Have Your Work Cut Out for You
If you sew, you know that cutting the cloth only begins your task. Preparation is complete. You have your work cut out for you. Yet, you still have most of the work to do.
Handmade quilts are beautiful. They also require a lot of work. To make a quilt, you must:
- Cut the cloth into pieces.
- Sew the pieces together for the quilt top.
- Sew the batting (filling) and lining to the back of the quilt.
- Trim the edge of the quilt.
- Decorate with stitches, yarn, or other material, if desired.
Some quilts are fancier than others. All require hard work. That is true whether you sew your quilt by machine or by hand.
As a small child, I was fascinated by the sewing and quilting completed by my mother, grandmother, and other relatives. I proudly display much of their work in my memory bedroom.
The quilts hang on racks made by my father. His handiwork also meant having his work cut out for him.
If you have your work cut out for you, you have a difficult job to do.
Like making a quilt,
- The task may be large.
- You may have little help from others.
- The job may require a lot of time.
- You might have to complete several steps.
However, like a hard row to hoe, you tackle the job one step at a time.
The harder the work, the greater the satisfaction when the work is complete.
What fun to admire the beauty of a new quilt or any job well done. How much greater the satisfaction when you know you did that work yourself.
“We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do “(Ephesians 2:10 NIV).
Thanks to Sherry Garner for the suggestion and to Palvena Pace for her quilting photos.
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I watched my Granny Childress sew many times. Sometimes she used a sewing machine like this one. Sometimes she sewed by hand. Either way, she knew a stitch in time saves nine. In other words, a little work now prevents a lot of work later.