Sara’s Thread

A few weeks ago I found a couple of my unfinished quilts when I was trying to clean out a closet. Projects from twenty-five or thirty years ago. I knew I’d never be able to finish them, and I didn’t want to toss them, so a friend connected me to a local quilter who offers a finishing service. We went to her studio today. What an amazing energetic person, in an equally amazing venue. She must have at least fifty pieces in various states of completion, walls of fabric and thread, and a huge computerized quilting machine. She is going to work on my smaller, easier piece first, and I have a little prep to do on the bigger one, but they should both be done in the next couple months. Of course, seeing all that color and wonder makes my fingers itch to piece something together, but I already have too many undone things. Little magpie, I always reach for the next shiny craft, but I would do better to work at the ones I’ve started. I think.

A footnote about her lovely studio, out in the country, perched on a gentle hill overlooking a valley, and surrounded by climbing roses, wisteria and countless other brilliant plants. “The insurance guy was here,” she said. “All the plants touching the building have to go.” I don’t remember if she said five or ten feet of clearance, but there has to be a buffer zone. It all has to go. I guess the silver lining is that she still has insurance. Policies are being cancelled right and left around here, and many people are left without coverage.