Quilting for Remembrance

Dear FRIENDS,

A few weeks ago, Usha and I were at Mayo Clinic for the second round of my experimental drug trial. We stopped by a small quilting shop next to our hotel. This is a nice little shop, a converted turn of the century house with many nooks and crannies showing unique quilting patterns and supplies. That day, I was having a premonition about my early passing; and talked to Usha about making two quilts, once for each of our boys, as a remembrance of their father. In that quilting shop, there were many patterns based on themes of Northern Minnesota wilderness. These patterns reminded us of many happy days spent boating, fishing and camping at Bowstring Lake and along the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. So we picked out two complicated patterns, one for each son (the pattern pictured on top is for Benjamin, and the pattern pictured on bottom for Brian), and with the idea of finishing them with my remembrance statement and date on the back. However, so far, we have not been able to make any progress on these gifts.

Many friends from our church, First Menonnite Church of Champaign-Urbana (FMC) have offered to help our family in one form or another, but have not been sure exactly what to offer. We have a number of church members at FMC who are skilled in quilting, and a woman's prayer group meets at our house each Thursday evening. This could be the type of project which would be of a great help to Usha and a gift to our family during the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

BRENT