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Nestled within a laundromat at the corner of Queen Street East and Boston Avenue in Leslieville, there is a small, street-facing booth where a beloved local figure works her alteration magic.
Queeny Xia Liu, affectionately known as “Queeny” to her customers, is more than just a hard-working seamstress — she is a pillar of the neighbourhood, a friend, and a consistent source of joy for all local residents who cross her path.
After over a decade of service in the neighbourhood, the community decided it was time to show her just how much she means to them, and they did so in the most heartwarming way possible.
Organized by long-time Leslieville resident Sandy Murray and her co-planner Mara Cole, a surprise appreciation party was thrown for Queeny this month. Murray, who has lived in the neighbourhood for roughly 11 years, told blogTO that she met Queeny shortly after moving in.
“I live right around the corner and brought her alterations almost immediately. As soon as I met her, I loved her – like pretty much everyone else. She has seen my daughter – who is now 10 – grow up,” Murray recalled.
Queeny first immigrated to Canada from China in 1997, and has been running her own business, appropriately named Queeny’s Alterations, from a small booth inside the Quick and Clean Laundry Centre at 1024 Queen St. E.
“She is widely known in the neighbourhood as a very skilled, very hard-working seamstress who never charges anyone nearly enough. But she is also renowned for her kindness and humanity, her ability to connect with everyone in the neighbourhood,” Murray explained.
“As you walk by, you can always see her, deep in concentration, working away on the mountain of projects she has on the go. But as soon as she sees you, she looks up, her eyes brightening, her beautiful smile spreading across her face. She always waves excitedly, especially to the neighbourhood kids and dogs.”
Murray says she had been thinking of ways for the community to show their appreciation for Queeny for quite some time, and finally decided to start planning a surprise party.
“Once I posted about it in local Facebook groups, the response was overwhelming. Everyone had a special Queeny story to tell, everyone told me about how much they loved her, how touched they were by her kindness, and how much joy she brought to the neighbourhood,” she told blogTO.
Residents brought banners, cards, flowers, and a cake to the appreciation party. Photo: Michal Borkowski.
“I knew she had a sense of how much she was valued on an individual level – people are always bringing her cards, flowers, gifts, etc. – but I thought it would be wonderful to show her collectively how much she means to our neighbourhood – a huge, dramatic show of love. She is also quite humble, so I wanted to be careful that whatever we did respected her as a person, and what she values.”
The party itself took approximately a month of planning, as well as generous contributions from local businesses, including flowers, a glowing heart, a cake, and sign, and donations from community residents.
On the day of the party, residents gathered on the street beside the laundromat with colourful banners and signs and waited for Queeny to arrive.
“She was a few minutes late to work that day and we did not know which way she was coming from, and she walked right by us. You could tell she did not know what to make of it all – so many of her customers, together. I am not sure she saw the ‘We love you Queeny’ signs at that point,” Murray said.
Queeny was surprised to see all the local residents who gathered outside of her humble booth. Photo: Michal Borkowski.
“But she did see the two police officers who were part of the crowd and initially thought something bad had happened to her business! She saw she had a customer waiting and her first thought was to rush to attend to her. Classic Queeny. We all said, ‘Queeny, come out – just for five minutes!’ And when she finally did, and we all cheered and clapped and she realized what was happening. She was thrilled.”
Their moments of the celebration were captured by local photographer, Michal Borkowski.
“You could absolutely see the sheer joy on her face. She is so humble so she was surprised we were doing this, but she was also truly overjoyed,” Murray said.
Photo: Michal Borkowski.
After popping by the next day, Murray said it was clear that Queeny was so happy and moved, and even said that she couldn’t sleep that night because she kept thinking about the party.
“For all of us, who love her so much, who see all that she does on a daily basis both in terms of her incredible work, but also the way in which she infuses our community with her joyful, positive spirit – it meant so much that we could express that to her, together.”
