Live high, live mighty, live righteously, just taking it easy.
--Jason Mraz

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Turning a beautiful scrap into a magnificient masterpiece



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.

This is the quilt unfinished.
When we entered the thrift shop Heather went left to the sewing area while I ventured to the right to stake out the book section. Her little world and my little world, close but forever apart. Maybe that’s why we’ve been able to stick it out together for more than 25 years. That or we’re both hooked on uncovering rare treasures. We’ve both walked out of the place with some great deals before.

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.

This is the quilt finished.