When I returned home from the Peace Corps late in 1999, I lived with my grandparents for about two months, helping to take care of them when they were both in poor health. I had brought home a bunch of fabric and was working on a huge embroidery project of the Kiribati flag and the Peace Corps emblem that I wanted to turn into a crazy quilt. It is mostly done, but is my one unfinished quilt after all these years. It sits in a box, and I have no idea if it will ever be pulled out again. I have no time and not much interest in it at this point. I got sidetracked that fall when my grandma, who always loved Christmas, brought out all this old Christmas fabric that she had from various projects over the years. We were also looking at old quilts made by her mother and grandmother and admiring interesting patterns. I decided to put all those leftover scraps to use and make her a lap quilt for Christmas, using a pattern inspired by one of those heirloom quilts. Who would have known that she would pass away a year latter on Christmas day? And who would have known that two years later I would be well on my way to forgoing any celebration of Christmas as I decided to become Jewish after a long soul-searching journey. This quilt came back to me after Grandma passed away, and then, not having a lot of use for it in my home, I gave it to my sister. But the memory of working on it at my grandparents' kitchen table that holiday season in their warm and quiet house will stay with me forever. I miss you Grandma. Can you believe how many quilts I've done since then.
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