Fibermania

Claiming Wanda

I woke up trying to remember when I first met Wanda Hanson. It had to be in the early 80's, and it was at the first show I had ever entered.  It was in the Courthouse in Geneva IL and a more unlikely place for a quilt show couldn't be found. The quilts were hung from balconies and banisters. I was there to watch the viewers, and get a real dose of honest reactions. One person seemed to be taking pictures with an obviously expensive camera. It was Wanda. We chatted and we exchanged addresses so she could send me copies of the pictures she had taken. So friendly and enthusiastic, I liked her immediately.

After that we met a few more times and soon I was under her spell. She was an experienced quilter and even taught quilting classes. She was so generous with information and I was a sponge. It was Wanda that got me off into the right direction with quilting. These pages from my scrap book tell the story.

It was Wanda that first took my hand dyed fabric to QSDS to sell in the student bazaar. I had no idea that the enthusiastic art quilters there would buy my stuff. Soon I knew I had to attend too, and that's where I met all sorts of now famous beginning art quilters. I started as a student, then vendor then teacher myself. All because Wanda introduced me to the place!

This friendship was so valuable to me, and at the time I had no idea how much it would mean in terms of being a good teacher, but Wanda let me sit in on her class at Quilt America, so I could witness how a great teacher ran a class. I paid close attention and learned so much.

When I was in graduate school I would drop by and visit Wand
since she lived so close to the university. It was at her house that I used a computer for the very first time. So many firsts...
No one is really ever successful on their own. It takes someone like Wanda to mentor a person and help refine them, guide them, and cheer for them when it all works.

Thanks so much to my mentor, Wanda Hanson.