bring it in for us to see and she turned up on our doorstop first thing in the morning carrying a little paper bag . . .she really wanted it to come back to the owner if indeed it was the right quilt.
My jaw was still on the floor at this stage as Deirdre had just finished relaying the story to me . . . she opened the bag and there it was . . . my dear little log cabin . . . lots of shrieks of joy and pure disbelief . . . how do people have the audacity to do such a thing.
We love our shop and all of the things in it - we love to have our things on display so other people can enjoy them as we do . . . and it seems that this lady with the hot fingers thought so too. This little quilt is not the only treasure we have had stolen over the years. We never want to resort to having to tie things down, electronically tag items or have security cameras . . . we just want people to stay honest and respect what we do . . .
I will be forever grateful to our dear customer who returned this little treasure to me. There are good people in the world too. Thank you . . . you know who you are.
Until next time,
Leonie & Deirdre - Quilted Crow Girls
