[Quilt #2] Throwing myself into quilting, for a friend and for community

My first quilt was biting off more than I can chew since I had no idea how to make a quilt and I knew no person in real life who made quilts.  I knew how to sew, and my first one was on the small side, and I almost always have excellent Beginners' Luck, so it turned out just fine.

But the second time around... let's just say I tend to learn things the hard way.

I blame it on an online board called amitymama.  It's something that got started in the early days of online group communication - a message board for young moms who liked to do things the all-natural way.  It met a great need at a time in my life when I was home with two tiny boys and no car to go anywhere and no money to spend if I could.  I learned a lot from those women.  I began to see how I could find my place within a community, (even if it was an online community) and how I could both learn and contribute at the same time.  I longed for the way, as a community, they looked out for each other and took care of each other, shouldered burdens and wow those mamas knew exactly the right way to say "I'm sorry you're going through such a hard time" that made you feel so supported.   But technology is tricky, other sites came around, this one is still there but not quite what it used to be.  One thing they did sometimes was to send quilt blocks to the mama volunteering to make a quilt for someone who needed it.  That cooperation, that kind of giving, inspired my soul.

So when a friend of mine, a local police officer, was brutally attacked and stabbed multiple times by an insane thief, and came very close to dying, I knew I had to make a quilt.  This terrible attack was so horrifying to her family and many close friends, as well as the community at large.  So many people wanted to do whatever they could to support her in her very long recovery, so I told her sister if she would send the word out to get fabric to me, I would make her a quilt.

My, the fabric that made its way to my home!  Lots of it and lots of different colors and prints.  I had no idea how to pull all of it together.  My abilities at that time were nothing beyond piecing simple squares, and after hours of staring and arranging and rearranging, I had something.  Two somethings, actually - with that much fabric I had to piece the back.  I was so grateful to the ladies at our local quilt shop who helped me pick out border and binding fabric - I had no idea how to pull all those colors together.

Finally it came down to quilting it.  I had so little idea how to go about it, and it was so much work in my little machine, so many pin pricks as I learned how to work it all under the needle.  The fear of failure made me cry some nights, and the push to get it done caused me so much anxiety.  But I did get it done, and she loved it, and she felt from it not just the love from the individuals who contributed to it, but from her community as a whole.

I learned a lot about how to make a quilt through this - by doing things the wrong way and having to redo them.  I learned why often, quilting was historically done by a community of women coming together to do the work, and I longed for that kind of community in real life.  I met a few ladies at the quilt shop, but I still didn't know where to start talking or asking questions.  After this quilt though, I knew there would be another, and probably another, and maybe a few more after that.  I knew that although I would stare at my progress for too many hours and still have to take things apart and redo, and though I would cry to myself late nights wondering why I get myself into such projects - although it seemed like the most impossible thing for me to ever get good at - I knew I wanted to become a quilter!