By Flora Daglish
I attended my first meeting of UCC Plymouth Piecemakers in 2002 at the founder of the group’s beautifully and abundantly appointed home studio in Ballard (Seattle), Washington. I was ready to fashion all the fabric scraps I had been saving for years into quilts I imagined making since childhood. Little did I realize what a big part this experience and these women would play over the next 10 years in my faith journey and arduously slow recovery from post traumatic stress, several devastating losses, and a few faith-testing personal setbacks.
In my youth I spent long periods of time at my Grandmother’s log home in rural Washington happily immersed in the comings and goings of my family and 4 generations of aunts, uncles, cousins, and neighbors. There’s no returning to those sparkling days except to visit the cemetery where most of their spirits now reside. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds me, every ill may be an unrecognized blessing, and that a loss leaves room for a new situation more conducive to character growth.
As a result of the time I have spent with my quilt guild, I am a healthier, happier, stronger woman, a better quilter, more stable, confident, knowledgeable, generous, adventurous and creative. I feel connected, respected, cared for, included, and missed when I am not able to attend. I laugh more and share the joy of collaborating on quilt projects for our church community, our own families and friends, and other charities-with newfound sisters, aunts, cousins, moms, grandmothers and great grandmothers all learning from each other. I am part of a family again. And the golden nugget at the heart of it all is none other than our founder, master quilter, educator extraordinaire, and author, Maurine Noble. How much luckier can a quilter get?
