Connie's Quilt

Connie is a woman in our ward who was RS president when we moved here. She has a heart of gold. When she was released from her RS calling, she was called to be the Sunbeam teacher. Caroline was in her class. I'll never forget Connie sharing her testimony in church before her first lesson in Sunbeams, and telling the little Sunbeams that she had already been praying for them. Caroline, along with all of the Sunbeams fell in love with Connie. In January there was a little staffing shuffle in Primary, and Connie was asked to teach the CTR 7 class; Graces's class. I don't know who was more excited, Grace or me! We love Connie...I honestly think that everyone who knows Connie loves her.

A couple months ago, Connie's husband died of a sudden heart attack. The RS came together and made a beautiful quilt for Connie to show our love for her. Connie's former Sunbeams had a quilt block, as did her CTR 7 class. Our family made a quilt block with the New Testament scripture reference John 16: 20-22. Back story: I was friends with the RS president in our family's ward when my mom was sick. I was on my mission in TX at the time, and she sent a talk she gave in sacrament meeting titled, "Joy" which included this scripture. It was just what I needed, and I've held it close to my heart ever since. I know that the Lord knows how to comfort us when death takes a loved one.

I took on the task of assembling the quilt top. At the onset of this quilt project, Wayne's work hours were cut more than 50% in order for his small medical device company to stay alive while trying to secure more funding. We struggled once again with unstable employment. Putting together Connie's quilt was good medicine for me. Everyday I thought of Connie and felt reminded to embrace each day I have with my own family. Things were still challenging, but I found it healing to find a way to give of myself everyday and offer my time and resources; things I already had on hand, for someone else's comfort.

That, and it was FUN!

~Girls night out tying the quilt...gabbing so much that we missed who was voted off Dancing with the Stars...3 hours of quilt tying never went by so fast. Before we knew it, it was 10pm!

~When Kelly showed up at my house with her quilt square, and there I was in my black fleece sweats covered in white thread strands. I told her it probably wasn't a good idea to wear black fleece for this project...we laughed!

~Amy's autistic son who kept dropping in as we tied the quilt at enrichment. I loved talking with him and he even helped tie a bit while his mom was at one of the RS classes.

~Seeing all of the different thoughts and expressions of love on each quilt square was amazing.

~I loved this way of interacting with and getting to know other women...service really can bring out the best in us.

The quilt literally took over our dining room...go ahead and imagine the mess; it was real, and yet my family never complained. When women came over to bring their quilt block they looked through the stack of quilt blocks already turned in and could tell that something very special was in the making. Connie's quilt will forever be one of my favorite projects. It was one of those things that never felt like work because it was such a joy.

For more on Connie's quilt, you can drop in on our RS enrichment blog.