Excerpt
Learning Acceptance
This is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation. 1 Timothy 4:9
I was still in high school when I decided I wanted to make a baby quilt for my hope chest. Never mind there was nothing else in it, or that I didnt actually have a hope chest, or that hope chests were supposed to be filled with items a woman would need to beautify herself and her home in the early years of her marriage.
Dishes, hand embroidered dish towels, table clothes, maybe some nice lingerie were the items most frequently stashed in a girls hope chest. If a quilt were added it would be a full-size quilt for her and her husband.
No, I didnt want anything like that. Of course, not to say I wouldve turned it down if it was offered, but those werent the items I cared about. I just knew that when I married Id soon become a mother, and I wanted a quilt for that baby.
Unfortunately, with no one to guide me, knowing nothing about piecing a quilt, or planning, I forged ahead sewing my scraps of material together. When finished it looked nothing like the quilt Id envisioned, and it didnt even have the look of serviceability. Disheartened with my lack of success I discarded the quilt and any idea of making future quilts.
Although my love of quilts never abated, I changed my focus to collecting patterns and stories. It was years before I once again attempted making a quilt.
However, in looking back on it I realize that little attempt at a quilt was really quite nice considering its background. Ive also learned over the years, the flaws I saw in that quilt top could have been quilted out.
That tiny attempt, while discarded long ago continues to teach me. It teaches me not to give up. It teaches me that even when I dont think I have any value to offer, I do. It teaches me acceptance.
Thank you for my talents and skills, and the talents and skills of others.
| Tip: When pressing a block remember to lift the iron and press it down in a different area when moving it rather than ironing across the block. This will help it keep its shape and size.
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Comfort in Making the Quilt
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope. Psalms 16:9
In the early years of my parents marriage they received a quilt from my paternal grandmother every year for Christmas.
My grandmother, who was born in the 1800s, was taught at a young age and was expected to use domestic skills of cooking, sewing, crocheting, and knitting. Having come from a non-sewing family, Mom appreciated these quilts, but felt they were far too valuable to use. She knew her mother-in-law spent many hours piecing and quilting those marvelous creations.
She told me she tried to explain to Grandma the quilts were too valuable to be used daily and possibly ruined. It did her no good. According to her, Grandma said something like, shed be doing something anyway she may as well be making quilts.
Having made, and given quilts I understand what my grandmother was trying to say, and my mom couldnt quite get. My grandmother received much joy and pleasure in making and giving the quilts. I can imagine her thinking of my parents using her creation as she sewed, and that gave her much pleasure. A pleasure she hoped was repeated for my parents when they accepted the gift.
Thank you for those who offer their talents and skills. Help me accept them in the same love in which they are given. Help me offer my talents and skills to others with love and gratitude.
| Tip: If you want to share your quilt, but worry about the wear and tear of daily use, consider using it for display purposes. Exhibiting a quilt on a wall, an unused bed or behind glass in a cabinet is a good way to share your quilt with others without excess worry. |
Read the synopsis of this book.
Purchase Devoted to Quilting by Nita Beshear:
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-- $6.99
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