Quiltingboard Forums - Minister's "Retirement" Quilt

So now for the story:

In November 09, we had a "Fall Follies", and this very attractive man with a bee-yoo-tee-fulllll head of silver hair got up and sang a really lovely song. After he was finished, Rev. Linda got up and introduced him as "the man I am going to marry." This, of course, got tremendous applause, as her last husband died about 6 weeks after she married him, and she has been alone for so many years.

This guy, Jim, was her best friend in grade school/high school. He used to carry her books for her when they walked home, but was apparently too shy to ask her out. This summer, they had a 50th class reunion, and rekindled their "relationship".

Now, about 2 weeks after she introduces the guy, she gets up on a Sunday and tells us all that when she gets married in Feb., she will be retiring from the ministry. So we leap into action, and that very afternoon we had the seeds of a plan for an autograph quilt with photos on it. The following Saturday, she falls down some stairs and severely sprains one ankle and breaks the other clean through. I don't know, I guess she thought she was thinking of trying out for the US Gymnastics Team or something. Anyway, she is then gone for 2 weeks, which offered us the opportunity to announce out plans to the church while she was gone.

For several weeks, people would stop into the church office before church and sign the muslin blocks I had cut and prepared by pressing a piece of freezer paper on the back side. They were instructed to keep their sentiments within the area of the paper backing so that nothing would get "clipped off" in the seaming. We also had a lot of people provide us with photos to work with.

The pictures were selected, scanned into the computer and printed onto muslin, using the Bubble Jet solutions.

About 2 weeks before Christmas, I get a call from another "branch" of our church up north, asking if they, too, can somehow be a part of this special sendoff. I explained that I could send some muslin blocks for them to sign (with the fabric pen to use), and requested that they be returned by 12/24. On Christmas Eve, there was an envelope in my mailbox with their signature blocks. It turns out that our minister had been incredibly instrumental in helping them start their own church up north, so that is why they asked to be included.

Dec. 27th, I started cutting and piecing the top. I wanted it to be queen-sized, and had purchased WOW paisley, a tea-dyed paisley muslin, and the plain unbleached muslin. I had also ordered some of the "Paisley Passion" fabric line for the colored blocks. The photo blocks were trimmed to about 7-3/4", and a very narrow piece of green was stitched around each one and trimmed so that the "frame" made the blocks 8" finished.

Everything was cut, laid out in stacks, and a graph paper chart sat next to me. I pieced it the old fashioned way: one block of color to one block of muslin, piece by piece. No speed-piecing techniques were used.

I only bought something like 1 yard of the WOW, 1-1/4 yd. of the tea-dyed (that was a fatback, I think), and about 2 yds. of the muslin. I have almost nothing left of any of them.

The colored materials we used, there is less than 1/8 yd. left of any of them, also. The green stripe that I worked with for the corner squares, all of the stripes managed to sit the same way, without any extra effort on my part. I only had to rip out one 12" seam, because my block got turned 90* and I stitched a muslin rectangle onto the wrong side. whooops.

On Jan. 4, I took the quilt to my friend Julie, who put us to the front of her "to do" list, after she completed the quilt on her frame that was nearly done. Two days later, I was back, because she discovered that the backing I had purchased was about 2" too small (yes, I had washed it, but in all the trimming of the top, I neglected to keep in my head the measurements of the backing). I took another strip of muslin to her house and stitched it onto the backing, at the top edge. There was supposed to be a hanging sleeve put on it there, so in case it would be hung. The sleeve would hide the seam.

I got the top back on Feb. 8th. It was just lovely. I cut and pressed a binding and stitched it on, then 3 other ladies from the church came and helped me to hand stitch it onto the back. We couldn't finish in one night, but my friend Karen took it home and completed it the next morning and brought it to me at work. I put a label on it and wrapped it in a box.

Now, here's the really funny part: With 6 days to go before we were to have our "farewell" potluck and party for Rev. Linda, I get a call from the President of the governing board. She tells me that Linda has requested to stay on and re-evaluate her situation in 6 months. It seems the Doctors won't let Jim get married, as it is too stressful on his heart (he has had these health issues since before she fell), and they are concerned. So the wedding was put on hold. Not knowing what she would do, she asked to NOT retire --- yet. Of course, the Board says "okay", but they call me to let me know (I had the quilt and I was making a big cake for her "sendoff").

We go ahead with the party, and at the end of the church service, I got up and told a story that started with "Once upon a time, there was a Unity Minister named Rev. Linda Pye", and ended with "and we hope you use it, and think of us often, and live happily ever after". She was amazed and surprised. And she cried and laughed. And pointed at her photo in the center and exclaimed, "and look! There's a fat lady in the middle of it!"

We basically welcomed her to "Rev. Linda Pye Appreciation Sunday" instead of having a farewell celebration.

Now, she took the following Sunday off (I'm not sure why, but I think because it was her birthday weekend), which was Super Bowl Sunday, and was supposed to be at church last weekend. Unfortunately, she wasn't there. The announcement we got was: "No, she didn't change her mind again and decide to retire after all. She and Jim have decided to go ahead and get married today like they originally planned. We understand that she will be back next Sunday."

Now, does that story match the worth of the quilt?

It was a joy to work on. And we have all said that the inspiration and the sentiment were perfect. The fact that everything worked out so beautifully was truly "God-driven". We all feel like we had an angel watching over the process to make sure that it was done "right" and timely. All this took place over the course of about 8 weeks. I've been told that a project like this should take at least a year to complete.

Still don't believe in Angels? I do.

Odessa