Being surrounded by those who love me has me thinking about all the quilts made by and for our family over the years. Both of my great-grandma's and my grandma were quilt makers. I have a heritage of quilt making on both sides of my family. A heritage of making something uniquely beautiful that serves a very practical need.
But beyond the snuggly warmth of those quilts, there is the love that goes into making them for us. Each little piece that was cut and pieced together to create amazing designs that were not visible before they began. They took ordinary pieces of cloth and turned them into unique masterpieces.
My first quilt is threadbare and used very carefully now. Momma made it for me using the Grandmother's Fan design, which she copied from one of my great-grandmother's quilts. It required hours of cutting pieces of fabric, sewing each piece into fans, and then into squares to be sewn together. Once all the piecing was completed, Momma carefully layered the batting with the front and back materials and sewed them together before turning it right side out. Next was the painstaking work of making sure all the edges were completely turned and the entire quilt was without wrinkle. She used a surgeon's knot to tie the quilt every four inches to keep all the layers in place and prevent bunching when it was washed. It was a lot of work to wrestle that material around, get it completely smooth, and tie all those threads. Each fan was separated with a little strip of pink material and the back of the quilt was pink flannel. Beautiful and warm!
Jump to 1998 when George received orders to Keflavik Iceland. Momma decided my twin size quilt needed to be upsized to cover our queen bed. She took my quilt, separated the back from the front, took apart all of the fan squares, put a tiny strip of lace on the wide edge of each fan, and then put 3 inch wide sashing around each square. This made each square bigger by 6 inches. Then she put all the squares back together. This time she hand quilted the squares. It's beautiful again and yet very different. It's not nearly so girlie, which I'm sure George appreciated since it was on our bed during our entire 30 month tour. And would you believe? The back of the quilt looks like rows of suns shining! How perfect is that for living in a place that gets only dusk for several months of the year?
It's fall and the weather is cooling; additional warmth is on our minds. I'm thinking about my quilts and all the time and love they represent. My Grandmother's Fan quilt represents lots and lots of Momma love. There were hours and hours of work involved in both the original and the taking apart and remaking of my quilt. She even had to replace some of the fan pieces that were too threadbare to continue. Momma was making sure it was usable in a new situation. She was also making sure George and I would both be covered by her love in that distant place. There was a lot of time and love and prayer poured into my quilt!
God's like that too! He is continually reworking each of His masterpieces, pulling apart, replacing pieces, adding lace and sashing and extra quilting, and binding it all together so we never lose our usefulness; so we can continue to wrap others in His love. He reworks and repurposes us continually, but His original design is never changed.
The quilts in our family were made for use and the more use they get the happier the quilt maker is. I think the ONE who made us wants the same for us; He wants to see us out there in the thick of living and not displayed or tucked away somewhere out of reach.
Do you think His willingness to wrap us around others and cover them with His love is evidence of His delight in us? Who will we encounter today? Someone for us to wrap in His love? Someone to wrap us in His love? Maybe both!
But beyond the snuggly warmth of those quilts, there is the love that goes into making them for us. Each little piece that was cut and pieced together to create amazing designs that were not visible before they began. They took ordinary pieces of cloth and turned them into unique masterpieces.
My first quilt is threadbare and used very carefully now. Momma made it for me using the Grandmother's Fan design, which she copied from one of my great-grandmother's quilts. It required hours of cutting pieces of fabric, sewing each piece into fans, and then into squares to be sewn together. Once all the piecing was completed, Momma carefully layered the batting with the front and back materials and sewed them together before turning it right side out. Next was the painstaking work of making sure all the edges were completely turned and the entire quilt was without wrinkle. She used a surgeon's knot to tie the quilt every four inches to keep all the layers in place and prevent bunching when it was washed. It was a lot of work to wrestle that material around, get it completely smooth, and tie all those threads. Each fan was separated with a little strip of pink material and the back of the quilt was pink flannel. Beautiful and warm!
Jump to 1998 when George received orders to Keflavik Iceland. Momma decided my twin size quilt needed to be upsized to cover our queen bed. She took my quilt, separated the back from the front, took apart all of the fan squares, put a tiny strip of lace on the wide edge of each fan, and then put 3 inch wide sashing around each square. This made each square bigger by 6 inches. Then she put all the squares back together. This time she hand quilted the squares. It's beautiful again and yet very different. It's not nearly so girlie, which I'm sure George appreciated since it was on our bed during our entire 30 month tour. And would you believe? The back of the quilt looks like rows of suns shining! How perfect is that for living in a place that gets only dusk for several months of the year?
It's fall and the weather is cooling; additional warmth is on our minds. I'm thinking about my quilts and all the time and love they represent. My Grandmother's Fan quilt represents lots and lots of Momma love. There were hours and hours of work involved in both the original and the taking apart and remaking of my quilt. She even had to replace some of the fan pieces that were too threadbare to continue. Momma was making sure it was usable in a new situation. She was also making sure George and I would both be covered by her love in that distant place. There was a lot of time and love and prayer poured into my quilt!
God's like that too! He is continually reworking each of His masterpieces, pulling apart, replacing pieces, adding lace and sashing and extra quilting, and binding it all together so we never lose our usefulness; so we can continue to wrap others in His love. He reworks and repurposes us continually, but His original design is never changed.
The quilts in our family were made for use and the more use they get the happier the quilt maker is. I think the ONE who made us wants the same for us; He wants to see us out there in the thick of living and not displayed or tucked away somewhere out of reach.
Do you think His willingness to wrap us around others and cover them with His love is evidence of His delight in us? Who will we encounter today? Someone for us to wrap in His love? Someone to wrap us in His love? Maybe both!
Comments
Post a Comment