The other day a friend of mine and I were shopping at Kathy's Quilt Shop downtown on 4th Avenue. We were looking around and chatting and soon we were pleasantly asked by the owner if we needed any help. My friend told the lady what her need was and I continued to look around. Soon the owner met up with me and I told her I was looking for fabric with angels on it. A dear voice came from a few feet away and she said, "I am the only angel in the store today."
I was already in a good mood because of the great customer service and the cheerful comment from this obvious senior made me laugh out loud. That was when I met my new friend Irene Redlon. Irene was working away on a quilt of her own at one of the many sewing machines in the shop. I pulled up a chair and we sat there visiting like we were old friends. I knew immediately that I should get out my notebook and capture her story.
Irene (Walrath) Redlon met her husband Albert through a friend of the family back in 1965. Albert was born in Amsterdam and came to Canada when he was only six months old. His father was a Canadian soldier and his mother was a war bride. Albert worked for the CN Railway and Irene worked for BC Tel.
We had a great visit while Irene kept busy winding her bobbin and sorting things for her quilt project. She explained, "I come down to Kathy's Quilt Shop regularly to sew and visit. Some days it is more visiting than sewing. I come here to sew for several reasons. First of all it is a friendly and fun place to be and I meet new people all the time. Second, I prefer to sew here rather than at home because my husband sometimes has other projects for me. He is a wonderful guy but his idea of great projects for me quite often differs from my ideas. Together we raised four children and we now have four grand children so it is ok to just get out of the house to do my quilting. I have been quilting for the past ten years and he can't understand why I would take perfectly good fabric, cut it all up and then sew it all back together again."
I learned that quilters quilt and create projects because it is calming and an outlet for their creativity. Quilters share projects and sewing tips and they inspire one another. Quilting is a special kind of art and in the end they create a beautiful handmade gift that they usually end up giving to a very special person.
May birthdays that I know about: Iris West, Orville Claffey, Joe Anderson, Jean Shiels, Pearl Harrison, Dan Watt, Nan Steindl, Willa Osis, Clarence Lapp, Sally Roe, Evelyn O'Sullivan, Eric Benwell, Isabel Fleck, Aime Dumoulin, Carl Benson, Larry Young, Peggy Sokolic, Margaret Humphreys, Olga Boudreau, Paul Richter, Millie Conklin, Carole Milne, Jim Liness, Margaret Gauthier, Neal Cook, Irene Sitorski, Nancy Woychowski, Mary Ann Wilson, John Hiebert, Shirley Bogh, Susan Chin, Germain Bachand, Richard Demontigny, Mary Foreman, Louise Wilson, Orest Petraschuk, Shelby Cooke, Luanne Koocher, Richard Mintenko, Gary Thurier, Clyde Smaaslet, Victoria Petraschuk;, Eugene Nesbit, Judy Skailes, Mary Payne, Jeanne Olson, Bill Hoksbergen, Steve Sintich, Gladys Cormack, Alvena Brooks, Jeannie Knox, Keith McLachlan, Trixie Bartlett, Ellen Bracey, Havy Brantnall, Harold Bunce, Jeanine Christie, Don Clouston, Raymond Cosh, Henry Deslaurier, Barbara Doknich, Ernie Gregorash, Fran Hawryluk, Patricia Horning, Garth Lasko, Trudy Butler, Keving Blood, Stewart Law, JC Mulaire, Alice Payne, Karen Petryshyn, Vi Pfefferle, Debra Pfefferle, Jennie Price, Lorraine Prouse, Bill Sankey, Vera Van Kosky, Elizabeth Warren, Jim Weisbrodt, Colleen McLaughlin, Shirley Smith, Ann Dekker, Vern Goglin, Laurent Plouffe, Ruth Reid, Diane Ellis, Fay Eckert, Jo-Anne Stainton, Susan Adair, Judy Griffith, Anne Close, Diane Ellis, Anne Sharp, Alvena Brooks, Carole Milne, Jean Davey and last but not least Lino Nadalin.
May anniversaries that I know about: 67 years for Deb and Dorothy Wood, 61 years for Fred and Betty Thomson, 57 years for Don and Maryann Wilson, 52 years for Supi and Lil Peter, 51 years for Kenneth and Hedwig Toombs, 51 years for Joyce and Jim Sweeny and 45 years for Terry and Heather Carter. Congratulations one and all.
