Did you know that I can literally flip the script? I can write backwards. I can also write with my non-dominant hand. It’s not pretty but I can do it I can sign my name if necessary, somehow the script is better than printing. Go figure.
The words in this image say, “quilt on sisters” with sisters written backwards or in mirror image. I don’t know when or how I developed this skill though it’s before I started quilting. One of the things I teach is quilting in multiple directions, making it easier to manage the quilt while working. The less the quilt needs to be turned the easier it is to get the quilting done. And remember that no matter how large the quilt you’re only quilting an oven mitt sized space.
One of the most mind blowing things I’ve heard recently on one of those super short vids is something along the line of “You’ve all heard that practice makes perfect. That’s not true, practice doesn’t make us perfect. Practice makes us better (than we were before). This is, in so many ways, a deeper understanding of the definition of practice, why I practice. Our current society gives us the top 90000000 tips to the perfect quilting, body, mind, toes, salad, free-motion quilting rhythm, The more we quilt, take care of our physical body, feed our mind good things, put things in salads that we like, free-motion quilt the better we will get at each one of these practices. When we practice our faith, feed it with Scripture and Community we get better at living our Faith and being part of a Community, even when, especially when it’s hard.
Sometime back I took a physical and emotional break from someone really important in my life. The who isn’t as important as the why. I had a deep need for physical and emotional distance. There came a moment of misunderstanding and hurt that made it easy to take that physical and emotional distance. Sometime later we had a conversation about that, however I wasn’t ready for letting in closer. Surrounding this physical and emotional distance is what I’ve come to understand as a repotting and root combing – to use a currently recurring image – being root bound and needing to grow. Oh how odd this whole experience is and yet how beautiful. Stepping back from someone important gave me the opportunity to both see myself differently and see the person differently. It’s not been easy both to take this break, nor work toward letting this person back in. It requires a letting go, an acceptance of imperfection, a willingness to extend grace in new-to-me places and a willingness to see heretofore unnoticed things about the other person. It is not easy. However it is worth it in so many ways.
Like quilting, like getting better at any skill set it takes practice and a willingness to make mistakes and a recognition of the hot mess of a person in front of me, whether it’s another human being, or – and this is essential – myself. Just like improving my skill set as a quilt maker takes time, a willingness to make mistake and an acceptance that nothing under the sun is perfect, relationships take the same pathways.
How do you get better at quilting? Practice.
How you you get better at relationships? Practice.
practice: patience, forgiveness, grace, mistake making, new patterns, old patterns that work, kindness, grace, and so, so much more. Remember: practice doesn’t make perfect; practice makes better
Come Holy Spirit
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 