Stitches for Beautiful Life

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

For about 8 years I quilted. I took some classes from a woman in my church who was a master quilter. I pieced this quilt by machine and I am quilting it by hand. I say "I am quilting" because it is not a complete project.

When my oldest was 16, I presented her with a handmade quilt. It was made of beautiful batiks much like this one.

A year later I started this quilt. I had intended to complete this quilt for my youngest daughter's 16th birthday. I had a year to get it done.....or so I thought.

It only took a few months to cut it out and piece it together. I loved the colors and creating the design. It was like painting a picture with fabric.

I was well into the project when the challenges of raising a teenager invaded. I found it impossible to put my heart into this project when we were having to discipline, negotiate, argue, figure out boundaries, and penalize our beautiful daughter. The project was put away for awhile. That was five year ago. A lifetime ago really. I would take out the quilt, do a few squares in high hopes of presenting the quilt at a birthday or Christmas. Then again have to put it away. She knew about the quilt and frequently asked about it.

In March, my daughter will be 21 years old. She is living in her own apartment, has a full time job with benefits, pays her own bills, and takes care of her very own dog. Life now as the parent of a young adult is so different. It is a joy to see how she has blossomed. I have recently revived the project. I have exactly 15 blocks left. I can easily finish this by her birthday and I will enjoy every stitch because I can celebrate the wonderful young woman she has become.

For you who are in the midst of parenting young teens, I would say hang in there, keep the boundaries sound, don't be afraid to ask for help, pray often, laugh together whenever you can, and know that your efforts will be rewarded. You will see that eventually, they will become young adults who will resemble something of you, if not in looks in some trait that you instilled in them. You may not get alot of "warm fuzzies" during this time, but you will get a reward later in some way. They will realize that your actions only showed how much you loved them. If you are not having a challenge, you are truly blessed!

Consider finding a project that you can make for them. It might be a quilt, a garment, a scrapbook, a photo journal of their life, something that will be an ongoing project that can be a symbol for you and for them. Start it now, but only work on it when you are able to put a smile on your face when you think of them. Eventually, it will be completed and it will be an amazing gift for them.

When it is done, it will also be your reward that you survived parenting a teen and you will feel pride at your accomplishment.

Abundance is....making it through the teen years with as few scars as possible and creating a symbol for that beautiful life.