Chicken Quilt

This is a great story (and it's true!). About a month ago I saw a really cool chicken quilt in my FAVE local thrift store. It was completely handmade. Machine-pieced and machine-quilted, but not mass-produced. Anyway.........it was really neat and I wanted to buy it, but it was marked $20 and I never spend that much for any home decor for my house, especially not in a thrift store. I told the store owner, Pauline, that I loved it but that I was going to think about it. If it was there the next time I came in, maybe I'd buy it. If not, then I wasn't meant to have it. Pauline said that's the philosophy of her daughter, Terry, but that she herself has learned that if you love it, you'd better get it because chances are it will be gone when you come back.

A few weeks later I stopped in with my boys and headed to the back where I had seen the quilt. Of course it was gone. I told Pauline I wished I'd bought it but that it probably wasn't meant to be mine. Just a few days after that my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary and were dropping the boys off at my parents' house so we could go out to eat. Before we left my mother handed me a bag with our anniversary gift and card from her and my dad. Well.........you have probably guessed by now that the quilt was inside it! It was one of the best surprises I've ever had. I had forgotten that I'd told my mom about the quilt. She also loves quilts and I knew she would enjoy it if she was in the thrift store. So now it's mine. I love it. I still have to hang it up, but I have just the place for it. It will always remind me of our "Chicken Summer 2009" and my surprise anniversary gift.