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