2 Word

I love words. Even when choosing a blog service, the fact that it’s called WordPress drove my decision. Although they’re probably great sites as well, names like Wix and Blogger just didn’t appeal. Sorry, no offense Wix and Blogger.

But Word. Yum. And “wordpress” calls to mind a big room with typeset and inks and blotters. The sun streaming through a high window casts its light on an elegant printing press and makes it glow. As if by magic, the wordsmith is making the alphabet come alive with every turn of the big wooden lever. The letters become text and the text lives in the hearts and minds of its readers. I’m jumping ahead in the Bible, but I can’t resist the parallelism here. Compare the first words of the Old Testament with the first words of the New Testament. Check this out: John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” How about that. Both start with the same words. And WORDS are what brought forth creation. I can’t help but add the familiar tie-in: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus is the Word of Life. He was with God, creating our world out of nothing. With words. Wow. Talk about magical.

When God spoke there was light, and darkness, and day and night. The second block of the Bible Sampler quilt describes night and day, evening and morning, the second day. Amazing. We can’t do that. We can’t create something out of nothing. Everything around us is made from things that God created. We merely re-create.

When friends would say “You’re so creative” I would think, no, I’m actually re-creating. God made the raw materials. I’m just refashioning them into my own creation, er, re-creation. And isn’t it fun that it’s called “recreation”?

Words are fun. Think on the word “vacation”. The root is “vacate”, or to empty. As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I have chosen to vacate my self-will and surrender to His will. So my entire life is actually spent on “vacation”! Such an adventure!

Making something out of nothing intrigues me. I’m a scrappy quilter. My stash is substantial, and nearly all of it came from thrift stores or yard sales. At first, it was because I didn’t want to impact our budget with my hobby, and I didn’t have the confidence to slice into expensive fabric. As I got more proficient, I looked in the quilt shops and big box stores, and realized my thrift stores were supplying me with high quality fabrics that suited me just fine. I’ve now put myself on a cloth diet, restricting use to what I have. Besides the budget, I also don’t want to impact our home space. (Too late.)

One of my first quilts was re-created from a big bag of squares found at Goodwill. I think the project was a bargello. My guess is the donor abandoned the project because the squares and strips were cut all whopperjawed. (How’s that for a word?) He or she probably got frustrated and quit. I thank that person, because I learned how to cut accurately as I squared up the hundreds of 2.5 inch blocks into something a bit smaller. This project also gave me the opportunity to practice a uniform quarter inch seam over and over again on those little squares. Here’s what I made:

The second block of the Bible Sampler quilt is night and day, evening and morning, the second day. The Amish have a quilt they call Light and Shadow. Traditionally it is made and given to bridal couples to remind them that their years ahead will bring both good and bad. And God will be there through it all. This is my Light and Shadow quilt, or maybe it’s a Trip Around the World…

I had so many squares left over that I pieced a back. I used the blooming nine patch idea. It cascaded rather than bloomed – I was limited by what I had left over. The back:

Here’s my block two of the Bible Sampler Quilt, Night and Day:

1 Genesis

You’ve heard of quick and easy? I am a slow and hard girl. I appreciate quick and easy, and understand the attraction. “Easy breezy” is always an attractive brand. But it’s not how I roll. Just now I was enjoying the crisp crunchy sound of the fabric as I trimmed up a quilt block with my scissors when I suddenly set it back down on my ironing board and began to write.

My blog.

Wow, I said it.

I’m actually starting. Now. For years I’ve enjoyed listening to podcasts and reading blogs. I was always wanting to add to the conversation, but work and family kept my life full to overflowing. When you’re a teacher, it utterly consumes all of you. Now I find myself retired,but I still have lots to say! My nest is empty, with the exception of my husband and two golden retrievers.

Here’s the story. Remember, I’m not good at quick and easy. If you read my blog, you do so at your own peril. This is the long conversation variety, not the Reader’s Digest. So I will begin at the beginning. (Ooh, remember that I said this so you can note the clever tie-in at the end.)

I was a middle child of many children in a typical suburban family of the mid century. I was born in the 50’s, grew up in the 60’s, spent the 70’s in high school and college, then became a teacher, a wife, and a mother in the eighties.

I was raised by Depression-era parents. Like my friends, I had chores after school, and had to clean my plate at dinner, but otherwise my happiness was my own responsibility. I was left to my own devices. It was the best kind of childhood. I liked watching my mom sew our dresses on her turquoise Universal sewing machine, which I wasn’t allowed to touch. She was generous with providing us kids with all manner of craft supplies. I designed and made outfits for my troll dolls out of felt and glue. I knitted and crocheted blankets and sweaters. My aunt had taught me to knit when I was eight years old.

I took sewing in high school because my mom was getting tired of having to sew all my glee and choir dresses. Also, it was the era of the granny dress. And the caftan. And hand-embroidering on the yokes of your boyfriend’s denim blue western shirts. Everyone was expressing individuality with homemade clothing. The best was when someone complimented you on your blouse or dress, and you could say that you made it.

Then the Bicentennial happened and quilting was a thing. I was in college, so my friends and I quilted matching bedspreads for our dorms. We sandwiched the fluffy polyester batting between sheets and hand tied them.

I kept quilting. I borrowed my mother’s featherweight and pieced quilt tops traditionally. I loved the history of quilting, and bought Ruby McKim’s book of 101 Patchwork patterns in the University’s bookstore. I didn’t make anything from the book, it was eye candy. I did make a quilt with matching curtains for my first apartment. It was a Simplicity pattern, and I loved it.

Then rotary cutters and rulers and healing mats and quilting in a day happened, but I was no longer sewing due to the pursuit of providing happiness for others. I borrowed (for good) my mom’s featherweight a couple of years ago, and I’m back!

I’m all caught up with the new technology of quilting, and I own the cool tools that make it fun and quick and easy. Rather than “Runs with Rotary Cutters”, I chose “Cuts with Scissors” to name my blog. Left to my own devices, I still love to play the old school way.

So now I’ll tell you what quilt block I was just working on. Well, backstory here first. I had a bucket list quilt, the Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt by Laurie Aaron Hird. I say “had” because I completed the top about six months ago. Go me. Done! Not so fast. My daughter thought I enjoyed the experience, so she bought me The Bible Sampler Quilt book, also by Laurie Aaron Hird, for my birthday. I will say the process challenged me and stretched my skillset, so I didn’t relish an encore.

But after reading the introduction, inspiration struck and a new challenge emerged. I would paper piece all the blocks in this quilt (I used templates in my FWS quilt). AND I would also read through the entire Bible cover to cover, using the blocks to keep my pace. Brilliant!

So the first quilt block in the book was inspired by Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning. . . “

Now you see why I dropped the completed block and started a blog. I have a starting point and a focus that will keep me from (too much) navel-gazing in future blogs! Follow along as I quilt through the Bible and if you’re still reading this, thanks for sticking with me to the end.