It's True
...that all things happen for a reason.
About fifteen years ago, I pieced a red, white and blue log cabin top for my son Wills. I collected fabric for quite some time, buying remnants and fat quarters and using scraps from some skirts I had sewn for myself. They were my first ever log cabin blocks, and not at all perfect, but the colors were just what I was trying to acheive for my patriotic and history-loving son.
After the blocks were pieced, Wills and I poured through my quilt books to choose a nice setting for the blocks. We laid them out on the living room floor, and tried some variations like "barn raising" and "straight furrows", but Wills (who was nine years old) had his own idea. He said, "Mom, you always say that our uniqueness makes us special. I want a unique quilt." And Wills proceeded to lay out the blocks in a design we hadn't seen in any books.
I stitched the blocks together and I was concerned that the un-squareness of the blocks had become magnified when they were assembled. I was disappointed and set the top aside.
For a long time.
Every year or two, Wills would ask when I was going to finish his quilt. Poor boy. I couldn't tell him I thought the top was worthless, and at the same time, I couldn't part with it, so it stayed on a shelf, folded to look pretty enough along its exposed edge.
Then, a few weeks ago, Wills called and asked what was new. I told him I had gotten a new longarm machine and before I could say that I'd attempt to quilt his top, even though it wasn't perfect and I couldn't guarantee the results, I wanted to finish it for him...he said, "Oh, mama! Will you make me a really modern blue and gray quilt, queen size?" "Of course!" I answered. Anything for my boy who never got his first quilt and is about to graduate from college and buy a house. Seriously.
A week ago, my friend Cherri asked for quilts for the wounded soldiers at Fort Hood. She needed them fast, so they can be delivered to the soldiers as they recover.
I thought of the red, white and blue log cabin quilt top. The colors of the US flag in the most American of all quilt patterns. I thought of the uniqueness of the layout and how special our troops are to us. I thought of the yards of "Pledge of Allegience" fabric I had on my shelf. (Yes, it repeats the entire pledge, over and over.) I thought of the new cone of King Tut quilting thread called "Freedom" that had just arrived from my supplier.
It's True
...that you cannot quilt all the wonkiness out of a quilt, or all of the fullness out of blocks that were not properly squared up.
But quilting helps.
It's True
...that you can feel like you've lost your meandering mojo, but you can press on for a good cause.
And it looks rather nice.
Oh...
It's Also True
...that when your doctor tells you to stay off your badly torn up knee, you should, or it will hurt. So this quilt took almost a week to get quilted, in small doses.
I'm so glad I was able to do it. It is clear this quilt top sat on my shelf for a reason.
The red binding goes on in the morning. I've got to get this quilt in the mail!
