One stitch at a time

My life is a quilt.  Each piece a different experience I am having here on Earth.  The pieces are all different shapes, sizes, and colors.  Some of the patterns are subtle, some are bold.  Some of the colors are boring, and some really catch your eye.  The stitching is a little wobbly in some places, and very deliberate and beautiful in others.  Some of the pieces are tiny, just snatches in time when I look back at them.  Others loom large, and powerful.  As each piece has been finished, and the last stitch sewn I have eagerly awaited the next piece of fabric.  I love looking for new patterns, and seeking to find just the right way to place the fabric into my quilt.  I have always enjoyed the anticipation of a new piece.  Some of the pieces I was thirilled with as soon as I got my hands on them, others I grew to love.  Some of the pieces I never came to love, and was thankful to be done with, but I treasured the variety they gave my quilt.  Sometimes I had a hard time placing those last stitches in, knowing I was almost done with that seam, and would soon need a new piece to work on.

Sometimes it takes a little distance to see the value a piece has in my quilt.   I look back at pieces I rushed through, see their beauty, and wish I had taken more time when placing my stitches.  Other pieces you love from the start.  From the first stitch to the last reluctant one, you love placing that fabric in your quilt, knowing it will always be a part of you.

Now, I'm placing the finishing stitches in another piece of my quilt, and it's hard.  Really hard.  I've seen the end of this seam coming for some time, and I thought I had the thread firmly in hand, and was ready to finish it beautifully.  And it's starting to wobble.  This piece is one of my favorites.  I love it.  It's been hard fabric to work with, unruly at times, and a joy at others.  I love the pattern, it's always changing, and the colors are unique and beautiful.  I don't think I'll ever find another piece of fabric quite like it.  I've learned more about quilts and fabric, colors and patterns than I ever have from another piece, and I feel like there is so much more I could learn, if only I could stretch the fabric a little more.  Yet I know stretching would distort it, and could ruin it all, and so I just keep stitching, one stitch at a time.

My quilt is different now with this piece in the design, and it's so much better!  It has so many more colors than I ever thought possible, and it's beautiful.  I don't want it to stop, I don't want it to change.  But it has to.  It's the nature of quilting.  You know as you begin to stitch each piece in place there will come a time when you place the last stitch.  Sometimes you can't wait to take that last stitch, and move on.  This isn't one of those times.  Yes, I know another piece of fabric will soon fall into my hands, and I will take care to do my best stitching, but it won't be this piece, the piece I love.  I don't know if I'll ever have another piece I love as much as this one.  Maybe that's the scariest part of all.  After the vibrancy of this fabric I fear the rest of the pieces will be dull and lifeless when placed on my quilt. Maybe we only get a few pieces this perfect for our quilts, and the rest we have to make as beautiful as we can.

I don't want to take one more stitch.  I don't think I can.  I know with each stitch I take I'm that much closer to my last stitch, and I really want to just wrap my quilt around me, and cry.  But I won't.  I will pick up my needle and keep quilting, one stitch at a time.