A Stitch in Time
a letter to a friend on September 11, 2001
The USS New York is a battleship that was built by utilizing 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center. The special operations ship is manned with 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines. The ship's motto is "We will never forget!" When the going gets tough, the tough get going. God Bless America!
The following is a reprint of an article that appeared in The Appliqué Society Newsletter, November/December 2001, Volume 5, Number 2.
During Americas darkest hours immediately following the September 11th
terrorist attacks, Pat Cummings and I were e-mailing each other. We were
writing about our love of appliqué and quilting and if what we did as
quilters really mattered. Pat wrote a very compelling e-mail and with her
permission, I would like to share it with all of you.
Patti Ives, Editor of the Appliqué Society newsletter
THE LETTER
In the past few days, I have questioned my life. I am a quilter.
That is how I define myself. That is what I do......every day.
Is what I do senseless in light of life and death issues?
If we are going to die anyhow, does it really matter how many stitches I can get per inch?
I have asked myself if how I spend my time makes any sense whatsoever.
Today, as I was quilting on my flower quilt, the answer came. I am a quilter because I need to add a little beauty to my world that was not there before I came along. Working with color and shape and re-creating symbols of God’s designs, like flowers, gives me countless hours of joy.
My stitches give order to my microcosmic world. When I am quilting, I am not planning devious and perverse things to destroy other people, like these terrorists are doing. My "five year plan” would consist of how much more I could learn, or much more I could share my love of the art with others, or how many more quilts I could make. Somehow, I feel fortified with someplace to turn for comfort, with a quilt in my lap and a needle in my hand.
Like the rest of the nation, I watch and I wait, I pray and I cry, I worry, and I wonder what is next...and I hope, as I quilt, that a “stitch in time, saves nine.”
Peace to you, my friend.
Pat Cummings