♫ Hey Sister Sew Sister ♫

I realized very early on just how important it is to have girlfriends. Since my daughters were very small I have drilled into their heads how important it is to surround themselves with an incredible group of girlfriends.  

The real...forever kind of girlfriends that last for decades.  They are safe places to keep my secrets and they are shelter when a storm is passing through.  They share in my happiness as if it were their own and they are always there with a shoulder to lean on. 

"Friendship doubles our joys and

halves our sorrows."

In the midst of this erratic, chaotic and unusual life I am living  I realize how blessed I have always been.  My greatest gifts have always come from God and my family, but the one thing that keeps me from jumping off the roof are my cherished friends who complete my  trinity.

My girlfriends are a vital part of my group of three that support and sustain me and help me keep my very shaky teeter- totter of a life in balance.  The threads of these friendships are woven tightly into the fabric of our life, and I can't imagine surviving without them.   
 I have recently joined a few of my girlfriends and become and official quilter.  We are girls who love to sew and there is nothing more treasured to a quilter than a good old fashioned quilt retreat.  Hmmmm...I can hear everyone saying...What...Seriously???  Trust me it is awesome!  Four whole days of marathon sewing, all day and all night and preferably in pajamas. 

We eat homemade apple pies, anything covered in chocolate and consume embarrassing amounts of wine.   We drink endless pots of coffee, play scrabble,  laugh until we cry, tell our secrets, and talk about our husbands... we don't actually do that, but they think we do...ha!  Who has the time with all the sewing and drinking? 

We have discovered squirrels in the kitchen, spiders the size of our hands in the bathroom, and snakes in our bed. We stay up late talking and giggling  in the Little Women style bedroom we all share and read stories aloud from the guest book about possible ghost sightings at the Inn. It's like summer camp with wine...and chocolate...and pie.

Four whole days of girls...best friends...Sew Sisters...making unforgettable, lasting memories....and quilts...lots and lots of quilts!  

I am without a doubt a precision quilters.  I am not  satisfied with anything less than straight lines and perfect corners and spend way too much time ripping out seams and resewing. 

The Amish have something called a humble square which is an intentionally flawed square on a quilt.  They believe that a "perfect quilt" would be an affront to God for only He can make perfect things and the flawed square would teach the quilter humility. I love this idea, but I am still unable to control myself. 

In reality all quilts crooked or straight are works of art.  They are so much more than just  patterns and fabrics. They are patiently pieced together with love and  woven into each stitch I'm sure you will also find a prayer.  Quilting is a way to sew the past to the future and the memories that are woven into the fabric of a quilt are stored there for generations to come.  

To me quilts are a symbol of love and comfort and home. When my daughter Stevi moved to Chicago I made her a ridiculous number of quilts...somehow knowing she was warm so far from home gave me great comfort.  When Sarah Rose went off to college you can bet a "mommy loves you" quilt covered her first bed away from home. 

I have made quilts for my family, for friends, for new babies, and for sick friends.  I have saved pieces of fabric from all the quilts I have ever made and someday I will stitch them all together into one very large quilt...a quilt that will wrap me up in  warm memories of the past and of all the people I love.

"Memories are ways of holding 

on to the things you love,

the things you are,

and the things you never want to let go."
(Thank you Sarah Rosie for this quote)

The friendships I have, like the quilts I make, have only gotten better with age.  Friendships that have lasted for twenty years and have softened with age. They may be fraying a bit around the edges and mended in places, but they are "bits and pieces of our lives stitched together with all our sorrows and with all our joys."  Friendships that never fail to provide warmth and comfort whenever it is needed.

Girlfriends who take really good care of me

and more importantly they take care of Scotty.

Girlfriends who love this boy unconditionally 

despite all his shenanigans.

Girlfriends who will...and have...move heaven 

and earth to protect him and to make him happy.  

So daughters of mine heed my wise advice...surround yourselves with an incredible group of women...who value God...who value family...who value friendship.  Someday, I hope you will learn to quilt because if there is one thing I have learned it is that when life throws you a bunch of unexpected, inconvenient, unasked for, mismatched          
(s)crap(s) just do the only thing you can and gather them all together and make a quilt.  I pray you find your girlfriends...give yourselves a silly name...learn to quilt...and sew baby girls sew♥

And to my "Sew Sisters" your friendships, like the quilts we make, are precious treasures filled with warm memories. 

May your bobbins always be full 

and your stash overflow your bins,

But remember the one at the end

with the most fabric WINS!
~borrowed~

A time to tear and a time to mend, 

a time to be silent and a time to speak.

Ecclesiastes 3:7

My little monkey under his banana quilt,
listening to his church music,

asleep on the couch

at 9:30 in the morning

because he thought 4:30 

was an acceptable time to get up today.