Back in 1997 I was awarded the Dorothy McMurdie Award for my contributions to quiltmaking in Canada.
“The Dorothy McMurdie Award was established in 1988 to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to quilting in Canada. It paid tribute to their accomplishments and documented their contributions to our Canadian quilting heritage. This award was discontinued in 2015. It has been replaced by the Dorothy McMurdie Founders Award, which is presented to a CQA/ACC member, whose National Juried Show entry exemplifies outstanding workmanship in an original design. The quilt cannot contain computerized embroidery or quilting.”
I have always treasured this award, it has meant a lot to me so I always kept it in my sewing room on a shelf with many other treasures and trinkets. When we moved to Mahone Bay, we had to figure out how to put a shelf on the only wall that was empty...the slanted roof wall! Peter cut one side of a piece of wood at an angle so it would be flush with the wall. He made two shelves and installed them one below the other.
I organized everything: thimbles, tiny dolls and wooden soldiers, small baskets, small trinkets and small animals. A place for everything and everything in its place! That is until the fall of 2013 when we had a new roof put on this old house. The guys had to shovel all the layers of old shingles off, do some repairs and nail new shingles on. that’s when things started falling off the shelves, landing everywhere! I picked everything up and kept them in a box until the roof work was done.
I cleaned each piece as I put things back, I came to the base for the thimble but where was the actual thimble? I searched high and low for it but it was not to be found. I pulled all my storage baskets out and over the years I emptied them and searched for the thimble. I never gave up, it had to be somewhere. It was too big to get sucked in by the vacuum. Most people who know me know I hate to lose things and not find them.
Fast forward to September 2024, 11 years later. Heather Stewart was here for her lobster and to visit with our quilting friends. I had gathered up some cloth bags that were hanging on a door knob (just below the shelves). As I reached in one to pull a smaller bag out something smooth and hard landed in my hand...there it was, my Dorothy McMurdie thimble had come out of hiding 11 years later! It was there all the time, now if I could just find my silver hoop earrings I would be a happy camper!
