Epilogue
Two years later
EMMA SAT AT HER TREADLE sewing machine, thinking about Ivan and how the Lord had blessed them since their marriage a year ago.
She felt thankful for a loving husband who didn’t mind if supper was late sometimes because she’d been busy making a new quilted item or teaching a friend or family member how to quilt.
Emma paused from her sewing and tipped her head to one side, believing that she’d heard her baby girl fussing in the next room.
A few seconds passed, and Emma identified the noise she’d heard when her dog, Fawn, plodded into the room, panting and whimpering pathetically.
“What do you want, Fawn? Is your water dish empty?”
Fawn let out a few barks, and Emma put a finger to her lips. “Shh … you’ll wake the baby.”
Emma rose from her chair and headed for the kitchen, with Fawn right at her heels. After filling the dish with water, Emma left the room and went to check on her sweet baby girl. Seeing that the infant was still asleep, Emma quietly left the room and headed back to the sewing machine.
When the lovely clock on the mantel chimed, Emma looked up and smiled.
It was not a clock that Ivan had repaired—this was one he’d created from scratch, and it kept perfect time.
In fact, Ivan had become so good at making and repairing clocks, he’d been able to open his own business.
Between what he made in his new venture and what Emma made teaching and selling quilts, they were able to manage financially, both doing what they loved in the process.
As she glanced around the room, Emma’s gaze fell upon the blue ribbon attached to the first quilt she had completed that had won a first-place prize in a quilting contest. Emma found it hard to imagine that just a few years ago, she believed she would never be able to stitch together her own quilt, but Emma had since made several quilts with different patterns.
She recalled the moment Ivan’s mother had laid eyes on her finished quilt for the first time, and how pleased her dear mother-in-law had been with Emma’s quilting talents.
Emma was thankful for everything she had learned from Ida Mae, and she could now teach others who were new to quilting.
It was a beginner’s quilt that made me want to stick with quilting, Emma mused.
But the Tree of Life pattern was more than that to me.
It represented the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil mentioned in the Bible, and it was also a reminder that I always need to put God first in everything and trust Him no matter what the future holds for me, Ivan, and our daughter.
Emma sighed with contentment and thanked God for all He had given them, and she promised to be faithful and trust Him all the days of her life.