quiltersmuse.com Blog

We all listen to advice via sound bites and maxims, and I am no different than the rest of the world. A while ago, the favorite saying of the day is that “Life is not a dress rehearsal.” In other words, life and our actions today are the only chance we have to “get it right.” We cannot back up the tapes of what we do, and reshoot them in real life. However, “bad” tapes can replay themselves in our heads, for years.

Some of us follow other people whom we consider to be role models. In so doing, we can become very disenchanted and discouraged, when they let us down. Think of all the young people who idolize pop stars and music video stars, only to find them to drink irresponsibly or be morally corrupt. Think of adults who put their trust in government leaders and may even wish that they, too, could serve in that capacity. Then it is observed that some legislator is doing something terribly unethical or just plain wrong. The public balks at the bad news. Remember this: Tomorrow, any bad news will just be accepted and swept under the rug, as if an event had never happened.

As a society, we seem to be suffering from collective memory loss because we tend to engage in the same lack of judgment, again and again. When I see grown men in camouflage attire, running around in a foreign country, with an imbedded reporter, and one of the men gets hit by mortar or gun fire, it is not surprising that it is immediately confirmed that the soldier will not be coming home, at least not alive. These men are not “playing war” for a TV special, rather, they are living a daily nightmare that their number will be up next, not to step up to the luncheon meat counter at the store, but to meet St. Peter. Let’s hope they pass through the Pearly Gates with ease.

On a daily basis, we all make mistakes. If you keep forgetting to kiss your wife goodbye, a word to the wise, don’t. If you have not locked up your firearms yet, to keep them safe from youngsters, take care of the situation. Don’t take anyone else for granted. It’s not that they might die, it is that they will die, and so will you. It’s all a matter of timing.

The importance of life in all of its forms is often, for me, a poignant consideration, as it would be for anyone who stops to think about it, and particularly anyone who has a life-threatening condition.

So, if life is not a dress rehearsal, it means that we have to maximize our chances of taking the right course of action for ourselves, today. If you have been postponing a hard decision, make it. If you love people in your life, but never see them, make the effort. We will never walk down this road again, in the same way. Think of today as special because every today is a building block for tomorrow. Play for keeps.

Patricia Cummings

Once in a while, I pull out an old story that has to do with a visit to a neighbor by my father, years ago. The political season was raging. Dad served as Clerk of the Board of Selectmen, and Treasurer of the Bicentennial, and was on the School Planning Committee to study the concept of area schools. I don’t know how he happened to be at the neighbor’s house that day, only that it was for business, related to town affairs.

He stepped into the house and heard the woman who lived there begin to call, “Man Who,” “Man Who.” She was actually calling her cat. When questioned, she said that the name was inspired by politics. After hearing about, “The man who” did this or that, the possible cat name had come into her mind.

Well, the political season this year is certainly a hopeful one as each of us checks with friends and family and we urge each other to vote for our favorite presidential pick. The phone has wrung incessantly, manned by pollsters. Sometimes, I answer in Spanish or ask what kind of pizza they would like to order; sometimes I ask how they found me, since I’m in the Witness Protection Program (just kidding, folks); and sometimes I actually strike up a conversation, as I did today.

The man who called seemed very nice. He asked if I’d like to work on the campaign. No, I can’t find time right now, but listen to how the called ended. I said, “Well, God bless you in your work.” He replied, “Well, God bless you and your vote.” Then, I emphatically exclaimed, “And … God Bless America!” We both hung up feeling a connection, I think, and perhaps a little more hope for the future. This total stranger was the “man who” made my day!

It feels so good to say it, I think I’ll say it again, God bless you and God bless America!

Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications, http://www.quiltersmuse.com

A visit to a new friend turned into an excursion for us, and a trip down memory lane for her. For many years, she had summered in North Groton, New Hampshire. If you ask a Yankee where that is, you might get one of a few answers: “Never heard of it,” or “It’s just a stone’s throw away,” or maybe, “You ain’t from around these parts, are ya?” On a good day, you would get an eloquent person who is adept at giving directions, but actually with a good map, or a good direction-giver in the car, it’s no trouble at all to find the place.

After passing one of the famed Mary Baker Eddy residences (she founded Christian Science), we traveled a little further to see the outside and inside of the Groton Historical Society Building (seen below). This is an interesting structure. The foundation was created with unmortared stones just laid one on top of the other.

There is a bell enclosed by stonework. It was moved to the site after the North Groton Church collapsed. While we are mentioning that, we will show you the plaque marker which is only a short distance away.

The plaque says this:

North Groton Church

Mary Baker Eddy, who as a young woman lived in North Groton between 1855 and 1860, attended the church formerly on this site and on occasion led the congregation in prayer.

This church was established in 1840 as a Union Meetinghouse for several denominations from 1913 to 1964. It was preserved by the New Hampshire Congregational Christian Conference.

In 1966, the church was taken under the sponsorship of Longyear Historical Society in recognition of the hundredth anniversary of the founding of Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy.

During the severe winter of 1968-1969 the Church collapsed under the heavy weight of snow.

Mary Baker Eddy Historic Site, Maintained by Longyear Historical Society, Inc. (of New Hampshire).

Jim climbed up a ledge to try ringing the bell that sits right next to the Groton Historical Society. At the suggestion of our host, he also decided to take a photo of us from that vantage point.

Here is another shot of the bell.

One photo taken inside the former schoolhouse:

The Perpetual Lesson

Groton is a quiet town. Spectacle Pond seems to be a great gathering spot for fishermen and boaters in the summer. As far as we can tell, the town is not on the way to anywhere else, in terms of major destinations, although it is close in proximity to Plymouth, NH with its Plymouth University.

We thank Louise Traunstein for showing us around and for pointing out a couple of homes whose photos appear in our book about Ellen Webster. Mrs. “T,” as some of her friends call her, gave valuable assistance in our pursuit of information while writing the book, as Groton borders Hebron, the town where Ellen Webster was born. A retired school teacher, Louise volunteers as Archivist for the Groton Historical Society. She is a snowbird who wings her way to Arkansas, each year, until warmer weather again returns to New Hampshire.

Patricia Cummings

The rule of “status quo” is that there is no room for movement, growth, or change. The dictators of status quo would like everything to remain the same, with the same old rhetoric, the same old leaders (or those who agree with them), the same way of doing things.

Look to your own organizations. The leader of a group may be the best person for the job, and he/she remains in that post, sometimes until death. As a free society, we know that there are many groups and associations, most of them with a head honcho, grand “Poohbah,” or “great, white leader,” in an historical manner of speaking.

In societies, people are judged by their lineage, by the amount of money they have earned or inherited, and by the influence of their “clan.” In this age, we could construe the word “clan” to mean “extended family” that has been acquired because people substitute acquaintances for real family that has been “lost” in moves to distant states where money-making opportunities reside.

A lot of people might feel stuck in society’s overall view of who they are perceived to be. Education has always been a possibility for a step up the ladder. Historically, and I will use Spain as an example, one way to get ahead was to either become a priest, or join the military. And, the tradition of the latter has continued, there and here.

Young men are attracted to the military for many reasons. Some may join so that they can more easily get the training they need for the jobs they wish to hold, later in life, if they survive their tour(s) of duty. The military seems to be personally helpful to formerly undisciplined youth who never made a bed at home, but now MUST do so (at “work”). The military guarantees a paycheck, and work, unless someone makes some horrible mistake, is wounded, or fatally injured.

Where am I going with these thoughts? Well, let me back up a bit and mention a PBS special program called “Secrets of the Dead,” that I viewed last night. The show was about the fight by “the powers that be” to restrict the common man’s access to a version of the Bible in English, which was first written in Greek. The hour long show included a segment in which a dissenter and promoter of the English Bible was killed, but later exhumed, so that his body could be burned and his ashes spread in a non-Christian burial ground.

What is that all about, you say? Why would anyone do that? Seems radical. “The powers that be” had to make a further example of the man in hopes of dissuading anyone else from doing the things he had done, in life, that were considered to be so wrong. Power is at the root of the action.

Money, greed, and dominance equal power. The debates about power, and the misuse of it, probably reach back to a time we can only imagine: pre-recorded history. The debates and the struggles of man are often unchanged from century to century: the rights of self-governance, the right to make war, and what sacrifices will be required before we can make peace.

Yet, in our hearts, we all long for peace … except for the annoying neighbor, except for the co-worker who pulls our chain, except for the rest of our “enemies.” No, we speak of peace, but our tongues are swords, ready to go into action at the slightest hint of trespass of what we believe should be the maintained status quo. In other words, people are fine, as long as others go along with our set program, or follow (us) along like sheep going into the slaughter.

There may come a time of peace in the future. That may be when a nuclear holocaust has arrived, the war engine turbines have been silenced, and only ants continue to walk the earth. In the meantime, we live with our own delusions that everything is ok and will be ok. With any luck, we will continue to make some beautiful quilts to comfort our bodies and our souls, practically and visually, while we wait for the Generals and soldiers alike to put down their armaments that maim and kill living things.

Peacefully piece.

Pat

As Caryl Schuetz points out in her new book, Fabulous Tee Shirt Quilts, tee shirt makers have created pictorial designs, for years, to help us remember our favorite spots. This idea came to her when she was busy transferring photo designs to fabric. A new theme for a quilt book had been born! In just 66 pages, the author imparts the details of working with tee shirts and designing a quilt at home. She provides examples, one of which always works well, and that is to center a decorative square piece of fabric within a star. This book would be a great first book for beginners, as everything is explained so well, step by step.

This book is clearly for fun, as is the lobster claw hat that Caryl is seen wearing on the back cover. This is her first book, but probably not the last. She loves to teach, appraise quilts, and provide lectures, and has participated in the creation of publications in other venues, including calendars. A professional quilt photographer, she is a certified quilt appraiser via the Paducah, KY program.

The book is published by Southern Life Publishing Services, LLC, Montgomery, Alabama, with Mary Elizabeth Johnson, a well-known name in the quilt world, at the helm. Congratulations on this first book, Caryl. We wish you many more … and continued fun with quilts.

Patricia Cummings