Tamara Oster hoped someone could help her locate two missing quilts. They were last seen on December 31, 2012 in Albany, Oregon when she shipped them to Virginia. The delivery company claimed they delivered the box at 8:24 PM on January 9, 2013. They arrived home shortly after 9:00 PM, but the box was gone. A neighbor had seen the delivery truck, but didn’t see a box at the door.
More than four months later, on April 9, Tamara rejoiced, “The lost has been returned!!!! I was on the METRO on my way into the Pentagon this afternoon, when I received a call from a detective from Fairfax County police (it pays to file a police report!!!). He told me about an attorney who had contacted the police and thought he had some stolen goods. Long story short, the officer told me there were a couple of quilts, a silver tray, some scarves….yes, yes, these are the things from my box. Not everything was returned, but the most important item was there – my grandmother’s quilt top. Safe and sound, along with the quilt top was our niece’s quilt still wrapped in the plastic we had used to ship it from Oregon. Ken and I are both over the moon – we know who delivered it to us…Please share my grateful heart with all those who have been on the out for these precious quilts.”
The first quilt, above, is called “Shadowbox.” It was made for her niece, Jamie, to commemorate her graduation from law school. The queen size quilt is mainly blues, greens, and browns. It includes a stained glass iris fabric. This quilt is machine pieced and machine quilted.
The second missing quilt was made by Tamara’s paternal grandmother before she died in 1963. Her father kept this quilt top in his mother’s cedar chest for about fifty years. When he came across it again, he entrusted it to Tamara to finish it. The quilt top is about 80″ by 60″. It was made of 2″ by 2″ scraps of flour sacking, aprons, and clothing. A few of the pieces are 2″ by 4″. There are pinks, lavenders, dark blue, yellows, browns, and reds. One fabric that stands out is one similar to the fabric at left with Indians on it, but the one on this quilt is medium brown.
Denise Hamilton is asking for everyone to be on the lookout for her Roman Holiday quilt. The quilt was last seen on April 29, 2013 in Cabot, Arkansas. The shipper recorded that it was delivered to the front door in Tampa, Florida. Only a door tag was recovered at the destination.
