A Quilt For Me

Over the winter this year my mother has been working away at a quilt for me. I have seen her make quilts before but since I this quilt is going to be for me I was paying more attention to the process and I have discovered that to make a quilt is a lot of work.

The quilt went in as soon as the Christmas tree came down and the quilt came out of its frame just last week. It is a king size quilt so larger than any other quilt my mother has made. This was not the only challenge for my mom to overcome with this big quilt. The border of this quilt is black which is harder to see. Another challenge was that the panels had flowers, and hearts, and leaves, and vines which means A LOT of quilting in each panel.

All of these obstacles were overcome by mother in a few ways. The first was perseverance. She just worked away at the quilt whenever she had some free time. She sat in her back room watching the winter while leaning on her quilt frames and working away. One stitch at a time, all the way across the quilt until it was time to turn and then she started again. Once and a while someone would stop by to help. My great aunt Mary came to add her tiny perfect stitches. My mom’s friends came to help out too. She spent an afternoon with my sister at the quilt even though she hadn’t quilted in years and finally, she even convinced me to put a stitch in as well. All of us working together to make this piece of art. Years of friendship, family, and memories all built into one perfect quilt that I can’t wait to display every day.

As we enter into Holy Week and head towards the Easter celebrations, we can appreciate the perseverance, artistry and intricacy of our faith story. This history of 2000 years of Easter morning Worship Services celebrating the core of our faith – Jesus death, resurrection and ascension – for us. The great sacrifice that God made through Jesus Christ, and the triumph of that sacrifice. The beautiful work of art it has created. So much depth, love and grace put into this story. So many hands that have participated. All these years and the Easter story has not lost any power, it has endured thousands of rulers and empires. It has been told for hundreds of generations, and still it the best story ever told and the greatest promise ever given.

Like a quilt that holds so much history, gives so much warmth, and is a piece of art, our faith story is all those things and so much more. Our faith story covers us completely, warms our souls, and offers us everything – it offers us life eternal.