So much stitchin’ and rippin’, but does practice make perfect? Yes, it did and still does. I heard the announcement over the school intercom that anyone interested in becoming a 4-H member needed to attend a meeting after school. I realized “missing the bus” necessitated walking home from school with my younger brother and sister “in tow”, but what was 4-H?

I learned it stood for pledging my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service and my health to better living. Excitedly I shared this new found information with my parents, whom quickly informed me the only way I could participate was to take my brother 4 years younger and my sister five years younger with me weekly to meet at my 4-H leader’s home. Being reared in a poor home, opportunities for social interaction were limited. I was eager to learn about this new adventure.

For several years, I gathered my sewing supplies along with my siblings, their school bags and snacks and we began our journey of walking the two miles from our home to Mrs. Carmelita Butts house; a warm and caring woman that had the patience of Job from the old testament. She graciously opened her modest home to us, while caring for her only child, a daughter with a disability.

 We walked through neighborhoods and over railroad tracks during seasons of warmth, cold, sunshine and rain. (To verify this mileage, as an adult I returned to that home and neighborhood to calculate the route). Yes, the two miles remained as much decades later as it did over sixty years ago.

Because I was unable to participate in school activities and events due to the lack of financial resources, this opportunity to learn a new skill was a treasure. My initial creation was a skirt and I rapidly advanced to dresses and evening gowns, acquiring the expertise of perfection.  Each spring there was a “dress revue” for all the 4-H students in each county to display their creations. The judges carefully inspected every seam, button, zipper and stitching, while the garment was worn both inside and right side out. The philosophy of 4-H sewing was that the garment had to look as perfect on the wrong side as on the right side.

The winners advanced to the state level where the judging continued. My countless hours under Mrs. Carmelita’s careful eye and leadership provided me with a blue ribbon for every garment I created. By the time I entered 4-H in high school, I had perfected, French seams, bound buttonholes, covered buttons and a plethora of stitches by hand. However, what it truly did for me was provide life-long design with fabric.

Now as I stood alongside these precious young 4-H members at a recent quilt camp, my heart was aflutter with memories of my time so many years ago at a borrowed sewing machine. My skill from that day provided me the privilege of becoming a paid seamstress at the age of fourteen. I would create wedding gowns, prom dresses and garments for decades sewn with great joy and love. Such gifts in life are truly cherished treasures from God. I Peter 4:10 NIV, “each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others…”