Often people succeed because they are in the right place at the right time. That’s never worked for me, however. Generally, if I see something I think is worth buying, I go ahead and purchase it. Have I ever been wrong? Of course? Have I ever been right? Of course. Will I keep doing this? Yes. Here is one of my favorite stories.
As a child I loved playing cowboys and Indians. I had a quilt on my bed that had a cowboy throwing a lariat. I would pull that quilt up to my chin each night and dream of doing good in the world . . . I would fall asleep at the feel of the quilt and my dreams.
Also as a child I never had money to buy an appropriate cover and when I finally had the money, I no longer cared about having a quilt to help me go to sleep, much less have lots of money.
For some reason however, I liked the looks and feels of quilts especially when they had colors that caught my eye and had a creator who knew how to sew and a good eye for finding just the right piece to catch my eye and blend in with colors and dies, and pieces of love sewn in for good measure.
It wasn’t until I hit my mid-30s that I realized I had a pretty darn good collection of fine quilts. No matter where I moved, I would make sure my house, either for sale or rent, had a room, or eventually rooms for my quilt collection. This went on until I had my third wife. It was my third wife who created the problem. I came home to find her with another man . . . spread eagle on one of my favorite quilts in a room that was continually kept locked. How she found the key I never found out. I let her keep the house, but I got every quilt.
After the divorce I celebrated with trips to country and county fairs. I found that different areas in America had quilts that were pretty but didn’t match up with what I wanted for my collection. One area of the U.S. I kept coming back to was New England. I liked the small town feelings. It just made me feel young and cozy. I bought numerous quilts, but was careful not to pay too much. Eventually, I bought a large travel van. I kept returning to the same small town and buying quilts that I thought were just stunning and perfect. It turned out that the creator was an absolute dyed in the wool quilt artist. Eventually, I couldn’t help myself. We married and were happy for several years when I found out that she was actually my first wife. I was shocked . . . pissed off and did I mention shocked . . . I took her latest quilt, locked myself in the bedroom of our van. I wrapped up myself in the quilt and went to sleep immediately. When I woke up I wasn’t mad. I felt at ease . . . felt at home . . . the quilt removed all my anxiety . . . and blessed me, I swear. We went out to dinner . . . and drove around New England for several days until we found the perfect place to live and work and sell quilts. We felt welcome wherever we went and turned that same feeling to those who loved our quilts. People assumed the two of us were born and raised in New England. People assume what they want. We used the name of our business Calling It Quilts.
