And to All a Good Feast

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Anymore it looks like Christmas long before Thanksgiving or even Halloween.  My roommate recently expressed her frustration with this phenomenon.  She feels it is important to be thankful, especially when you consider all that our fore fathers went through to get us here. Yet there are no Thanksgiving carols, very few Thanksgiving specials, and it’s almost impossible to find a Thanksgiving movie.  Even the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ends with Santa riding in signaling the start of Christmas shopping. Thanksgiving has become little more than a day we stuff ourselves and prepare for the craziness of Christmas shopping.  It is a sad statement on our society when we gloss over the holiday about being grateful for what we have and skip right to the holiday where we get more stuff.

I wish I could say that things were different in the quilting world, but in our shop we are already decorated for Christmas.  Dozens of Christmas lines come out every year and very few thanksgiving prints.  Thanksgiving patterns are hard to find yet Christmas patterns are plentiful. Of course a quilter’s view of Christmas is a little different than most.  A quilter’ main concern is, “What can I make so-and-so for Christmas?” or “How can I get all of these projects done before Christmas?”  When you hand sew all of your gifts, it makes sense to start a month or two early.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas.  I love making things for my family and friends that show them just how much I care for them and how thankful I am for them, but we can’t let our enthusiasm for Christmas cause us to forget to take this opportunity to stop and think about all our blessings.  We spend so much time contemplating the true meaning of Christmas, perhaps we could also take a little time to contemplate the true meaning of Thanksgiving as well.  What better way to start our holiday season.  To quote Sheryl Crow, “it’s not having what you want.  It’s wanting what you’ve got.” Perhaps this year before we get what we want for Christmas, we can be grateful for what we have this Thanksgiving.

Sew Therapy

When tragedy strikes those affected, either directly or indirectly, are often over whelmed with the need to do something, anything, to help.  It isn’t unusual for people facing hard times to be inundated with food, gifts, well wishes, and offers to help.  As a friend wisely told me recently, this is a much for the benefit of the person helping as it is for the one being helped.  We feel we must do something, even when we have no idea what we can possibly do. However, sometimes there just isn’t anything to be done.  That is when the tragedy can hit you hardest.

A few years ago, my grandpa passed away.  I found myself overwhelmed by this same desire.  I had to do something.  But there wasn’t anything I could do.  All the plans and preparations that needed to be done were taken care of by everyone else.  What do you do when there isn’t anything to do?  I started a quilt.  I still haven’t finished it, but just having something that I could work on, something I could just pick up and stitch on, helped me through the hard times.

Now as I face the loss of my grandma, I find myself once again searching for something to do.  Although I know in my heart of hearts that my grandparents are happy together again, I feel the need and the desire to do something.  What better tribute could I offer then to sew a quilt for the woman who first taught me to thread a bobbin?  Grandma hand quilted one quilt after another for grandchildren as they reached the age of 16.  It seemed appropriate to make one for her.  So when my mom suggested I make a quilt from her clothing, I was quick to agree.

I have often heard quilting referred to as being, “Cheaper then therapy.”  It is true that quilting can be quite therapeutic, and in more ways than one.  It gives you something to do when there isn’t anything else to be done.  It keeps you busy in times when idleness would drive you crazy.  It is a way to help people when there isn’t any other way to help.  It gives you a sense of accomplishment.  And sometimes it gives you something to yell at, a way to vent frustrations that would otherwise build up in side.

I know that I can never repay all that my grandparents have done for me, but I hope they know that they will never be forgotten and that I will forever be grateful for all they have done for me.

Until we meet again. Aloha ‘oe.

Dedicated to Al and Viki.