More pictures at the bottom of the post
The following is a letter I wrote to my Nephew Mitchell Marcum as he graduates from High School this weekend. I have been working on a quilt for him this year as is my tradition for all the nieces and nephews in my family.
Mitch,
I present this quilt to you as a
graduation present from our family with the intention that it is for you to
take to college to start the new phase of your life. A special note: grandma
Marcum appliquéd the kanju characters on the fabric for me so I could work them
in the quilt and she did a beautiful job of something that was beyond my skill.
As I have quilted for you this year
a wonderful analogy of life has appeared before my eyes. This quilt has gone through many stages of
production. First I gathered information
from you, your preferences and likes. Then
I researched the kanji characters and oriental quilt designs and went shopping
the fabric. I even made an appointment to
consult a quilting professional about my fabrics and design ideas and got some
very helpful feedback.
Once I got the fabric home and
before I could even cut one piece I needed to wash, dry and iron all of
it. I learned to do this from your
grandma Marcum. She taught me to always
wash the fabric and dry it in the dryer so if it’s going to shrink or change
from washing it does it before you have it sewn into your project and avoids
washing problems later when your project is completed. It is always hard to wait to start the quilt
and not skip this step but its important do things in order.
After all the fabric is ironed I
begin cutting measured strips and making the piece to be sewn together in
blocks. At this point the quilt still
does not look like anything, just hundreds of scrap pieces of many different
fabrics. It takes vision to keep going
with so much work to do; vision of what the quilt will be, knowing I have to
cut up that beautiful fabric to get it into the shape and design that I mean
for it to be. While the fabric itself is
beautiful, it is not yet a quilt.
I then began sewing triangles
together to make squares. Square after
square, in all my spare moments, my sewing machine lived on our dinner table
for days at a time. It even went to
seminary with me and I sewed thru seminary while waiting to drive my carpool
home. Then I ironed (again) all the
quilting blocks I made and laid them out in a pattern to make sure it was going
to look how I envisioned it to be. Then
I would sew them all together to make the next border, enlarging the quilt
attaching each piece just right to continue the pattern.
To keep the vision of what the
quilt was suppose to look like I would have to change my perspective and stand
up on a high platform to take a look from far above because sometimes I was too
close to the quilt and could not see it for what it truly was. Changing my perspective and taking a step
back and observing it made all the difference in the direction I would go next,
what color I would use, what direction I would lay the quilting blocks.
Often the material would slip while
sewing or I would sew the wrong piece in the wrong place. The velveteen material was particularly
difficult to sew together; it shifted constantly so the pieces would be uneven
after I would sew them. I took out my seam
ripper, countless times, and would take out the stitching and redo it
right. I think I sewed this quilt 3
times with all the ripping I did. And
while it is still not perfect, it turned out the best I could make it, lining
things up, keeping points of triangles, and trying to keep all the sides
even. It is usable and has been worth my
time.
Over the past 3 months I had to
choose how I spent my time carefully so I would be able to finish it before
your graduation. I had many things
competing for my time but I stayed focused and did not let the distractions
detour me from my goal. I took care of
the important things but said no to many leisure activities and other nice
things to do. I also tried hard not to
work on the other projects around the home vying for my time. I would set up goals for myself to complete
certain stages by specific deadlines and it helped me keep on track. I had a few setbacks but I took them in stride instead of getting
frustrated or panicked or losing hope. I
tried to always let the joy of creating something for someone I love be at the
forefront of my mind and enjoy the process and find joy in the moment.
I have seen this experience as an
analogy to how your life is unfolding.
You also have to have a vision of what your life is going to be in the
end so as you make ‘fabric choices’ and ‘cut to make pieces for quilt blocks’
you will make the right cuts, the right choices so when you put the pieces
together it will be harmonious and beautiful.
It is a lot of work in the beginning, and doesn’t seem like you are
making much progress because there is so much ground work to prepare for the
assembly of the quilt. You have spent
the majority of your life gathering your supplies, consulting professionals and
being tutored by the best in how to live your life. You have been gaining skills to put your
‘quilt’ together.
Following the steps in the right
order will be key to your happiness like mission, marriage, children. Skipping steps to prepare your fabric will
make trouble in your future. If you
don’t prewash the fabric, if your core foundation of gospel principles are not
in place and concrete, they won’t wash well through the wear of life and become
an unsightly pucker in your quilt and may even cause seams to come apart.
As you progress in life and put
together all the pieces you have prepared for your final quilt, you will
sometimes have to stand back and look at things from a new perspective. Often a higher perspective will help, a
heavenly perspective. The times when I
cannot appreciate the beauty in my life are because I am too close to a
situation and cannot appreciate what this piece looks like in the overall
picture. I need to step back and get the
bigger picture. In addition to personal
scripture study, (which has made all the difference in my life) the temple is
the place that I can get that perspective, it changes my focus and helps me see
things as they really are and how it can all come together. If my perspective does not improve with a
trip to the temple I at least leave with peace and a renewed hope that what I
am doing is all worth it and there is someone who can see the bigger
picture and He is really the master designer.
Sometimes you will put the wrong
pieces together by accident because you got them turned around the wrong way,
and sometimes because you thought it would look good that way. As you try to move forward with the next border
of your quilt you will realize it just won’t work out to have it put together in
that way. This can be discouraging
because it means you’ve wasted a lot of work and time and sometimes
materials. But it’s important to the
finished product that you redo it right. The seam ripper can be your best friend, just
like the atonement, it lets you repent a stitch or two, (or a whole boarder) so
you can put it the right way. When you
find the mistake you may be tired or at your wits end and are overwhelmed by
the mistake and the work it will take to fix it. Take a page from my book, go to bed and get
some rest, things will look better in the morning.
You will find that your seams in
life, even if they are off just a little bit will make a big difference to how
the next part of your life will fit up against it. It’s important to hold to baptismal and
temple covenants, they have power
and protection from things in this
life that would destroy you or keep you from adding beautiful things to your
life down the road. Don’t get distracted from your purpose or let unimportant things
take up your time here on earth. Live
each day with a plan and goals to reach that purpose.
As your life’s quilt comes
together, each next step will feel right and will fit together. The design will come together in a way that
you never imagined it would but it will be what it is suppose to be if you have
listened to the Master Designer. The
choices you have made and time you have spend putting your life’s quilt
together will be able to wrap around you and give you warmth and comfort and be
a thing of beauty and admiration forever.
Your next step while daunting is so
important. You have been given
wonderful and beautiful raw materials for your life’s quilt. Start cutting up your material Mitch, and
putting it together in a remarkable way.
I for one want to see the finished product.
Love,
Aunt Heather, designer and seamstress,
Uncle Russ, who funded the project and didn’t complain about pancakes for
breakfast once a week for two months, and the rest of the gang who mostly just
admired the process and can’t wait for their turn
The whole quilt front
The middle panel and first border
The back I patch worked from leftover velveteen
