You can guarantee losing a wager if you bet you’d ever catch Shanghai Kate Hellenbrand crocheting frilly poinsettias into lavender quilts with GOP grandmas in the muggy rural South. She detests Bush and the retirement capital of Florida.

But if the enterprising 62-year-old ever did decide to begin quilt making, she would create ominous demons, commemorative eagles, oriental-designed cherry blossoms or creepy, crawly insects akin to her style detailed in her extensive portfolio.

“I’m too adventurous to stay working …