Messy Quilter

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I’m a messy quilter.

Multi-colored fabric scraps lay in random piles around my sewing machine. Two-inch squares to long strips make up the heaps of remnants in my workspace with no rhyme or reason. When I start on a new scrappy quilt project, I have a general idea of what colors I plan to use, but then the various prints start to take on a life of their own, expanding the color palette to include far more than I anticipated.

Adding a pop of contrasting color among a more traditional palette incites a bit of joy. It’s energizing.

Quilting is new to me. After years of wanting to learn, it took the loss of my dad to push me into a class. Throughout adulthood, I have begun to learn that in times of overwhelm or heartache, a creative outlet is necessary. In the weeks after Dad’s death, I dove into this new skill headfirst.

Turning chaos into order. Pulling scraps from the pile, sewing them together, and making something new. The prints don’t always match, but they work together to create a pleasing piece of art.

A visitor in my workspace would not be able to make sense of the fabric strewn across the table. She may even cringe at the disorderliness and attempt to organize the mess. 

But that’s not my process. 

By nature, I am an organizer, but when my world gets turned upside down, my tendency is to throw out the precisional processes, the checklists, and the need to have all things lined up perfectly. Because my mind is jumbled, I rest in the process of turning chaos into order through art. Piece by piece, like fitting a puzzle together. 

The process is satisfying, even healing – if only a little bit.

Starting in Genesis 1, we have examples of God, who created the world out of void. He brought order. After He created the first people, He placed them in a garden to care for it. This task was given even before sin entered the world. They maintained the space.

As I choose my next fabric scrap and piece it into my project, I marvel at the creativity of my God and the fact that he instilled a bit of creativity in me. Piece by piece, He works things together for His glory and my good.

In the heartache of a broken, messy world, I won’t see the finished work while I journey through life. But His word gives me hope that one day, I will see order fulfilled. 

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’” Revelation 21:3-4

By Leslie M. Holdegraver