Friday, May 17, 2013

The Joy of Quilting

It's more than just fabric and thread...

The start of this week was a tough one.  Mother's Day is just about my least favorite holiday of all of them - for so many reasons...

 

I had a very sad day on Sunday. There were tears. It continued into Monday. I didn't feel like quilting. I was bouncing from thing to thing and not doing any of them well.  

 

Do you ever have days like that? 

 

Normally I am an upbeat, positive person who can't wait to see what wonderful things my day will bring.  Sunday and Monday were not those kind of days.  Friends reached out. My "adopted kids" (children of my BFF Karen Lieberman) took me to dinner and gave me presents and a card - and made me cry just a bit at the thoughtfulness of their hearts.


And then something even more wonderful happened. I got an email.  A very special email.  An email telling me I won an award at Machine Quilter's Showcase. I had two entries but the email was not specific. I had not thought about the entries since I handed them off to the UPS guy - I wasn't going this year so I just put it to the back of my mind I guess. 

 

Wednesday rolled around and a couple of my friends offered to let me know the outcome at the awards celebration that evening.  I waited.  And I thought about my entries.  I looked at the pictures again.  I went to my sewing room and started taking stock of all the joy that resides in that room just waiting to be unleashed in my life. 


I felt inspired.  I started getting excited - not at the outcome of the award, but the ideas floating around in my head for a new project.  There was joy.  The sadness cloud I was living under lifted and I was starting to feel like my old self. I know there were people praying for me - they knew I was off because, well I am just basically a happy person.  They tend to freak out a bit when I am down. I think bad moods are a waste of time and I don't want to waste a minute of my time on this earth.  I have had a couple warnings already and well, I didn't listen the first time, but I'm listening now. And prayers were answered.


Spectator Sport by Linda M. Thielfoldt

I got the news that both my entries had won.  My quilt Scrapalicious #12 took first and my wearable art "Spectator Sport" took second.  I was elated.  I was thankful.  I was stunned. I was excited. I was humbled. I was all the words you can use to describe joy.  Mostly I was thankful.

Spectator Sport by Linda M. Thielfoldt

 

Not for the reasons you might think.  I was thankful that the God I love gave me this talent and the time to use it.  To explore it.  To share it with others.  To feed my creative soul.  I was thankful that I have the time to make things.  Not just for shows but to help other people feel joy.  Or to keep warm.  Or to make them feel loved. I was humbled.


I made a quilt for my SIL Loretta, took it to her on Monday.  I got a call on Thursday that she stood for a few minutes for the first time since the drunk driver hit her a month ago.  She loved the quilt I made her and said she will cherish it for the rest of her life.  Those words brought joy to my heart. They fed my soul. I was thankful.


Scrapalicious #12 by Linda M. Thielfoldt © 2013

It was an amazing week.  It was unexpected.  There was joy.

 

The women's group at my church is working through the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It is an amazing study.  The challenge is to "live fully right where you are" and to start a journal where you write down 1000 things you are truly thankful for.  To live with a thankful heart.  To not miss a minute. To live with an attitude of gratitude. 

 

In the midst of my journal entries I find quilting. And fabric. And friendships born of quilting. And sharing our passion. And joy. It is woven throughout my life. I cannot speak of joy and thanksgiving without some aspect of quilting entering into the conversation.


So for me this thing called quilting is much more than fabric and thread.  It is more than time spent creating.  It is a gift I can give.  A gift that can be shared.  Born of my hands which really means my heart. Which means it comes from God.  Most times the gift blesses me the most. 

 

And all those quilts are the "children" that will be here long after I am gone. That makes me smile.


Perhaps you don't worship this God I love, but maybe you can identify with the amazing gift quilting is and the joy that it brings.  In so many forms. On so many levels.  And when you least expect it. 



Embrace it. Celebrate it. Share it. 

 

Dare to write it down.

 

Thanks for your contribution to this joy in my life.    ~ LT



  © 2013 Linda M. Thielfoldt

8 comments:

  1. What an uplifting and wonderful post. Wishing you a grand and lovely day.

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    1. Thanks Frances, I appreciate your kind words more than you know. Have a blessed day too <3 ~ LT

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  2. Linda, I know we're only Facebook, well not even acquaintances, but I have liked your page. But, we are 'sisters in Christ', and I understand exactly what you said in this blog! I love and worship the creator who gave me my sewing talent. I pray everyday that my creations will bless someone's socks off! I am truly humbled by His grace and mercy. Who am I that He would give me such a gift? I pray you're days have been better. Blessings ~

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    1. Oh thank you Debbie for your kind words. To answer your question....you are His child and his love knows no bounds. Thanks for your prayers...they were felt and I have been blessed. Glad to have you as a friend!

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  3. Linda I totally understand what you just said in your blog and I am another "sister in Christ" as well, when I have my darkest moments that's when I turn everything over to our Lord to guide me through. One of my UFO's that I have and I tear up just thinking of it is a quilt I was about 70% of the way through making for my mother in law that had inoperable cancer. She passed away before I could finish making it for her and it sits on my work table I don't have the heart to finish it or what to do with it if I do finish it. I'm hoping the Lord will guide me on what to do with it in time. It's one I hope to get off of my UFO list one of these days.

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    1. I know it can be hard to revisit a project like that but in time, when you are ready you will finish it and it will be a loving reminder of a wonderful woman who entered your life when you married her son. Rather than thinking of the loss, make the quilt be a celebration of her life and all the memories you have of her. She would want that for you, and so do I. When it is complete you can wrap up in it and it can represent a hug from her.

      I finally completed a quilt my mother started in the late 30's - it was hard to work on as I lost her when I was yet a teenager - it was a challenge and a blessing all rolled into one. Sixty plus years after my mother started it, I completed it - hand quilted too! I cherish it to this day in spite of the fact that there were days when I couldn't even look at it. It is the one quilt that I will grab if my house ever catches on fire. Blessings and hugs to you my friend.

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  4. Oh, Linda.....I've admired your work for so long....on Facebook and on the Quilt Show....but never as much as when I read this post....I truly admire YOU now. Yes....I love HIM too!

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    1. Kathy I cannot tell you how much your words mean to me. In this PC world we live in there is the small voice saying "you better not post this Linda, it might offend someone"....I didn't listen and I am glad you were blessed by that.

      Looking forward to seeing you on fb and let's keep in touch!

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