Mother's Day Quilt

Here is a close-up (but not too close) of the quilt that I finished at midnight. Just as Mother's Day dawned this morning, I was amazed to acknowledge that I actually had in my lap a fully-formed quilt. I had really finished it and it was really as beautiful as I had hoped all along it would be.

In making the quilt, I made many mistakes and encountered many problems. There were some tears that needed to be patched, some excesses that were discarded, some crookedness that had to be tugged around into relative straightness, and some errors that left their scars, even after mending. It is by no means a work of perfect execution. But, because I loved the fabrics so much, and wanted so much for something warm and whole and beautiful to result from my efforts, I did what I had to do and kept working at it for as long as it took. And now it is, somehow, in its own quirky way, perfect.

As I finished this quilt, at the onset of this often-difficult holiday, something in my heart told me that this project had felt so very important, and that I had felt so strongly the need to complete it, because it represented for me my family. I understood with a new depth that we are like a quilt in progress. As I looked upon what I held in my lap, I could feel that our family is even now being straightened and mended and stitched together into something warm and whole and beautiful, too.

This is truly my Mother's Day quilt. Happy Mother's Day to you, whatever stage your quilt is in. May it all come together beautifully, some day. May mine come together, too.