OUR FAMILIES: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUILT OF OUR LIVES

OUR FAMILIES HAS STICTHES THAT MAKES IT BEAUTIFULLY UNIQUE!

A "Eku" in Africa

Quilts can be liken to our own traditional "EKU" called masquerade cloth, it is made up of several layers of clothes in different patterns. The great thing about quilts is not the ornate colourful pattern we see on the front. Nor is it merely the warmth that's intrinsic to every loving stitch. No, the real beauty lies in the understanding that the elegance of the concept is heightened by the mixing of different textures. think about the way quilts bring together fabrics that would otherwise never av touched. they're different, but that's what makes them so special in relation to one another.it's like a family reunion where the haves and the haves-not all come together to express the common threads of their origins!

Some fabrics are ordinary and some are exotic, but all are important to making the quilts the wonderful eclectic blanket of life that it's meant to be. there's a patch work progress in the way garments & pieces of fabric that are no longer useful unto THEMSELVES find new life when united with other scraps & tattered pieces of cloth!the collection of various and disparate pieces is held together by the stray threads, odd stitching patterns, & knots tied on the back side of the quilted fabrics.

Remember that all families have a back side, yours and mine. Do not allow the pain of the past, the contradictions of the present, or the pleasant exposure you've had to nicely packaged people in your new life to alienate u from the "not so nice" side of your NATURAL family, SPIRITUAL family, or CULTURAL family. They might not be as LUXURIOUS as the upper echelon of the society u now rub elbows with, but they are nonetheless a part of the STORY. Real quilts are made of love and patience. their beauty on top often helps to camouflage the many mistakes on the BACKSIDE.

We have a tendency to want a nice, neat little world that has orderly family members & positive role models. We want a community that is sound & stable, loving & supportive. we would like to see the pleasant, smiling faces of the perfect individuals whose flawless manners and impeachable charm always add without taking, give without asking. but because we ourselves will never reach that state completely, we would benefit more from seeing how the back side relates to the top side!

NO MATTER WHAT WE ARE OR WHERE WE COME FROM, ISN'T THE NECESSITY OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS THE TRUE ESSENCE OF BROTHERHOOD? JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE REACHED A NEW LEVEL OF SUCCESS, FINANCIAL SOLVENCY OR MATERIAL BLESSING, OUR NEEDS- PARTICULARLY THE INTANGIBLE NEEDS FOR LOVE & BELONGINGS DO NOT GO AWAY.

Don't separate yourself from your heritage, use the QUILTS that your ancestors PATCHED together from what they had been given. Warm yourself, comfort yourself, & sustain yourself by remembering what came before you, add your own unique designs to the quilt so that when you pass it on, others will benefit from what you have learned & how u av LIVED.

Tell your story, show your colours, add your slant to it! your life is part of an inter-generational MASTERPIECE, a quilt of lives linked by more than BLOOD, a tapestry woven from SACRIFICE, RESILIENCE, & TRIUMPH.

 Your views are most welcome...