A sad day in Woodinville. Our best Quilt store is closing.
She managed to stay open in the middle of Woodenville Wine country when all around her were being pushed away in favor of more tasting rooms. She survived and thrived moving to a smaller store.
Her heroic efforts to stay open and useful in the community, during covid, should have gotten her a medal for community service! She organized a fearful bunch of nattering sewers, to make hundreds of thousands of masks. When no one could find them for love or money, She coordinated us and made sure we knew how to make them so they were sturdy and filtered, then donated them all to local elderly shelters, hospitals and first responders, so no one would go "Naked" in the crisis. This is how you "grass roots" the heck out of a horrible situation!
Here is where I found my tribe in Washington and spent may hours learning creating, teaching and laughing with friends. When I absolutely could not "people" She understood. I could go there and still feel wanted and needed for my skills. She encouraged me to teach when I didn't think I could and encouraged me to join the local guild, where I could be useful to that community also. If it weren't for her delicate size 8's in my posterior, I would not have published 3 magazine articles or stood up before the entire guild to share my passion for Crazy Quilting or give a speech.
Susan has been a cornerstone of our quilting community, a bulwark in tough times and a encouraging person who is generous to a fault. Her store was our beacon, a haven of pretty fabric, new ideas and cheerful discourse. She had the best taste in color and fabric and her hand on the pulse of our community, where we were all welcome and inspired to bigger better things.
She brought us all together, when times were bleak and the rest of us didn't know what to do, but she did.
She will be missed by all of us.
