The first quilt that will be completed in the course of this blog is the wedding quilt for my closest friend, Alison, who is getting married in September. But in order to fill you in on Alison's quilt, I'll have to back up...
My husband and I met while I was in graduate school. Alison was one of the other costume design students in my year. We took nearly all the same classes, ate together, did errands together, and stayed up all night doing our design homework together.
During this time I met Jim. We and I fell hard and fast for each other. He patiently put up with my craziness when I cried about the library not having the books I needed, when I ranted and raved after running out of watercolor paper at 3:00am. By my final year of school we were engaged. Alison helped me plan the wedding and stood beside me as we said our vows. As I was searching for something to be read during our
ceremony I found this poem by Wendy Paris:
My husband and I met while I was in graduate school. Alison was one of the other costume design students in my year. We took nearly all the same classes, ate together, did errands together, and stayed up all night doing our design homework together.
During this time I met Jim. We and I fell hard and fast for each other. He patiently put up with my craziness when I cried about the library not having the books I needed, when I ranted and raved after running out of watercolor paper at 3:00am. By my final year of school we were engaged. Alison helped me plan the wedding and stood beside me as we said our vows. As I was searching for something to be read during our
ceremony I found this poem by Wendy Paris:
I want to go everywhere with you.
I want to go to Italy and Israel and down the street.
I want to lie on a raft under the sun in the South Pacific with you and float and float and float.
I want to go to the tallest building on the highest mountain, in the biggest city.
And I want to go up on the roof with you and look around.
I want us to pool our talents and pool our resources and create together, that which we have not been able to create independently, alone.
And I want you in smaller ways, too, right here, holding my hand and kissing me.
I want to lie on a raft under the sun in the South Pacific with you and float and float and float.
I want to go to the tallest building on the highest mountain, in the biggest city.
And I want to go up on the roof with you and look around.
I want us to pool our talents and pool our resources and create together, that which we have not been able to create independently, alone.
And I want you in smaller ways, too, right here, holding my hand and kissing me.
It was perfect. It said everything I felt and thought about Jim. It reminded me of something I had read that Pablo Neruda had said about poetry. As he wrote and spoke in Spanish, I'm paraphrasing the English translation here: He said that poetry was created for everyone, and should be simple. It should not hide behind lofty words. It should melt like pastries on the tongue and be as comfortable as the bed where lovers have slept. Oddly enough Paris wrote the piece as an introduction to her book, Words for the Wedding, but did not intend it to be included in the list of verses.
The poem got me thinking about Alison and her boyfriend Dan. They had met just after Dan had signed up to serve 3 years in the Peace Corps in Africa. I watched how hard it was on them. I thought about how much Alison loved to travel and how many hours we spent together watching the Travel Channel and dreaming of escaping school on a grand adventure. And while we talked about doing it together, I knew we both thought
about traveling with the men we love. The idea for Alison and Dan's wedding quilt was born then.
Eventually Dan came back to the states, and they got engaged. Time to add my Alison and Dan to the quilt list.
The poem got me thinking about Alison and her boyfriend Dan. They had met just after Dan had signed up to serve 3 years in the Peace Corps in Africa. I watched how hard it was on them. I thought about how much Alison loved to travel and how many hours we spent together watching the Travel Channel and dreaming of escaping school on a grand adventure. And while we talked about doing it together, I knew we both thought
about traveling with the men we love. The idea for Alison and Dan's wedding quilt was born then.
Eventually Dan came back to the states, and they got engaged. Time to add my Alison and Dan to the quilt list.
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