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It is with heavy heart we note the passing of Sue Garman. Sue created many of our BOM quilts including Bouquets for a New Day, Star Crazy, Hugs and Kisses, Ruffled Roses, and of course the current Halo Medallion Quilt. We have been continually amazed at the amount of work and detail she put into each and every project for our TQS members. 

Sue was also featured in Show 304: Applique and Longarm, here she gave great tips for setting up an appliqué block.

Sue grew up in the aerospace industry, was trained as a CPA, and started her career by negotiating multi-million dollar contracts for NASA. She married a NASA engineer that she met in Houston's Mission Control Center during a simulation of the first trip to the Moon. While she loved working for an agency focused on exploration and discovery, she retired three years ago as Associate Director for the Johnson Space Center in Houston, having also served as Deputy Chief of Staff for NASA in Washington, DC. She was dedicated to supporting her community and served on the board of directors of several local foundations.

Sue's years with NASA and its contractors never separated her from quilting, though. She always regarded quilting as her daily "therapy".  As soon as she could thread a needle, her grandmother taught her to make crazy quilts; she literally couldn't remember a time before quilts. Her quilting career started long before she left NASA - a local quilt shop had seen several of her quilts back in the 70's, and invited her to make patterns and teach. That's where it all began - and where she continued to work.  Her favorite venue was appliqué, but she also loved making complex, intricately pieced quilts. In fact, she was working on quilts until the end and was hoping to post her latest progress on her blog when she was overcome by her illness.

A few years back we visited with Sue in her home where she was hosting a group of Australian quilters. Her sign says it all, "Welcome Friends."

All of us at TQS will miss our friend greatly, but are proud to share her legacy in quilting with all of you.