Quilts

"Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics,

when women of high thoughts

and accomplishments love to sew;

especially as they are never more at home

with their own hearts than while so occupied."

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Marble Faun

I got some quilts made recently. Thought I'd share them with you.

[I must say my heart skipped a beat and I was guilty of the sin of pride when I saw my quilt draped on the altar along with the Communion elements.]

This one I'm donating to the Wounded Warrior's Retreat that will be held in a couple of weeks.

For this quilt, I tried what thought would be a relatively easy pattern. Cut some strips, sew them together, then cut and sew together again. Voila! You have a square that looks scrappy but actually has a method to its scrappiness. I still don't know what I did wrong, but my method was all messed up.

There is a quilting adage that says, "if you can point it out, take it out" which basically means unless the mistake is staring you in the face, don't worry about it and for sure don't tell anyone. I also like that Amish ladies traditionally sew a mistake in their quilts because they believe only God is perfect. God has nothing to worry about when it comes to me and quilting, and I certainly don't have to purposely make any mistakes. You can't tell by looking at it, but I know this quilt is full of them.

Sophia is the grand niece of my priest. What you can't tell from this picture is that she is one very sick little girl. She is only 2 years old. She has been in the hospital for over four months, has endured a bone marrow transplant, host versus graft problems, the discovery that she was born with only one kidney which is having to work double or triple time to clear her body of extra fluids, and a hole in her abdomen where her intestines are supposed to be, but can't be due to the strain they are putting on her lungs. All that, and she is still very much alive. Even though she has a long way to go before she's up and playing again, she is nonetheless a living miracle. She is an example of the power of prayer.

This is the prayer quilt I made for Sophie. It's a match quilt, in that there are two of every design, so that when she's feeling better, Sophie can concentrate on finding the pairs instead of counting the stitches in her belly.

I spent a couple of days "fussy" cutting all the squares, then framing out the corners. Once it was all put together, I discovered, all I really needed to do was cut the patterned squares and the white squares then sew them together on point - no need for framing! It would have been a lot easier doing it that way then the way I did it. Oh well, live and learn. I just had that much more time to cover it in prayer and hopeful blessings.

Johnson is not shy about pointing out that his mother has never made him a quilt. In my defense, I never knew he wanted one. So, even though I have put the quilting paraphernalia away for the time being, I think there will be more sewing messes in my dining room's future. Quilting is a whole different medium than writing, but I get the same kind of satisfaction from the end product, albeit without the help of spell check!

Wishing for you something comfy to wrap yourself in,

Merry ME