Once upon a time, I was engaged to marry. As is the custom in my family, I made a quilt. The design reflected the hopes and ambitions that I had for my life. It was all-white, intricate and symmetrical. It was a vintage pattern to remind me of the ways that my life was connected to my heritage.  It was filled with circles to symbolize the ring I would wear in marriage:

Over the years, I saved bits and scraps of brightly-colored cotton fabric. Then I let my daughter play around with these (with the help of her Aunt Susan), and she made this, while she was still in grade school:

These two quilts are so heavy with metaphor, that it’s difficult to write about them without sounding trite.*  Perhaps it is enough, for now, to say that once upon a time…I made a quilt.

*And I have already written some of these stories, here and here.