Friendship Born Out of Necessity
We never know why God places people in our path - our lives. The Lord gives us just what we need at just the right time.
I remember visiting with Valerie while she was in the hospital. After my visit I walk out with Meme - another member at our church. In the hospital parking lot we talked for a few minutes before we left. Meme shared with me how her and Val had become extremely close during Val's illness. She shared with me how her and Val planned to take a road trip when Val's health improved. I remembered Meme breaking down in tears as she shared how she had come to really love Val.
Meme is in the health care field and it gave her an opportunity to serve God and Val. It gave her an opportunity to get to really know Val up close and personal. It gave Val an opportunity to have a need met and to have someone to walk with her side by side during her illness.
I never forgot that conversation in the hospital parking lot and when Val went to heaven I thought about that road trip and I knew I wanted to give Meme a personal gift that would attempt to capture that friendship born out of a need orchestrated by God.
First, I hate the pre-packaged photo printing fabric because the fabric is terrible quality and it is never the right shade of white or beige so I make my own. I used some white quality quilting cotton and treated it with "Bubble Jet Set 2000" before printing the picture on it. When I cut it out I left a 1/4" fabric boarder around it.
I cut a piece of the background fabric a few inches larger than my picture frame. I also cut a piece of batting about the size of the picture. I place the picture on top of the batting and stitched it in place on the background fabric. I used a 1.7 mm stitch length with the batting hoping to make the picture stand out a little more.
Next I used ribbon I had in my stash to cover the raw edges of the picture. I knew I wanted to include words about the road trip and initially thought I would also include an embroidered car. Because of space and me not really knowing how to put it all together nicely, I chose to scrap the car idea. I used a Madeira 40 wt rayon embroidery thread to embroider the words and afterwards squared up the piece.
I used a shadow box picture frame but you cannot tell it. I never knew how hard it was to line up a piece of fabric in a picture frame. I tried several things but finally I used masking tape to tape the fabric to inner part of the picture frame. It is not totally straight but it was the best I could do without spending hours re-taping and re-positioning the fabric.
Lastly I put the picture in the frame.
Life is uncertain and often unpredictable but we have a God who is willing and able to me us at our need. We have a God whose timing is perfect.
I remember visiting with Valerie while she was in the hospital. After my visit I walk out with Meme - another member at our church. In the hospital parking lot we talked for a few minutes before we left. Meme shared with me how her and Val had become extremely close during Val's illness. She shared with me how her and Val planned to take a road trip when Val's health improved. I remembered Meme breaking down in tears as she shared how she had come to really love Val.
Meme is in the health care field and it gave her an opportunity to serve God and Val. It gave her an opportunity to get to really know Val up close and personal. It gave Val an opportunity to have a need met and to have someone to walk with her side by side during her illness.
I never forgot that conversation in the hospital parking lot and when Val went to heaven I thought about that road trip and I knew I wanted to give Meme a personal gift that would attempt to capture that friendship born out of a need orchestrated by God.
How I Did It
I purchased the background fabric, a quilting cotton, when shopping for fabric to make a memory quilt for Valerie's biological family. When I saw this fabric it immediately struck me because of the positives saying written on it and I knew I wanted it for this project even though I hadn't quite figured out what "this project" would ultimately be.First, I hate the pre-packaged photo printing fabric because the fabric is terrible quality and it is never the right shade of white or beige so I make my own. I used some white quality quilting cotton and treated it with "Bubble Jet Set 2000" before printing the picture on it. When I cut it out I left a 1/4" fabric boarder around it.
I cut a piece of the background fabric a few inches larger than my picture frame. I also cut a piece of batting about the size of the picture. I place the picture on top of the batting and stitched it in place on the background fabric. I used a 1.7 mm stitch length with the batting hoping to make the picture stand out a little more.
Next I used ribbon I had in my stash to cover the raw edges of the picture. I knew I wanted to include words about the road trip and initially thought I would also include an embroidered car. Because of space and me not really knowing how to put it all together nicely, I chose to scrap the car idea. I used a Madeira 40 wt rayon embroidery thread to embroider the words and afterwards squared up the piece.
I used a shadow box picture frame but you cannot tell it. I never knew how hard it was to line up a piece of fabric in a picture frame. I tried several things but finally I used masking tape to tape the fabric to inner part of the picture frame. It is not totally straight but it was the best I could do without spending hours re-taping and re-positioning the fabric.
Lastly I put the picture in the frame.
Conclusion
Soon after Val went to heaven, I told Meme I had a gift I wanted to give her. That was 15 months ago and I can finally give her this gift. It's always a gamble when you give gifts without being directly told what to get. Its not much but I am hoping it's a gift she will cherish not because of my work but because of her being obedient to God by meeting a need and in the process gaining a friend.Life is uncertain and often unpredictable but we have a God who is willing and able to me us at our need. We have a God whose timing is perfect.
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