Rachel started the quilt a year before her daughter's wedding. Pattern: Double Wedding Ring. 1,847 patches. Each cut by hand. Each from fabric with a story.
Blue — from Miriam's dress (first day of school). Green — from Josiah's shirt (wedding). Gray — from grandmother's apron (died 2019). Burgundy — from the curtain that hung in the kitchen when Miriam said her first word.
200 Hours
2 hours each evening, after dinner, after dishes, after prayer. Kerosene lamp. Silence. Needle, thread, patch. 200 evenings = 200 hours = 1 quilt.
Wedding. Miriam unwrapped the quilt. Saw the blue patch. 'Is that my dress?' 'First day of school.' Miriam cried. Rachel didn't (Amish women cry quietly and later).
The quilt will be on Miriam's bed for 50 years. Then her daughter's. 200 hours. Infinity.