About 32 years ago, I made my first quilt. I had no idea what I was doing, no idea of how to go about it, but I managed to hand sew a crazy quilt for my husband for his birthday that year. I filled it with an old store bought comforter, and backed it with a sheet. We had very little money in those days, so taking a class and buying fabric was out of the question. And our girls were just babies then, so who had the time to take a class? I used scraps of fabric from things I had made previously, and my mom gave me some scraps that she had and didn't need. Paul loved it. In spite of my poor sewing skills, it lasted about 20 years, and then I reluctantly threw it away as I couldn't repair it any more. I didn't know then what I know now or I would have saved it and made it better!
I really enjoy quilting now. I still have a lot to learn, but each one teaches me somthing new. I even took a class shortly before my #4 grandchild was born, knowing that there wouldn't be time after he arrived, and made Paul a new one. He was so pleased. He uses it all the time.
I love shopping for fabric for a new project. I always pray before I make a new blanket, and ask the Lord for inspiration and what might please the recipient. I can spend hours in the fabric store. It's almost as bad as going to a bookstore. There are shelves and walls of so many colors and prints...I just get lost there. I really try to stick with the current needs, but there is always something new and it gets me thinking of what I can make with that beautiful piece. I usually end up buying something that I just can't resist because I have learned that if I really love it, so will someone else, and when I go back for it I probably will not find it. You would not believe what the closet in my spare bedroom looks like.
One of the best things about quilting is the peace of it. It wasn't that way for me in the beginning; I tend to be impatient and in a hurry to see the finished work. That has made for lots of mistakes and lots of ripping out of seams...very time consuming and counter productive. I have learned to take my time and lay out the pieces after I cut them, in many different pattern combinations. I often change my mind as I do this; what I thought would look good doesn't, or the colors are not just right. Patience works its goodness into me and I continue to learn.
God is in the middle of all this. It is a creative outlet for me, it teaches me patience, I learn to hear from Him in different ways, and best of all, I learn that He is in the small stuff of my everyday life. He stops by and nudges me to try color combinations that I used to think clashed with each other. He nudges me to put patterns next to each other and see how beautiful they look together. He gives me words to write to the receiver of the gift that bless them. I have learned to learn. And I have learned that I find peace in the midst of turbulent things going on in my life when I take out fabrics and cutters and rulers and work out something beautiful in spite of the world crashing down around me.
I feel Him draw near and I get calmer and settled into the expression of something good when there is something bad happening.
We reason together about things that I am unreasonable about; He always wins the debate. I'm glad He does. This is fresh in my mind and heart right now as I have just come through a double whammy season. Trials from outside of the family, and another trial with my grandson. We are breathing freely again, but the darkness had a grip on me that was so unpleasant. I was under pressure to finish another quilt and ship it to California for a gift for a friend, and my mind and heart were racing in bad directions. As I yielded to the Lord and let Him be right when I was wrong, I began cutting out the pieces and working on the gift. This was one that I changed completely from my original design. As I worked, I felt the anger draining away, and the peace of the Lord returning. I kept sewing and praying, and I felt Him with me; comforting and teaching and showing me my sin. I finished the quilt in record time and shipped it. God's grace. My heart is free again. He is so good.
I really enjoy quilting now. I still have a lot to learn, but each one teaches me somthing new. I even took a class shortly before my #4 grandchild was born, knowing that there wouldn't be time after he arrived, and made Paul a new one. He was so pleased. He uses it all the time.
I love shopping for fabric for a new project. I always pray before I make a new blanket, and ask the Lord for inspiration and what might please the recipient. I can spend hours in the fabric store. It's almost as bad as going to a bookstore. There are shelves and walls of so many colors and prints...I just get lost there. I really try to stick with the current needs, but there is always something new and it gets me thinking of what I can make with that beautiful piece. I usually end up buying something that I just can't resist because I have learned that if I really love it, so will someone else, and when I go back for it I probably will not find it. You would not believe what the closet in my spare bedroom looks like.
One of the best things about quilting is the peace of it. It wasn't that way for me in the beginning; I tend to be impatient and in a hurry to see the finished work. That has made for lots of mistakes and lots of ripping out of seams...very time consuming and counter productive. I have learned to take my time and lay out the pieces after I cut them, in many different pattern combinations. I often change my mind as I do this; what I thought would look good doesn't, or the colors are not just right. Patience works its goodness into me and I continue to learn.
God is in the middle of all this. It is a creative outlet for me, it teaches me patience, I learn to hear from Him in different ways, and best of all, I learn that He is in the small stuff of my everyday life. He stops by and nudges me to try color combinations that I used to think clashed with each other. He nudges me to put patterns next to each other and see how beautiful they look together. He gives me words to write to the receiver of the gift that bless them. I have learned to learn. And I have learned that I find peace in the midst of turbulent things going on in my life when I take out fabrics and cutters and rulers and work out something beautiful in spite of the world crashing down around me.
I feel Him draw near and I get calmer and settled into the expression of something good when there is something bad happening.
