Stitches
"When life throws you scraps, make a quilt." ~Author Unknown
When we lived in Kansas, I joined a quilting club. Every first Saturday of the month we would meet at the quilt store and pick up the next pattern with the fabric already cut to complete the quilt square. After 12 months, I had made 12 squares and completed a quilt top. In order to earn the next square pattern and fabric, you had to come to the shop with the prior month's endeavor complete.
I loved making the quilt squares so much that I brought my mom with me on one Saturday. She too was caught up in the movement and decided that she wanted to make a quilt top, the problem was that we were ten months into the twelve month project. As we stood in the quilt shop thinking through our dilemma, the shop owner came up with a solution - she would give us all of the kits for the quilt and we could do them all at one time. My mom followed the quilt shop owner into the back room and emerged with 12 little baggies and a big smile. She had chosen the fabric she wanted for our project - a special assortment of greens and pinks that were designed to support Breast Cancer research. We not only had a project calling us, but a purpose.
The entire cold Kansas weekend was dedicated to that quilt top. She would sew, I would iron, I would iron and she would sew until that top was complete. We talked and reminisced. We laughed and cried. We completed our task. When we finished, we took our masterpiece back to the shop for the backing and batting so the quilt could be completed. We added the batting and a tender pattern of Cancer fabric to the back and then we signed it. "May 20, 2003 Remember, Thanks Pamela, love you" is what my mom wrote. " Mom, here is a lasting reminder of what beautiful things happen when we are together, I love you, Pamela"
That weekend I concentrated on the time with my mom as the stitches took care of themselves. Today, as I look over the stitches, as I run my fingers over every line, I remember with wonder that precious weekend. I didn't know then that I would hand stitch the last part of this quilt as I sit by my mom's bed in the hospital after surgery for lung cancer. I didn't know then that a short six years later I'd be mourning her passing and staring at this quilt. She chose the cancer fabric because she lost two friends to breast cancer. She never expected to be diagnosed with cancer herself.
Today, in our new house with so much of my life changed, I'll hang our quilt and remember. So much of life is uncharted for us as we pass through our days. Our minutes are like stitches on a quilt, our days and weeks and months like the fabric scraps. Our life, when it is done, should be a beautiful memory that folds out like a completed quilt onto the laps of those we love. A quilt of memories that keeps us warm.
When we lived in Kansas, I joined a quilting club. Every first Saturday of the month we would meet at the quilt store and pick up the next pattern with the fabric already cut to complete the quilt square. After 12 months, I had made 12 squares and completed a quilt top. In order to earn the next square pattern and fabric, you had to come to the shop with the prior month's endeavor complete.
I loved making the quilt squares so much that I brought my mom with me on one Saturday. She too was caught up in the movement and decided that she wanted to make a quilt top, the problem was that we were ten months into the twelve month project. As we stood in the quilt shop thinking through our dilemma, the shop owner came up with a solution - she would give us all of the kits for the quilt and we could do them all at one time. My mom followed the quilt shop owner into the back room and emerged with 12 little baggies and a big smile. She had chosen the fabric she wanted for our project - a special assortment of greens and pinks that were designed to support Breast Cancer research. We not only had a project calling us, but a purpose.
The entire cold Kansas weekend was dedicated to that quilt top. She would sew, I would iron, I would iron and she would sew until that top was complete. We talked and reminisced. We laughed and cried. We completed our task. When we finished, we took our masterpiece back to the shop for the backing and batting so the quilt could be completed. We added the batting and a tender pattern of Cancer fabric to the back and then we signed it. "May 20, 2003 Remember, Thanks Pamela, love you" is what my mom wrote. " Mom, here is a lasting reminder of what beautiful things happen when we are together, I love you, Pamela"
That weekend I concentrated on the time with my mom as the stitches took care of themselves. Today, as I look over the stitches, as I run my fingers over every line, I remember with wonder that precious weekend. I didn't know then that I would hand stitch the last part of this quilt as I sit by my mom's bed in the hospital after surgery for lung cancer. I didn't know then that a short six years later I'd be mourning her passing and staring at this quilt. She chose the cancer fabric because she lost two friends to breast cancer. She never expected to be diagnosed with cancer herself.
Today, in our new house with so much of my life changed, I'll hang our quilt and remember. So much of life is uncharted for us as we pass through our days. Our minutes are like stitches on a quilt, our days and weeks and months like the fabric scraps. Our life, when it is done, should be a beautiful memory that folds out like a completed quilt onto the laps of those we love. A quilt of memories that keeps us warm.
Amen, Isn't your mom proud of you and your new house and to have a special part in making it home! Love you, Lu
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