Several months ago one of our Associates who is my very dear friend Therese Lecuyer asked a favor of me. She requested that I make a large double-bed sized quilt in memory of her late husband. Since this was something very new for me, I considered it a big challenge. On the one hand I considered it was a delight to do it for her but when she sent me a huge number of her husband ‘s shirts to work with, and when I first received them, I asked myself, ‘What on earth am I going to do with ALL these shirts?’ I continued to stretch my imagination and my gifts of creativity kept surfacing and probing and nudging me with many new ideas including colors, patterns, even the weight of the padding was to be heavier and requiring different new steel needles. At times I wondered if the machine might be necessary because the thickness of the padding caused some of the steel needles to break. However, I did not break but steadfastly persevered and have now completed my work with a sense of confidence and competence as I now know my success is not only making a quilt but designing one and the photo of this beautiful quilt will show that it is ‘a precious gift’ and a beautiful labor of love.
Therese, herself, has been very ill and is presently in the Metropolitan Hospital in Windsor. I trust the quilt will warm her body and her spirit as it brings to mind the joyous memories of their love that is forever. I love them both and I am very appreciative of continuous learning and creating quilts and having successfully met the challenge of ‘designing’. Growth is a gift of God and can best be summed up in the following Poem and Praise entitled ‘The Master Weaver’. - Sister Florian
THE MASTER WEAVER
Our lives are but fine weavings,
that God and we prepare,
each life becomes a fabric planned,
and fashioned in his care …
We may not always see,
just how the weavings intertwine,
but we must trust the master’s hand,
and follow His design.
For He can view the pattern,
upon the upper side,
while we must look from underneath,
and trust in Him to guide.
Sometimes a strand of sorrow,
is added to His plan,
and though it’s difficult for us,
we still must understand.
That it’s He who flies the shuttle,
it’s He who knows what’s best,
so, we must weave in patience,
and leave to Him the rest …
Not till the loom is silent,
and the shuttles cease to fly,
shall God unroll the canvas,
and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed,
in the Weaver’s skillful hand,
as the threads of gold and silver,
in the pattern He has planned.