Blogger Note: This is a guest blog written by my husband, Ian McMillan. We
both were a part of this story but he beat me to the computer to write it.
Heather
A few weeks ago I walked into Value Village with my wife
Heather. I know there’s a large segment of men out there who would rather die
than follow their wives into a thrift store but I cannot claim to be part of
that group. It’s a guilty pleasure we both share.
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| This is the quilt unfinished. |
On this occasion though there weren’t many books I was
interested in so I went with Heather as she did her rounds. I wasn’t paying a
lot of attention (looking through fabric makes my eyes glaze over) when Heather
stopped dead in her tracks and pulled out something that looked like a
colourful sheet. Read about us stumbling upon it in the original post.
“Is this what I think it is?” she said.
“What do you think it is?”I replied.
“The start of a quilt.”
No longer zoned out I took a closer look at the fabric. It
was indeed the start of a quilt. Actually it was the start of two quilts as
there was another one right beside the first one. But why were these two
unfinished quilts sitting in a thrift store? Quilters DO NOT discard these
intricate tapestries because it takes an unbelievable amount of time, effort,
money and skill to assemble those things. I know this because my mother is a
quilter. They’re a dedicated group and they take a lot of pride in their work.
The first thought that came to me was morbid. No quilter
would set aside an unfinished quilt as beautiful as these two appeared. They
would have to die before they let something like this get carted off to a
thrift store. So in my mind that’s what happened. The quilter died before she
could finish her project (I say she because I have never met a man who quilts).
After the funeral her kids cleaned out her house and upon coming to her sewing
room took everything in there and gave it to charity.
My mother’s reaction upon seeing the two partially completed
quilts was much the same as Heather’s but it ramped up a notch when she saw the
stitching. The woman who started these two quilts was very good at her craft as
the stitching used was very complex requiring a lot of skill and patience. My
mother poured over the details of these quilts in much the same manner an army
general would pour over his battlefield plans. When she looked up she nodded
her head in approval. Heather had stumbled upon a rare find. She had hit the
‘quilting’ jackpot and it only cost her $8.
Heather’s not a quilter though so she was left with only one
choice – she asked my mom if she would finish the quilts for her. You could see
the excitement in her eyes as my mother happily agreed. Would it be a lot of
work? Count on it. But when you’re as passionate about something as my mother
is with quilting it’s not looked upon as work. It’s looked upon as fun. That’s
why people who discover their passions in life are so happy. They’re having fun
and isn’t that a large part about what life is all about? I think so.
Last weekend Heather woke up with this uncanny feeling that
she wanted to visit with my mother. She didn’t know why, just said we had to go
over for a visit. As we were getting into the car to go over my cellphone rang.
It was my mom and she wanted us to come over as soon as we could because she
had something to show us.
When we got there my mom happily brought out one of the two
quilts we’d left her weeks ago. It was beautiful. She had taken the beginning
of something special and completed it in only a way a ‘Quilting Sister’ could
(that’s what mom calls her colleagues). Somewhere in heaven an angel was
smiling as she gazed down at a project completed. A beautiful scrap was turned
into a magnificent masterpiece.
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| This is the quilt finished. |
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