Like many of you I have several quilting stories of people admiring my quilts (especially since I have them everywhere in my house) but this one...oh my gosh...My brother and I have had a rocky relationship for quite a few years until he matured enough to see how silly he's been. I had made quilts for everybody in the family and in the back of my mind I wanted to make one for him but needed to wait for the timing to be right (since he hasn't had a place to call home for long and would end up couch surfing etc) and I was also waiting for him to grow up enough to want to patch up our differences. Plus I never could settle on a pattern that seemed right for him. Well about 3 years ago I found a way for us to bridge our relationship gap and we have been in good communication since then and are actually enjoying each other. An answer to prayer really. Anyway I saw him post on facebook something about skateboarding with friends that he skated with over 30 years ago and I knew I had hit on something. I made him a jelly roll race quilt with masculine fabrics and then appliqued a big silhouette of a skateboarder on it. I didn't know he had still been skateboarding into his fifties, but it was and still is the best gift I could have ever given him. He posted a picture of it and said that he actually cried when he opened it (I had to send it in the mail since we don't live near each other). He still mentions it and shows it to everyone that comes to see him. I'm proud of it even if it was a pretty easy quilt to make. And every time I see the picture of it I'm reminded how nice it is to be reunited with a loved one.