My friend Nancy Hornback

photo by Ray Rowden

I was lucky to know Nancy Hornback, a wonderful quilt friend who died last Friday.

I met her while writing Quilter's Stories. I knew a great deal of her life was dedicated to quilting, which was exactly the type of person I wanted to include in the book. She had made great quilts and she had exhaustively researched great quilts. We met to visit on a sunny porch on a warm summer morning and we were friends from then on. She was sure she had not done enough to be included in the book. I was sure she had.

We went to her house in Wichita to take her picture. Her husband made us pancakes while we talked. They lived in this neighborhood, College Hill, that seemed to come straight out of an old story book (see photos and a story about it by her son David here). The house was older and rambling and comfortable. They had raised 7 children there. When the kids were gone, Nancy took over the top floor for her research space. She had a big desk there with books, files and paperwork everywhere. She had a sewing room on the second floor that was roomy and organized. She had quilts stored everywhere. She LOVED quilts.

I had to convince Nancy that including her birthdate was important for the book. She resisted that but finally went along with it. I think she would be pleased that now we can say, oh she died too young.  I will miss her. Many of us will miss her.