By Julie Hahn 2017
‘Twas the first night of Quilt Camp when all through the hall
The shriek of a quilter stopped work by us all
The quilter had sewn all her stitches with care
But her shriek echoed out ‘All I need is one square!’ —
The quilt, not yet finished to place on her bed
Because of one lousy square-inch of that red!
Her dorm-mates assembled, each with a night-cap,
‘Twould be better, we think, if you took a long nap.’
So they guided her out and put her to bed
While the rest of the quilters scoured the hall for ‘that red’.
To their tables the quilters all flew like a flash
Tore open their luggage, and combed through their stash
All hopeful they surveyed the fabric out-spread
But alas there was not a faint sign of ‘that red’.
‘It’ll keep until morning,’ the quilters then said,
‘It’s been a long day so we’re going to bed.’
But while they were sleeping, there arose a great sight
The last thing you’d think of in a quilt hall at night.
Three not-so-miniature elves did appear:
Three quilting elves and their well-used quilt gear.
The elves made short work then of checking the hall
For projects unfinished, stashes, threads…and quilt stall.
At last they encountered that problem ‘fore-said
The quilt not yet finished because of ‘that red’.
‘Tis a problem, that’s true!’ said the first quilting elf.
‘But I have a solution. I’m quite proud of myself.’
‘She may have run out of the red that she blames
But this block in the middle has a square that’s the same.
If we took our unpickers and unstitched with some care
We could just change the fabric to replace this red square.’
With neat, tiny actions, so lively and quick
The elves saved the quilt with their old quick-unpick.
‘But now what?’ they said to each other, when done.
‘We’ve hours to go ‘til the rise of the sun.’
So to tables and projects the quilt elves returned
To help one more quilter before they adjourned.
And there on a table, some blocks they did spy.
The squares were all muddled so the quilt was awry.
At the end of the night then, the elves solved a muddle
Of pieces kerfuddled like a quilt jigsaw-puzzle.
As the first glimpse of daylight appeared from the east
The elves found the place for the last jigsaw piece.
The quilt elves looked over their work with delight.
Their elfing was finished. Good work for a night.
When the quilters returned to the hall for the day
The work of the quilt elves they found on display;
No more muddled pieces and no tangled thread,
And no longer a hole for a square of ‘that red’.
If you ever attend a Quilter’s retreat
And your work turns to porridge
You’d best get some sleep.
Though our quilts all begin with do-it-yourselfing
Our problems are solved with communal Quilt-Elfing.
The sisterhood of caring quilters are amazing. God bless all of the quilting elves.
I can barely manage to sew on a button, but this piece was a delight to my soul!
Beautiful Julie – tears fill my eyes and my tummy hurts with uncontrollable laughter – my heart explodes with memories of the friendship and love at this quilt camp (as anytime spent with these special souls) xxx ❤️❤️
True story!