“If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” ~1 Corinthians 13:3
Long time, no post! Life has been quite busy lately, so I haven’t had much time to finish any projects. However, I am almost done with the top of my “Star Chain” quilt from last blog after some difficulties with not having enough fabric! Turns out, the fabric line that I have been working with is from 2000 thus I cannot find anymore of it. Oh well, just another way to creatively solve problems!
On the 26th of June, my family and I held a memorial service for Gramma. I just wanted to share my reflection on my Gramma’s life, and I wanted to thank everyone who was able to make it that day. We had people from all over the country come and celebrate with us in Illinois. The amount of people there is a tribute to who my Gramma was and the life she led. I believe we can all learn a very important lesson from her passion for quilting and people.
Every quilt you see on the pews of the picture above were touched by Gramma. I could write a lot about what we could learn from her life, but these quilts sum it up for me in one word: love. If you are lucky enough to know or be a quilter (which most of you are since this is a quilting blog, but if not, I’m so glad you enjoy reading my blog posts anyway!), then you know how much time and energy is sewn into each quilt. The amazing part is, these quilts pictured are only a fraction of the things my Gramma had sewn. Most have been given away to other people!
Love is not always easy, just as making a quilt is not always fun. There is a lot of tearing stitches and redoing blocks, just as love has many ups and downs. The best known verses about love are in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It is a beautiful declaration of what love looks like, but if we really ponder how we are commanded to love, it is not easy! “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…” I can be patient… sometimes. I don’t envy or boast… most of the time. Love and quilting takes time and patience, and we as human beings will not always be perfect at loving others. However, our life can be a reflection of the One who is always perfect in His love. The love that my Gramma had for everyone she encountered was not always perfect, but her faith and dedication to the Lord has left a lasting impression of those who met her. She embodied what it meant to love as 1 Corinthians describes, and that is what we need to strive for.
The lesser quoted part of 1 Corinthians 13 is verses 1-3. In summary it says that I can be an eloquent speaker or writer, I can have prophetic powers and be very wise, I can be the most generous man or woman on earth, or be willing to die, but if I do not love, I am nothing. So often, we want to be more, do more, see more, but in this attempt at gaining more, we miss the big picture! LOVE is not whoever brings the biggest present or speaks the loudest. Love can be achieved in the smallest of ways. We have the ability to love today, tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives without doing something grand or having a lot of money. We are not called to fix all of the worlds problems, but we are called to love. The greatest commandments Jesus gives is to love God, and the second is to love others as you love yourself (Matt 22:36-40). I implore that all of us take a little extra time out of our day to love. When you are gone, will people remember the love you had for God and others, or will they remember something else?
Quilt Bus 
Nicely done Hunter
Dad
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