I’ve always been a fabricolic. Even as a little girl, I would collect pieces of fabric to use for window curtains in a doll house or for some decoration or another. When I married for the second time in my life, we consolidated clothing and in doing so I found myself the proud owner of my husband’s work shirts of days gone by. They are not of current fashion, nor are they useful in size anymore, however the fabric be it striped, plaid or solid are still of some use. So I placed them in a bag for a decision could be made later. Now I am a quilter. I just completed my first quilt and placed into our guild show. The first had to be of a fine new fabric which I chose for their coordination with the colors in my home. The shirt fabric still awaits me and I find the mind playing the blocks and pieces out to fit the next quilt that is designed by me. I think that quilting works as a tool for things we need to mend in the heart and in the mind. So many women and also men are quilters and all arrange their work in so many patterns that it seems as though we create by our minds but the labor is from the heart. When a quilter chooses a kit or creates the design there is an apparent connection to the art of the matter. I should say that we all look at these pieces of fabric from a different angle depending upon your mind’s eye. I like to look for the creative side, as my husband will look for the design itself, others are attracted to the skill of sewing. I have not been doing this craft very long and as I grow with the knowledge from those who come before me, I enjoy the feeling of knowing that the plan was there a long time ago, and now all I need to do is put the pieces together!
