Suzanne Albright, from Annandale, VA has won a $100 Shopping Spree at FullLineStencil.com

Do you recognize this quilt? Suzanne entered our drawing back in March 2020, and I included it in an email showing off some of our entries that month. March, doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago?



You may not know this, but when you enter the drawing, you have a chance every month to be a winner until you are a winner! Even then, you can reenter with something new. See the link at the top of this email for details of how to enter.



Suzanne did a superb job quilting with our #31000 Basket Weave stencil. Her patience and perseverance paid off big time. Her quilt is amazing. In case you're wondering that weave is a series of 3/4" x 2" rectangles and 1/2" squares. Wow!



She shared a couple more quilts she made with our stencils and wrote this great letter so we could all get to know her better. It's so exciting to learn about people we share our passion with. I hope you enjoy her story.

My name is Suzanne and I live in Northern Virginia. I was astonished when informed that I was the recipient of the July shopping spree for my quilting. I will start with a little history of my quilting. I have always done some kind of needlework since my early teens. I took a sewing class in grade school at the local Singer store and that is when I caught the sewing ‘bug.’ I did a great deal of cross-stitching and clothing sewing in high school and college. I moved to Florida right out of college and found a wonderful quilting store in Orange Park, FL. I signed up for a class figuring it would be fun. My first ever-quilting adventure was a 12-week class and we made a sampler quilt. Remember in 1982, there were no rotary cutters or rulers! We tore the fabric to the sizes we needed and the quilt was all done by hand. It only took about 6 years to finish and I finally broke down and put the last border on by machine. I still treasure that quilt and wonder how I ever finished the hand-quilting.



My husband was in the military and in each town we lived, there seemed to be a group of quilters or crafters. Gradually I improved my piecing skills and really wanted to improve my quilting. A few years ago, I went to the Quilters Unlimited annual show in Northern Virginia and ran across the Full Line Stencil booth and Bernie Collier was showing how the stencils and chalk worked. I was hooked immediately.



The Full Line Stencil concept has changed the way I look at my quilting process. I am much more confident in my quilting process. I also look at the pattern and wonder, “how will I quilt this” before I consider making the quilt. I still quilt on my sewing machine, never wanting to know how nice it would be to learn how to use a long arm. Also, I have learned to be more forgiving of my quilts, only I know where the poor stitching is. Everyone I have ever given a quilt to is delighted beyond words.



I am attaching pictures, but I want to give a ‘shout out’ to our Fairfax, VA quilting store if I may. The Quilt Studio has been my lifesaver during this pandemic. Without the ability to buy supplies from them I feel my stress level would have been much higher. I am a nurse and during the initial stages of the pandemic, I did not feel that I should expose anyone to myself due to patient-nursing encounters. They were wonderful and picked out fabric for me so I could continue my quilting and I would not potentially pass on any unknown infection to others. You will see the quilts below and I hope you can see how many of them are quilted with Full Line stencils.



Thank you Full Line, your stencils are great. I always look forward to seeing the newest designs. In the meantime, I want to find a quilt that I can use the Celtic stencils with.

Suzanne

Thank you Suzanne for entering our drawing, serving on the front lines of the pandemic, serving our country in a military family, and taking time to share your story. You are an inspiration. And we should all take your advise and be more forgiving about our imperfections. Quilting is a process, as much as a destination.

Here's a closer look at that quilt Suzanne is holding! You can really appreciate how much work is put into it  when you look close. The texture that stencil achieves is outstanding.  It's our Basket Weave, #31000.