My quilt

My friend Lois made this quilt. Isn't it gorgeous? It's an applique quilt that won a blue ribbon this week from a group of quilters.

I wanted to take up quilting one time. My mother has made quilts out of necessity as we were growing up: quilts to keep us warm all those cold New England nights. Her quilts were heavy and had my dad's wool army blankets inside as fillers. Sleeping under one of those quilts was satisfying and very warm. In fact, I got so used to the weight of mother's quilts that when I visited other places, I couldn't sleep with light blankets over me. Something didn't feel right, so I'd put a throw rug on top of the bed so I could get the right weight over me in order to be able to sleep.

But Lois' quilt is a piece of art. I wanted to learn how to do that, too. Perhaps I will one day.
What strikes me about this quilt is how long it takes to make each square, sew it all together, and then quilt the entire piece as a whole. What tremendous patience and creativity Lois has!

I suppose that life and moving on is like the process of quilting: it is made up of pieces, each that takes time and effort to make. One part is our accomplishments in terms of career or education. Another part is our relationship with family. Yet another is composed of our friendships. Our emotional wellbeing and the efforts we put into that kind of growth is a square.

As I heal from the death of my father, I've been thinking about the kaliedascope of my life. There are several parts of life that need attention: relationship with family members, grief resolution, my own emotional health. Every day I stitch a few more patterns onto my quilt. I pray as I think about all that needs to be done on it. One day, it will be beautiful. For now, it is a work in progress, with seams askew and loose threads. But I do not work on it alone.

Our lives may seem a tangle, but as we commit ourselves to the wise Master worker, He will bring out the pattern of life and character that will be to His own glory. (Desire of Ages, E. White).