Girls' Night In

It started like this: lots of years ago, when "the boys" – Art and Nick and Tim – would all go off on to Saturday night Priesthood session of Conference together, Sarah and I inaugurated "Girls' Night Out." It used to be simple. We'd go out for dinner and talk about whatever we wanted without snide remarks from the boys. Then, when Laura joined the family, she joined Girls' Night Out. Only then the boys started complaining that they wanted to go out to dinner too. So we started experimenting on other activities and saving the food for later. Pretty soon Aubrey joined us and I finally had all the daughters I was going to get. (YAY! three!) So we've made pottery and had pedicures. But this year, I had a brainstorm.

I've always said that when I retired I was going to quilt. I guess I thought I wouldn't have time till then. But then when I officially became an empty-nester last fall, I decided to move it up and start now, before I retire. So in February I went to a class, all by myself, to learn how to make a patchwork quilt top. I was shocked to find that the room was not full of old retired women and empty-nesters like me, but of younger women and moms, many accompanied by sisters and even 9- or 10-year-old daughters. What?? This hobby isn't just for old gray-hairs? And it's a family thing? I could have shared this with my daughter as she was growing up? And then it hit me! Girls' Night Out!! Perfect.

Only this would be Girls' Night In with 3 sewing machines and a cutting table and lots of advance work done.

So, last week Laura and Aubrey came with me to another class held at a quilt store where we picked out fabrics, pressed them, cut them, and Laura even started stitching!




Then, Saturday (April 4), when Sarah was free, she bought her fabric and joined the fun. While the boys were at Priesthood the girls were cutting, pressing, stitching, and chatting. Babies were playing the floor or rocking in my lap.

We're all about quilting now. Yep, all of us girls. There's just something about picking fabrics of every shade and hue, design, and feel to perfectly fit our personalities. Then we cut and match and pin and stitch. Quilting appeals to the perfectionist in us; the need for control and perfect outcomes; the delight of something unique and beautiful and totally individual. And quilting stretches across generations and cultures and stories are born with every quilt that's made.

Laura will tell her first daughter that this is the quilt she picked with a yet unknown child in mind.

And Aubrey has chosen her quilt for Maya, who loves both bright colors AND blankets – so what could be more perfect than combining the two?


And Sarah will remember her first year of marriage, her first home with her new husband, his eager interst in the colors she chose and the patterns she made.


Quilting isn't just about the past – it's about the present, and I'm guessing, about future too.