Cynthia Helton sent photos of this quilt that her mom, Shirley Ray Hatley Alford, started in 1995. Shirley passed away in July, 2007. Cynthia, thank you for sharing her quilt with us, I know you all must treasure it.
I remember Shirley! She was in my North Pole class at Sharon’s Quilt Depot way back in 1995 when the book, A Sampling of Santas, was new. Shirley was a lovely woman and I have a smile on my face when I remember her.
This is excerpted from the very well-written documentation patch:
Shirley hand appliqued the blocks and machine pieced them together. As her health began to decline due to breast cancer, Shirley invited Corinne Lageose to finish the hand quilting. Carolyn MIller sewed on the outer binding by hand. And Shirley’s daughter, Cynthia Rae Alford Helton sewed on the red berry buttons and other embellishments. This quilt was lovingly finished by Cynthia while sitting at the bedside of Shirley in July, 2007. This is Shirley’s Masterpiece!
If you are interested in the pattern, A Sampling of Santas is included in our ebook, A Slice of Christmas.
Piece O Cake Blog 
I love this quilt and the book. I think I saw A Sampling of Santas at Sharon’s in McKinney years ago. I’m happy to have tracked down the book and made one myself. Also have 2 others from the book.
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Cynthia and Becky, thanks for sharing Shirley’s wonderful Santa quilt. I have so many sweet memories of Shirley in my quilty world. One special one was traveling to Houston and enjoying the show with a wonderful woman who loved people and loved to laugh.
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beautiful quilt, wonderful story. thanks for sharing!
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This quilt is gorgeous and the history behind it just tugs at my heart. Thank you for sharing this masterpiece.
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What a beautiful memory and knowing what the inspiration for this quilt was makes me smile!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful memory.
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One of the things I like about your blog, is seeing all the beautiful applique. The workmanship and artistry is so inspirational.
Thank you
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what a special day this has turned out to be with your blog post! Shirley would be beside herself to know that she is “published” lol!! She would truly laugh like only she could. Next, thank for the gift of appliqué that you gave my mom. She loves the craft and she and I loved doing it together!! God bless you.
Cynthia Helton
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Cynthia, I appreciate you bringing back the memory of your mom! It’s good to share smiles :-).
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