Girls, look, it’s Cynthia’s Quilt!
Cynthia’s the lucky girl that won our quilt giveaway; look how cute it looks at her house! I love the route this quilt has taken — A couple of weeks ago I saw it in an antique store when we were driving across Wisconsin; the vintage fabric folded over a chair instantly formed the Finding Nemo seagull word on my lips, “Mine.” I brought it to California and started getting the idea that maybe it could be a giant thank you for all the lovely comments we’ve been receiving from you. So I hung it on the line and took pictures of it while we waited for the announcement that it was CINDY whose name was drawn; and then, off it went, winging back across country. And now, here it is, ensconced and happy, looking perfect in Cynthia’s guest room in Western New York, complete with Lucy Cat! Here’s what Cynthia wrote when she sent this photo:
Dear Susan, I received the quilt yesterday and wanted to send you a picture of it so you could see how perfect it looks in my guest room. The ‘guest’ you’re seeing is Lucy Cat . . . a former stray that found us 2 yrs ago by hiding her babies in our basement. She has no voice, but really doesn’t need one because we usually know just what she wants to say. It’s 74 degrees here in Western NY today, but soon it’ll be cold and I’ll be glad to be under the ‘Branched-Out love’ of this special quilt. Hope you enjoy the rest of your time in California, but I’m sure you’re clicking your heels together saying, “There’s no place like Home.” Thank you so much for all you do . . . and especially the beautiful quilt.
Couldn’t wait to send this to you! Looks to me like this quilt is clicking its heels together and saying, “There’s no place like home.” ♥
For one tiny example, I took this photo from our table at 
Afterwards we walked down to the beach for a look back toward the shore . . . and watched the half-moon rise. It was a quiet night with the water lapping on the sand, and coastal lights reflecting off the waves; it felt like we were a million miles from anything.
While we were sitting there, with my camera all neatly tucked into my purse (instead of out and ready for anything), a whole flock of pelicans came winging right at us, straight towards our window, so close we could see their feathers. At the last moment they veered off to the left, and flew by the long row of windows that front the ocean. We were mesmerized. What camera? Brenda and I spent the rest of lunch waiting for it to happen again so I could show you. This was the best we could do:
That’s Brenda’s dog “Jack” on her purse; this was a gift for Brenda, made with an actual photo of her dog by Brenda’s friend, Karen. Isn’t it adorable? Look at the lining! And around Jack’s neck is a little silver dog charm! I checked out the process for putting photos on fabric and found this great 
That purse (and Jack) are perfect for Brenda who is madly in love with animals and volunteers in shelters and even wrote a cookbook for dogs. 
See this guy? Don’t you just want to pet that nose? Let me tell you, it’s like a bunny nose, soft and it wiggles in the most perfect way. I don’t have him anymore. I haven’t been able to write about him, because it was just too hard. I still look outside every morning thinking, “what if he comes back today?” I would LOVE that SOOO much! But he’s been gone for two years, and I don’t guess he’s coming back. His name was Mr. MoMo — Just Moe for those of us who knew him well, or Mo-meeto, or Moesome, or Mobie. 
In four days we hop back on the train and trundle back across America, once again tucked into our room with a view; then onto the ferry boat for the longest 45 minute ride of my life — because on the other side Girl Kitty will be waiting. 
