A Tribute to Sue Garman

The quilt world lost a wonderful woman on January 8, 2016.  Susan H. Garman ended her battle with lung cancer after less than a year.

In Memorium from The Quilt Show

More importantly, her family lost a mother and grandmother, and her friends lost a piece of their hearts and life.

I was honored to call her friend.  I first met Sue in Houston October 2008 when the block of the month she designed for The Quilt Show, "Stars for a New Day", was unveiled at International Quilt Festival.  I was gob-smacked at its' beauty and made a point of meeting her face-to-face.  As that pattern would come out monthly in 2009, I wanted to know if she had the complete pattern for sale. She didn't but she had one very similar, Washington Medallion that wasn't quite ready for publication yet.  This is the kind of sharing, caring, amazing quilter Sue was--she offered to send me her working patterns for free so I could make Washington Medallion in 2009 in time for our guild quilt show.  A life-long friendship was born that day.

I put my best work into Joyful Journey:

On Facebook I saw the work of an amazing quilter in California, Pam Dransfeldt, the Joyful Quilter, and made arrangements to have her quilt it.  Her quilting was just the best--it elevated this quilt to a work of art.

I dearly love this quilt for all it represents to me and my Quilt Life:  friends, fabric, effort, this is my gift to generations yet unborn. It changed how I think about my quilting journey.  It was my first entry in AQS Paducah, being juried in there in 2010. In 2014 it was featured as one of the 500 best Traditional Quilts in a book by that name.  Sue had 5 quilts in that book, I had 3.  This quilt went on to be exhibited in Houston, Chicago and Portland, OR in 2014 and 2015. It is only because of Sue's generosity to me that it exists.

Sue and I kept in touch from then on, and met up in Houston each year.  In November 2015 we had the most wonderful opportunity to spend an entire week at a beautiful beach house with 7 other professional quilt teachers, working on our own projects, eating great food we prepared for each other, and growing our friendship.  How much I cherish this snapshot I took that week:

When she wasn't on her computer, putting together one of her incredible Blog Posts, or designing the next quilt pattern, she was here on this window seat, doing hand applique'. We walked on the beach each day, sharing our lives, the similarities and differences. I was a sponge as I strived to learn all I could from her: applique', computer skills, quilt design.  We made plans to start a small stitching group of people we knew around the country--early 2016 we hoped to get that going, but it was not to be.

Her family will have a Celebration of Life for Sue January 20, 2017 in Texas and while I won't be there in body, I'll be there in spirit.  She was loved and admired by so many--the NASA folks she worked with for many years, her local quilting friends, and most of all, her family.  Sue's husband died in September 2016 after a seven year fight with cancer.  I can only take comfort that they are back together again, no longer in pain.

Sue's legacy lives on in her work and her patterns.  It was great news that her family will keep her business going for years into the future.  See her work:  Sue's Gallery.  Spend hours enjoying her blog:  Sue's Blog  She was amazingly generous to other quilters, so supportive of their work, and saw beauty and inspiration everywhere she looked.  I will love her and miss her forever and hope to be more like her.

My own Sue Garman quilts:

New Stars, New Day--featured in 500 Traditional Quilts

Ruffled Roses--this will be finished in 2017

Halo Star Medallion--2017 BOM www.thequiltshow.com

And the next one I plan to do, sometime, hopefully, 2018.  I bought the patterns in 2016:

Afternoon Delight

Sue was one of those special people, everyone who met her or was touched by her, felt she was their friend.  Let's all be more like that--the world needs more people just like her.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara