Why the quilt.....

You may or may not have noticed, but I have changed up the background of my blog already.  I am one that has a hard time making decisions even about simple things like blog backgrounds.  The idea came to me as time has gone on since this blog was born last night.  I wanted to use a quilt in the background and here's why......


Growing up, one visual stands out in my mind; my dad wrapped up in quilts.  Whenever my dad was watching tv, he was almost always wrapped up in a quilt (I personally enjoy this as well).  Those quilts I remember from my childhood were handmade by my grandmother and her sisters.  Time took it's toll on those quilts.  They were definitely put to good use.  Those quilts sparked a love of quilts in myself as well.  I do not sew so I do not make my own.  I do not have a large collection of quilts either.  I own one quilt, a quilt that my grandmother made for me and all of my cousins as well.  A piece of her to keep with us as we continue down life's journey.  Today, that quilt is only used as my Christmas tree skirt then carefully put in a drawer to be hopefully displayed someday to have a part of my grandma as part of my home.

Quilts are beautiful pieces of art.  I am fascinated how people who do quilt can look at piles of fabric, that look like a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns yet nothing special.  Then they take that pile and put together a work of art that to me, is amazing.  I wish I had that kind of creative eye.

I like to think of my life as a quilt.  There have been times in my life that I have felt like a pile various colors and patterns, not knowing which color to be today or which pattern I wanted my life to be.  There are still days like that, however, as I have grown older and learned from life's experiences, those piles have more order to them than in the past.  So many experiences and decisions I have made through the years, I scratch my head and think how on earth did I survive that or what the heck was I thinking!  However, each one of those is like a piece of a quilt.  Every piece that is carefully picked and placed is a part of the big picture or pattern if you will, that makes that quilt a beautiful piece of art.  Every piece of my life has made me who I am and for the most part I'm happy with that.  Some of these experiences though not so great at the time, have enabled me to help others.  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.  I went through those trials and challenges so that I could help others go through similar situations.  Each experience is part of the beautiful quilt pattern I truly think my life is.

Even though I just started this yesterday, I already have many ideas about topics I want to share with you my friends on my front porch.  As I make entries, I hope that somehow the stories and thoughts I share will come together as the beautiful quilt I think my life is and you will get to hopefully be helped and inspired by the pieces of my journey.