whim became a career in the
years after retirement and is
now a thriving business.
A native Texan born west
of Lubbock on the south
plains, Chanslor married
right out of college –the same
week she graduated, in fact –
and went on to work at major
companies like Pan Am and
Continental. “Things are dif-
elled by RV to Lajitas in
autumn and Chanslor sold in
the seasonal shop at the resort
each October. By the time
Lajitas got an “upgrade” and
local artists were moved out,
she was showing October
through December.
The last year they were in
Lajitas, Chanslor’s husband
became ill. After they
even a TV. Sometimes she
buys things when she visits
central Texas to quilt with
friends. “I don’t have any
trouble,” she said.
A member of the
Chamber of Commerce,
Chanslor loves the area and
loves promoting it (along with
the Cenizo Journal, whose
cover was graced with one of
Pet
Grooming
by Regina
Since 2001
Quilts
Etc.
by
Marguerite
Made in the Big Bend
HWY 118 • Terlingua
1/4 mi S of Hwy 170
432.371.2292
ferent now, but back then,
they didn’t like to hire
women over 35,” Chanslor
said. When her husband
transferred to Oklahoma
(and she was in her thirties
and “you went where your
husband went”), Chanslor
hired on as a buyer for a fur-
niture store.
Chanslor had always had
an interest in quilting because
her mother sewed. “My
mother had an old treadle
sewing machine, so I started
sewing about at age 5,” she
said. Chanslor continued to
dabble in quilts between kids
and careers, but when her
husband retired seventeen
years later, they moved to Del
Rio and she started quilting
in earnest.
Each year, the couple trav-
returned home he passed
away. A few months later,
Chanslor opened a shop in
Terlingua and a few months
after that relocated herself
there. The shop has moved
around town a few times but
the core idea is the same –
quilts galore. “It’s been a real
good shop for me,” Chanslor
said. “I meet lots of interest-
ing people from everywhere.”
Large
portions
of
Chanslor’s supplies were pur-
chased while her husband
was sick. He had emphysema
for almost a decade, and she
squirreled away quilting sup-
plies for the future like people
cache dollars to their IRA.
When she runs out of some-
thing, she has friends that get
it for her online, as she
doesn’t have a computer or
Pampered Care
Exceptional Grooming
www.alpinetxpetgrooming.com
1112 E Ave K, Alpine
432.837.1737
her quilts for the October
2017 issue). Her family lives
elsewhere and she visits a
couple times a year, but she
stays plenty busy and con-
nected, she said. People visit-
ing the Park and others who
overwinter in South County
come by and wish her Merry
Christmas or just stop by and
chat. “I’ve been down here so
long now, people who come
yearly stop by and visit.”
Visitors that stop often buy
her quilts or order a custom
design, as she does traditional
and modern designs as well as
art pieces for schools. Word
of her handiwork spreads
organically, and now her
quilts lie on beds all over the
United States. “I’m busy all
the time doing what I want.”
Cenizo
First Quarter 2018
15