Back at the end of September a coworker (and friend of mine) came to my office and asked me if I sewed quilts for people? to sell? No. no. no. I shook my head, no. I have made a few small baby quilts for expectant mothers at work and when a very good friend retired I put together a signature quilt for her, but I don't take on commisioned work. I have been asked before and always answer no. Why not?
- Because I don't believe my quilting skills are professional enough to take money from others for them. I still send out my own quilts over a twin size out to a professional longarm quilter to be completed.
- Because I don't have enough time to sew for myself.
- Because I am slow, even the most simple quilts take me months to complete.
- Because I don't think most people who do not quilt understand the time and expense that is put into a quilt.
- And last - because I don't want to disappoint anyone. I would stress about this last point A LOT.
Despite all the reasons listed above, my friend told me she had a good friend who had been diagnosed with cancer in August and that she (the friend with cancer)wanted to have a quilt made for her husband, for Christmas. A Tshirt quilt. Well, after I heard her story I said okay, have her bring me the tshirts and I will try to get it done by Christmas for her. She brought me two small bags of tshirts - she had pinned little notes on them suggesting layout and could I please use all pieces, (some of the shirts had designs on the sleeves). Her only other request was that I put a red back on it. As I started to work on stabilizing the tshirts and cutting them square I prayed for her and I realized she really had put some thought into the arrangement of the quilt top. A couple of weeks passed and my friend from work came in one morning and asked me if I had started the quilt. Yes, I told her, I worked on it all weekend. She began crying and told me that her friend had passed away the previous Friday. I felt so sad for her. After hugging her and telling her how sorry I was I asked her if she wanted me to finish the quilt? Yes, she said, please finish it for her husband. Well, I finished it this past weekend and it turned out very nice. Nothing fancy, I just quilted it in the ditch around all seams. Her husband did not know she was having this quilt made for him. I believe she would be happy with how it turned out and I believe God sent me this heartfelt request from a woman dying of cancer to teach me a lesson.
They belonged to an organization called B.A.C.A. Bikers against Child Abuse. I googled them on the internet. This organization (from what I read) provides a kind of big brother figure in the lives of abused children.
God Bless. Bernie
