The little girl watched closely as her Nanny’s hands deftly maneuvered the pliable fabric through the metal foot of the sewing machine. The light from the little bulb over the bobbin outlined her work-worn fingers.

Even today, she can see in her mind’s eye the rhythmic needle as it flashed up and down, turning loose pieces of material into a jumper for the little girl.

These are vivid memories, but precious ones for Diane Rose. They are her earliest memories of sewing, and some of her last memories of sight. Rose is a now a talented, nationally-known quilt maker. She is presently working on her 700th quilt, “I Pledge Allegiance,” which she will have on display when she appears at the Good Samaritan Health Center in Cullman on Thursday.

 Rose is known as the Amazing Quilter. Not only because her quilts are works of art, sewn both by hand and on a machine, or because her work is exceptional, but also because Rose is totally blind.

 Rose was diagnosed with glaucoma at around four years of age. She could see light, movement and colors. “I remember blue sky, green grass and colors,” said the vivacious lady. “They found the glaucoma when they were correcting a problem with my eyes crossing.”

At the age of six, Rose could read in Braille, and also in letters, because she still had some sight, although she could not see well. “I never attended school for the blind, my parents always kept me in a public school, which was the best thing they could have done because I had to learn to function in everyday situations.”

Always an enterprising person, Rose learned to make potholders when she was just a child. “By the age of nine I already knew how to run a little business,” she laughed. “I knew enough to put my profits back into materials so that I could earn a little money and still stay in business.”

Later, in high school, Rose sewed the pieces that a friend had cut for her into a dress. “People always wonder how I do that,” she smiled. “I use pins with large heads on the outside edges so that I can feel them going through the pressure foot.”

Always crafty, and with a vivid imagination, Rose is an avid reader. “My love of reading just fueled my imagination,” she said. “That imagination is what inspires me to make some of my own quilt patterns today.”

Finding her niche as a quilter came in a round-about way. Two months after graduating high school she boarded a plane and set off for Nashville to follow her dreams. Arriving alone, not knowing anyone in the area, she was met by a representative of the Chamber of Commerce, who took the determined young lady to some people who helped her to find an apartment. “My life started over at that point,” she said. “I never walked in fear as I was transplanted from one person’s home to another. I was totally in God’s hands and He always sent me the right people.”

“If you believe in something enough, if you trust in your dreams, that is faith in God for those dreams to happen,” she said. “I believed in being a part of the country music business, even thought I didn’t even know anyone in Nashville, and that faith eventually got me backstage at the Grand Ole Opry,” she recalled.

By connecting with radio stations and newspapers around the country,  Rose became known as the Nashville Reporter. She did interviews with many artists for independent publications like Coast to Coast Country, and Country In The City News, and was the Nashville Reporter for various radio shows around the country. “I was also the only blind tour guide in Nashville,” she laughed, a musical sound in itself. “One time I was riding with someone who didn’t know her way around Nashville and I directed our driver to Interstate 65. “Terri Gibbs, a Nashville star, was with me and she was amazed, asking how I knew where I was,” said  Rose . “I told her that I always made it a point to know where I was going.”

On September 24, 1977, which coincidentally happened to be her birthday,  Rose stood backstage at the new Grand Ole Opry House with Roy Acuff, who had invited her there. “Standing in the wings, I knew that I was loved. The Grand Ole Opry welcomed me with open arms, and they still do.”

Knowing where she is going has helped her in more ways than one. She has determinedly done what people kept telling her that she couldn’t do. “Once I was riding with Barbara Fairchild, who is a gifted quilter. I was touching a quilt she was working on and made the comment that I would love to learn to quilt.”

Fairchild dismissed her with a smile, telling Rose that she couldn’t quilt, “You might prick your finger with the needle,” she said. That was a challenge to Diane. Year’s later she showed Fairchild a quilt called “The President’s Quilt” which Rose had made. “I should have known not to tell you no! This is amazing. I couldn’t do this well with my eyes closed,” Fairchild exclaimed.

Her fascination with quilting has brought her much joy. “I’m a happy person,” she said. “You don’t have to see with your eyes to sew, it’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, only the pieces are fabric.”

Today, she takes much pride in the fact that Loretta Lynn displays one of her quilts in her gift shop, and that another hangs in the Crawford, Texas, ranch of former President George W. Bush.

She takes much joy in the scent of fresh roses, and always wears one in her hair as a signature trademark. She delights in meeting people throughout the country on her speaking engagements, in sharing with others her life lessons, and in creating beauty, both in her amazing quilts and in her everyday life. She is also a sucker for stray kittens.

There will be several of  Rose’s quilts on display. A limited number of quilts will be for sale, and she does take custom orders. She will offer some of her cookbooks, saddle blankets, baby books and lots of other gift items. She will speak to the gathering about her faith, her philosophy of life, and the quilting innovations and techniques that she uses. It will be a uplifting, heartwarming and life enriching time for those attending. For more information on the Amazing Quilter, and to see  Rose in action, visit her website at www.theamazingquilter.com or by emailing her at quiltrose@prodigy.net, or contact her at 254-799-7990.