Welcome to 2015 my prayer is a deeper sense of God’s Mercy and of God’s Creative sense. As I read this first sentence I am in awe of how these are the same thing, God is all One and in my humanness I see this as different pieces. For me as a human it is different pieces that must be stitched together in a deeper understanding of God, myself and others. Over the years I’ve read a few poetic analogies that help us understand our relationship with God and our neighbor: Footprints in the Sand and there’s one that involves weaving/tapestry. They both touch on something, lead to something deeper, offering the authors understanding of their relationship with God. They are beautiful and have clearly spoken to my heart.
The process of making a quilt can teach us much about our relationship with God and with one another. There are so many people involved in making a quilt from the cotton growers, processors, cloth makers, dyers, fabric designers, thread makers, shops, pattern designers, notions designers, notions makers, quilting teachers, authors, publishers, editors, printers (those who print the books), photographers, sewing machine manufacturers, machine dealers, quilting friends…this list is certainly not exhaustive. There are so many people who are involved in making our quilts from beginning to end. I would extend this to any craft…many people. We journey with others. We work together to make something beautiful. Some who we journey with are hidden from our immediate sight, they are still there, working with us to make something beautiful from beginning to end. It’s kind of mind boggling and comforting all in the same moment.
A couple of weeks ago I taught a free motion machine quilting class where one of the students never stitched on a machine before, she did amazingly well. At one point moving through the exercises I give on her own. There are a few motifs I needed to show her (and the other students) as the stitching path is not always immediately evident. She had such a great time in class that she’s coming back and bringing two friends. Technically she’s learning quilting out of order but it’s her order. This part of quilting speaks to her heart and who am I to stand in her way. My job is to teach and encourage. Both the learning and the teaching, the frustration of learning a new skill and becoming masterful are part of that Creativity of God.
I’m on a journey of writing a book on free motion machine quilting…it’s part of my journey that I will one day get to share with you. This is an entering into that Creativity of God, an appreciation for the gift/talent He has given and an acknowledgement of the exercise and growth of that talent. I still have a lot to learn and I’m grateful for that. Pray for me folks. I’d appreciate it a lot.
Let’s grow together in 2015
God bless!
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 