Our community still mourns the passing of Sue Carmichael two weeks ago. Her family members will remember all she gave them, her church and the rest of us, at a service this weekend. By coincidence, exactly 10 years ago, I wrote a column about Sue and her passion for giving, quilting and living. I offer my thoughts from that column in tribute:
Even in this liberated community, there are some areas still considered off-limits to certain people. I mean, children aren’t often seen in pubs. Most women don’t hang out in repair garages. And men don’t generally frequent beauty salons. The same could be said of men in sewing shops and the like. In fact, recently, when I decided to pay a courtesy visit to the Quilters Cupboard in town, I got a predicable response when I entered.
“Hey ladies,” the proprietor announced from inside the store, “a man has just entered the shop.” Most got a chuckle out of the remark. I did too.
The shop was buzzing with energy. In a far-off activity room, I could see a group of women chatting and sewing – or more correctly quilting. Throughout the main display area of the shop, women of all ages exchanged the latest about quilted blankets and browsed the counters jammed with design packages. I overheard a customer ask about a specific pattern.
“It’s a design by a Vancouver quilter,” the shop owner said. “We’ve got to support our Canadian quilters, you know.”
The woman offering the pro-Canada perspective on quilt designs is Sue Carmichael – for eight years the owner/operator of Quilters Cupboard. As long as I’ve known Sue – I met her years ago via her husband Phil, an Uxbridge Oilies hockey teammate of mine – I learned that she is a former nurse and dedicated homemaker who is always upbeat, always smiling and always eager to hear the latest in your life.
In fact, for several years now – since her own battle with breast cancer – Sue has regularly invited volunteers to join her 30-hour quilting marathons raising awareness and funds to fight cancer. A couple of her campaigns, since 2002, have raised nearly $70,000.
But my recent visit wasn’t about her cancer fundraiser. It wasn’t even about quilting per se. I found what I was looking for at the shop’s front counter. There in a prominent spot lay copies of the latest edition of the international periodical Quilt Sampler – a glossy, 150-page, quarterly magazine, published in Des Moines, Iowa.
The front cover of this particular edition offered news on “10 All-New Projects” and the particulars of “Full-Size Patterns Inside.” By far the most important news, emblazoned across the front cover, however, were the magazine’s choices for the “Ultimate Shop Hop,” that is, visits to the top quilting stores in North America. And a quick perusal revealed that right up there was Sue Carmichael’s Quilters Cupboard.
After my not-so-subtle arrival, I eventually caught Sue’s attention and asked, “How big a deal is this?”
“Very big,” she beamed and added. “This magazine goes everywhere.”
Sue explained that the candidates for Quilt Sampler’s “Top Ten List” come from thousands of applications. The hometown nominators never expected the Uxbridge entry to win. But that’s only the half of it. Six months ago, when Sue and her staff learned that her shop had made the cut, they had to keep the ranking a secret.
In fact, one day back in the spring, the shop staff completely transformed the place – hanging fall motif decorations and laying out patterns for Autumn 2010 for the photographer who arrived for the magazine spread. Then, they changed everything back again and kept the blockbuster top-ranking under wraps.
Lest you think this notoriety is small potatoes, half a million dedicated (and probably well-travelled) quilters regularly read this periodical. And they won’t just see the latest of Sue’s quilting designs either. On a page opposite are listed an array of other attractions in Uxbridge.
You see, as well as being a proud proprietor, Sue Carmichael stitches a lot of boosterism into her patterns. Not so long ago, a quilter called from Kitchener, inquiring about the shop and about Uxbridge.
“Did you know this area was once the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery?” Sue asked the woman.
The woman sounded surprised.
“Would you like to see the Maud sites?” Sue asked. And before long a busload of Kitchener-area quilters had arrived so Sue could guide them to see Maud’s home, the Leaskdale Manse, and the church where Maud’s husband Ewan Macdonald served as minister. Quilt Sampler magazine concluded its assessment, applauding Sue and her shop where “quilters always find fellowship and camaraderie…”
Sue Carmichael has changed the definition of many things – what’s off-limits and what’s not, what positive thinking can accomplish, and why giving is a pattern we can all stitch into our lives.