new year, new (tree of) life

Well, better late than never! I just finished this set of quilted “Tree of Life” pillows as a wedding gift for my sister and her new husband, who actually got married last summer (!yes! i'm a little behind!). I started them several months ago, and then my sewing machine got all wonky and I had to put it aside for a while. I even borrowed another sister’s sewing machine, to which I promptly gave bad juju; hers started wonking up also. Feh!

Today I got my sewing machine out, twiddled with the knobs a bit and Voila! It works. I don’t know how or why and hardly care. But the Tree of Life pillows are done for New Year’s, which is fitting since in many cultures the Tree of Life motif is associated with new year celebrations. In Russia and in Turkey, for example, when Christmas trees were banned due to their religious affiliations, people loopholed the beloved custom into their culture by calling them New Year’s trees. In Vietnam, where the new year is rung in in the spring, the New Year tree or cây nêu is planted as part of the festivities. Or so says Wikipedia. Which totally means it must be true. ;-)

Probably the best-known of the Tree of Life symbologies is the Celtic version. The ancient Celts believed all living things were spiritual, mystical beings, not simply “natural resources” to be used for our own profit. In particular, the Celts believed trees were a source of great wisdom and that aligning oneself with the trees would allow you to walk between worlds -- the upper and lower worlds, that is. Trees, they believed, brought blessings from the gods. The imagery of the Tree of Life is often depicted as intertwined with its surroundings; and indeed the tree is perhaps the best symbol of this interconnectedness of all things; the roots reach far down into the earth for sustenance, and bring it up into “this world” to provide sustenance to other beings – oxygen for us to breathe, leaves and fruit for us and other beings. The leaves returning to the earth provide sustenance once again. With the image of the tree we are reminded of our own mortality, and interconnectedness with others.

With this, I wish you a very happy married life together, Brenda and Jeff. May your years together be happy and fruitful, may you always remember your interconnectedness with each other and your families.

May you grow together, always.

__________________________________

ps. another set of "Tree of Life" pillows is available in my Etsy shop: click here!

Wedding Quilt

Well, it’s finally done, the quilt I started back in May. It is the “bamboo” version of the “bamboo and pinwheels” quilt that I blogged about last spring. I did most of the work back in May and June, then life got a little crazy and I had to put it aside for a bit while I put other parts of my patchwork life in order. This past week, however, found me happily sandwiching the quilt top to the batting & backing, topstitching along those dark green sashing lines, and attempting my first mitered-corner binding.

It’s definitely homemade. It’s not “square;” each of the mitered corners looks a little different, and there are puckers in some places. I am hoping the recipients will look beyond its imperfections and know that it was made with love.

While I was working on this piece, I was thinking about some of the similarities between relationships and quilts. A good relationship is a blending of two people, just like a quilt is a blending of different fabrics. If the fabrics are too much alike, there isn’t enough contrast. Things can get boring. It’s nice to have someone who can kick your butt if need be, or someone who can be up when you’re feeling down, and vice versa. But if the fabrics are too different, they can clash. The aim is for the parts of the whole to complement each other, play off each other. With a quilt, you start with a couple yards of fabric, you cut them up and put them back together in some creative arrangement that allows each to shine while at the same time making the whole add up to more than just the sum of its parts. A good relationship is like that. (I mean, that's what I've heard. Take all relationship advice from me with a grain of salt, or salt shaker...). Anyhow, that’s what I wish for you, Aaron and Nicole. That you always complement each other and that your differences will only be enough to keep life interesting. But most of all, may your marriage always be like a soft place in which you can find comfort and warmth.

Congratulations on your marriage, Aaron & Nicole.

Love, Auntie Annie

(and my quilt inspector, Dakota.)

"yeah. this one'll do. can I lay on it now?"