I am finally following my heart. I’ve always been a writer and will no doubt always think of myself as one, but I’ve had it with bad clients who want an entire Web site created for $400, or a month-long radio campaign for $200 … both including my services.
When did I first know I wanted to be a quilter? It hit me hard during one of those Antiques Roadshows when they were lovingly displaying an early American treasure, a quilt that virtually defined the category. My heart raced, my pulse quickened and I almost leapt up from the couch shouting “I need to do that!” But I silently realized how much I wanted to, and that I was going to. I promised myself.
I joined a local group, Querque Quilters, and was soon learning why I was so motivated, why I loved quilting so much. I had found my true calling: reproducing early American quilts.
This of course means that the quilts I produce for sale are not very large. After all, our founding fathers slept in beds roughly the size of today’s double beds. No queens. No kings. You’ll simply have to adjust. Or hang them on walls as they are meant to be rather than becoming party to the funkiness of bed clothes. These are my treasures, after all, my gift to our time.
It would be nice if there were other men in the quilting group. One guy, an ex-Marine, joined us for a while, but only ever grunted in reply to questions such as, “would you like another petit four, Butch?” “Is your tea o.k., Butch?” He never joined in the chatter that’s so much a part of quilt-making. In fact, it seemed to make him more nervous and irritable if the ladies paid too much attention to him. Anyway, he stopped coming and I’m the only man again. But I will continue. Because it’s what I really, really want to do.
Why did I choose today to make this announcement? It was my parents’ anniversary. They had their civil ceremony on this day. In Europe it was the custom to have two ceremonies: the civil one and the religious one. So it happened to be on this day that my parents went to town hall in Brussels to officially marry. Then they had the religious ceremony, the one that mattered most to them, at the Church of Gaia.
I plan to create a quilt in memory of my parents, celebrating the goddesses of Gaia they adored so much.
I will shortly post photos of quilts and a link to my PayPal account. Please keep an eye out.
Thank you all who have supported me in my writing career. I hope you will be equally supportive of my new craft, the one that has shown me my true reason for living. Writing may warm the heart, but quilts warm a household.