The Ocean Wave

Abstract

I B o u g h t An antique quilt last spring. I don’t usually spend that much m oney impulsively, especially for a quilt. In my family, we make our own o r have them handed down from ancestors. I was browsing at the annual Kalona Quilt Show, overwhelmed by the fabrics and designs and stitches. W hen I came around the com er and saw this one, I stopped. I stood and gazed at it, enjoying its quiet quality, both from a distance and close up. It was a variation on the Ocean Wave pattern, pin wheels alternating with the patches that feature a center diamond. I’d never seen anything like it. Eventually, I moved on to other quilts. But they w eren’t as fine, especially the m ore recent ones. In them the designs showed little imagination, the quilting stitches were scant, and the com ers o f the patches m et sloppily. I returned to admire the Ocean Wave and decided to make a drawing o f it, even though I knew I would never have the time and patience to piece one myself. Even if I tried, I could never repeat the effect this one had. After leaving the show, I debated mentally. “I’m going to buy it,” I concluded. I had money in the bank that was supposed to be saved so I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a job the following summer. I purpose­ ly put the funds into the Kalona Bank so I couldn’t withdraw it without making a twenty-mile trip. I was trying to prevent impulse spending. I hurried to the bank, fingers trem bling as I signed the withdrawal slip, no t wanting to dawdle and chat with the clerks for fear that the quilt would be gone if I waited. Besides, they would have thought this was just another quilt. I was in a hurry, not because I’d seen quilts being sold quickly at the show, but because o f the irrational idea that something I want badly will be taken unfairly from me, that perhaps I don’t deserve it. But the quilt was still there. With relief I approached one o f the women wearing a corsage and patchwork on her jum per and asked how I went about buying a quilt. She didn’t even ask to see any identification with my check. I showed my Ocean Wave to the owners o f Unto Others, a shop in Kalona filled with quality hand-made goods. One o f them noticed a bright gold patch, sticking out as the only ja r to the eye. She said her m other always put deliberate flaws into her quilts to show that she “wasn’t G od” and couldn’t