Just a small scrap of fabric – a 2” x 5” strip that I cut from what was left over after I made a quilt for my niece last winter. I came upon the strip as I was beginning to sew together my most ambitious quilt project (so far) – a Pioneer Braid quilt, designed by Denice Lipscomb at Common Threads. This particular strip was a deep, rich green with flowers inked in a spidery black line, sparsely. I used it as the sashing and border for my niece’s quilt. I used my embroidery software to interpret photographs that she had taken – most while on a visit here in Texas – and used the embroidered photos as the focal point of the quilt. I asked her what her favorite colors were, and she said, “blues, greens and browns.” I only needed fat quarters for most of the design, and I “shopped” in my stash for those, then I gathered them all up and went on a quest for the perfect sashing.

I like to pray while I’m quilting, more so when I am making something for a specific loved one. So I prayed for Bess while I was quilting. Nothing serious was going on in her life – the most important thing to her was her desire to be accepted into just the right graduate school to pursue her Master’s Degree – so that’s what I prayed about. And that she would remain close to the Lord. That she would be happy, always.

I sent her the quilt in March. In May, she was admitted to the hospital. On June 5, she took her final journey.

So yesterday, when I came upon that small scrap of fabric, I prayed again, most earnestly. But this time, I prayed for the rest of us.