Anyone who knows me, knows I enjoy quilting. It's my "thinking time" for writing. I grew up watching my mother sew. In fact, many times she sat me down at the other sewing machine and gave me a project of my own on which to work. Sometimes she gave me work to do that I didn’t like and wished that I were doing something else. Now that I am an adult, I’m glad that my mother taught me to sew. I enjoy making gifts for other people, especially quilts.
My mom did make a few quilts in her lifetime. We all had quilts on our beds to keep us warm on cold winter nights. Quilts are my specialty. While sewing one day I thought about all the quilts that I had made for people over the years. Some I liked, some I didn’t, some I hated to give away when they were all done!
I was making a quilt for someone one day, while the neighbor girls were at our house playing with my daughters. One sat and watched while I cut out all the pieces that I would need. She asked, with a rather disgusted look on her face, “Are you going to use that material?” I had to admit that it was rather ugly, but I just told her to “trust me.”
So often when I am making scrap quilts, there are downright ugly fabrics that I use. Somehow in the end, though, the finished product turns out being one of the nicest quilts I have ever made.
Isn’t that the way it is with our lives? Sometimes there are so many bad things that happen to us and we wonder why. I am sure that many of us ask these questions. Why did my parents die when they were so young? Why was there abuse in my household as a child? Why can’t my marriage work? Why did I ever try drugs or smoking?
There are many more questions that we can ask, but the answer is one and the same: to make us who we are.
The quilts of our lives are all different. There are no two that are the same. That makes for a diverse world where there are people that only we can help. I was rather a goody-goody when I was a child. I can’t relate to these young girls today who are having babies when they are still babies themselves. I can’t give any counsel to those who have been so high on drugs that they almost died. I have my own “scraps” from life that make me unique in my experiences.
If it weren’t for the ugly scraps of life, our “quilts” would not seem completed; it would look as if something were missing. Even those who appear to have perfect lives have ugliness that they try to hide, but it does not change the past and who they are.
I like those ugly fabrics in my quilts; they pull the whole project together and make it seem just right. Next time you are about to complain about all the bad things that have happened to you throughout your life time, just remember, it is your scraps that could make someone else’s life beautiful.
My mom did make a few quilts in her lifetime. We all had quilts on our beds to keep us warm on cold winter nights. Quilts are my specialty. While sewing one day I thought about all the quilts that I had made for people over the years. Some I liked, some I didn’t, some I hated to give away when they were all done!
I was making a quilt for someone one day, while the neighbor girls were at our house playing with my daughters. One sat and watched while I cut out all the pieces that I would need. She asked, with a rather disgusted look on her face, “Are you going to use that material?” I had to admit that it was rather ugly, but I just told her to “trust me.”
Isn’t that the way it is with our lives? Sometimes there are so many bad things that happen to us and we wonder why. I am sure that many of us ask these questions. Why did my parents die when they were so young? Why was there abuse in my household as a child? Why can’t my marriage work? Why did I ever try drugs or smoking?
There are many more questions that we can ask, but the answer is one and the same: to make us who we are.
The quilts of our lives are all different. There are no two that are the same. That makes for a diverse world where there are people that only we can help. I was rather a goody-goody when I was a child. I can’t relate to these young girls today who are having babies when they are still babies themselves. I can’t give any counsel to those who have been so high on drugs that they almost died. I have my own “scraps” from life that make me unique in my experiences.
If it weren’t for the ugly scraps of life, our “quilts” would not seem completed; it would look as if something were missing. Even those who appear to have perfect lives have ugliness that they try to hide, but it does not change the past and who they are.
I like those ugly fabrics in my quilts; they pull the whole project together and make it seem just right. Next time you are about to complain about all the bad things that have happened to you throughout your life time, just remember, it is your scraps that could make someone else’s life beautiful.
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