Coincidence? I think not! Months ago, Mary Fons announced on her blog that the manufacturer of her new fabric line – Small Wonders – was having a quilt contest. The rules were pretty easy; at least 55×60 (twin sized bed), used at least 75% of her fabrics, actually quilted or at least tied and not just a pieced top. I think that was about it.
I bought small quantities of several different fabrics and made some blocks and then I happened to see a Bargello pattern that I really liked and thought – I can do this! Our son took one look at the heart shaped quilt and asked if he could have it. That small comment right there is the real prize in life, folks.
The contest ended, I came in second place. The next day or so I had an email from a contact at Springs Creative, asking for my address so they could send me the spoils. Yippee! I sent it along and then….well, nothing showed up at the front door. I emailed the individual back after a period of time and was like a little kid waiting for Christmas.
I waited a couple of more weeks after our last email exchange and still no sign of it. But there was a blog post by Mary about why she pushes herself so hard. The summary is she doesn’t want to be seen as riding her mom’s coattails; she’s in it to win it on her own merits. She’s legit.
I emailed her. What did I have to lose? It was a tongue-in-cheek email but the point was…hey could you help a girl out? I sent that email last Thursday, May 5th before lunch.
I didn’t know what the noise was outside our house last night at 10pm. But a little after midnight, my husband waltzed in and said there was a big box from Fed Ex for me and it was open at one end and there was fabric and a tote bag and all sorts of things in it.
I ran in there and opened the box and what do you know? It was the 2nd place prize box full of goodies. But before I even opened any of it, I went to see when it was shipped. 4:30pm. Thursday, May 5th.
Coincidence? I don’t think so. After waiting weeks, it was sent the same day she received the email. I think that’s a result of Mary Fons taking care of business. Just like she said.
The final chapter of this story is an exchange I had with my daughter. So Mom, what did you win? I won a cardboard box! What? That doesn’t make any sense. I won a cardboard box that you can put a quilt in and give it to a friend as a gift. You won a box, and you’re going to turn around and give the box to someone else? Oh I won more than that. There’s also fabric and thread and a pattern. So you are going to take the fabric and cut it up, use the thread and make it into a quilt and take all of that and put it into the box and give it to someone else. You got a prize that you don’t even keep? I also got a tote bag! I think I’ll keep the tote bag for myself!
I don’t know whether it’s just me or if perhaps everybody
else encountering problems with your website. It looks like some of the text
within your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please
comment and let me know if this is happening to them too?
This might be a issue with my internet browser because I’ve had this happen before.
Cheers
Thanks for “liking” my blog post! It led me to you! Your Mary Fons post is too funny!
Thank you!!
Wow. I love your story. Thanks for all the ‘Likes’. 🙂
Awesome story on the multiple wins!! And that seems like a Mary thing to do. She’s the real deal. P.S. I LOVE the box…
Congrats again on getting 2nd! Too bad you didn’t get the sewing machine, but oh well. Great job and I’m glad you finally got your goods!
Yes, considering how the computer screen on my machine is now completely blank, I really wish now I’d won that BabyLock! But the winning quilt really was beautiful too.
Wonderful!! Could you please post a pic of the quilt?? I love to see finished ones!
Thanks!
(And your daughter just doesn’t “get” it, does she?? lol)
Haha! She was poking fun at me! She’s the recipient of one of my quilts and I’m making a second one for her currently.
😉 Very nice!
Congratulations! I like her blog and the show when she’s with her mother. They’re funny.
One of the things I particularly like is since she’s on the show, I literally hear her voice reading her blog out loud when I read it. When I read other people’s blogs who aren’t on TV – they sound like me in my head!
The squeaky wheel? Nice that they came through at last.
I should freely admit, I’m an impatient person! I probably should’ve been more patient, but I did hear back from Mary and she was super sweet!
I think you waited long enough to be fair to her. Glad she did what was right.
Congrats on the win! Can we see the prize-winning quilt?
I should’ve thought to post it! Thanks – I forgot all about it. Here’s a link to the blog post – https://texasquilting.org/2016/03/10/bargello/
LOL!!! Great story!!! I luv the quilts on their TV show/& mag., but find that Mary’s “on air” personality is not my style (IMHO) so have bypassed watching for a while. The fabrics, patterns, hints, etc are awesome!!!!
I have found such similar situations with businesses who have gotten bigger and are a tad beyond the immediate watchful eye of the originator. Sometimes, something like this is the thing that’s needed (a “heads up”) that alerts the owner to what is going on.
Can’t wait to see what beauty comes of your “prize”………..
I have to laugh because she regularly asks guests if they are a pinner, or a starcher, etc. One of the things I noticed she always does is sets the seams before she presses to one side and for the longest time I thought – well that’s goofy; what’s the sense in that? Until one day…I set my seams before I pressed to the side; I really don’t even know what prompted me and in fact I probably did it accidentally. Wow!!! I had no idea how much better my seams looked. In my head, I secretly apologized to Mary that day and now I always set my seams first.
Years ago I made that exact same observation and have set the seams ever since……live and learn!!!!!!
Oh so you’ve known this for years and have been keeping it secret….what other quilting secrets do you have for me?
I’m not sure………..hehehe…………probably around 50 years worth!!!!!! (I never sewed a stitch til I got married and had kids!!!)
I met a woman today who just started sewing once she retired. It’s never too late to start!
So true……