Lafayette, Indiana is known for many significant and powerful landmarks, institutions and associations such as mighty Purdue University, Subaru Manufacturing, and the historic business where   Eli Lilly served his apprenticeship many years ago at a drug store on the north side of the town square.

   Lafayette is also remembered for the historic structure at the corner of 5th and Main Streets which offered lodging since 1831, but is better known today as John Purdue's long ago residence where many planning sessions were held for the future Purdue University.  This famous landmark also hosted overnight guests such as Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain.

     Dr. Mayo once had a medical practice in downtown Lafayette before locating his famous Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.  And the world's first air mail delivery took place at Lafayette on August 16th, 1859, aboard the hot air balloon, "Jupiter."

      But with all these famous events, dates, and personalities too numerous to mention, perhaps the city's best known asset is Common Threads Quilt Guild.

     I got lucky when Common Threads Quilt Guild invited me to their monthly meeting in May, 2005 for a slide lecture, and that was followed by a two-day workshop seminar.

     Over 150 enthusiastic quilters welcomed me into their monthly meeting and attentively heard me out with "who am I and where am I" in today's quilt world.

    The following two days were filled as some of the guild members each painted two yards of cotton fabric, worked with paper patterns I supplied, and manipulated all this into unusually handsome quilt pieces.  The workshop was short (only two days), and the renderings weren't quite finished, but all were completed well enough to photograph and show off their show-stopping visual images.

     Featured here are only some of the participating workshop quilters and their beautiful achievements.  Please hold your applause until all work has paraded across your screen. 

Thanks Common Thread Quilters for rolling out the red carpet and  making my stay in Lafayette one I'll remember.  You folks know how to do it.  Phil Beaver