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March 28, 2017

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Piecing together valuable lessons of hard work and determination

By Courtney Gill | March 28, 2017, Tuesday | Print Edition

AS she watches her mother sew a square of fabric onto other squares of fabric, she is fascinated. Her eyes widen. She stares. The corners of her mouth twitch — will this become a new obsession? Only time shall tell ...

A day later, it is all she could think about. Cardboard templates, cotton thread, fabric patterns. They flash before her eyes. Will they combine to make a blanket? A bag? She is uncertain; the only thing she knows is that she is obsessed. 

After yet another day of patch-work creations whizzing back and forth through her mind, she makes a decision. She goes to her mother. She asks if she could be taught the art (the ever so mystical art) of patch-working. Her mother agrees. She is taught how to hold the fabric. She is taught how to cut the templates. Slowly now, she is told, until you get more practice. So she goes slowly. Patch-work is still all she could think about.

She spends hours sewing. She sews and she sews and she sews and she sews. The stitches cross over each other; the fabric fraying under her touch. Slowly now, she sighs, you need more practice. Frustration is not a stranger to her. She refuses to stop sewing. She must practice.

Hours become days. She sews and she sews and she sews and she sews. She pricks herself countless times; the fabric shears heavy in her hand. She grits her teeth. Slowly now, she mutters, you need much more practice. The needle draws blood. She wonders to herself: how long did her mother take to get that good at patch-work?

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