Quilting a Life

Believe it or not, we all make a quilt. Just one. You start out with a pile of fabric. Everyone's fabric is different, some have bright floral prints, others a demure tan stripe. As you go along, you cut the pieces, begin to see how it'll shape up to be, but you can never know for sure. You finish cutting, throw away the worthless scraps, the ideas that didn't turn out as you planned. You plunk down at the machine. Most people follow a pattern, but some just go out on a limb, don't follow anything anyone else has done, and hope for the best. And you start the 'exciting' part- the part you were waiting for the whole time while you were preparing-learning to sew, cutting each piece. You sew.

Some days, you sail along fine. Each block is nearly perfect, you nearly burst with the pride of achievement. Some days, you unpick stitch after stitch, and despair of ever doing it right. Some days, you feel you shouldn't even get out the machine at all.

Finally, you finish. You step back and see your finished quilt for the first time.

Your done. There's no going back, and the Judge is about to see it. Will He see a tangled mess of thread, bizarre fabrics in a lurid green? Will he see vibrant fabrics that, poorly executed, clash against each other and bunch up in some places? Or will He see a lovely creation, a colorful quilt made from trial, error, hard work, and sweat?

Everyone lives once. You get one quilt to make. What will yours look like. Will it win the prize, or be rejected, along with you?

Gretchen