‘Because of His selfless sacrifice, I will see her face again’

First Presbyterian Church Rockwall displays “Kelly’s Quilt,” representing college student’s faith in God and her grieving process following mother’s death

June 11, 2012 – The definition of a quilt is “a warm bed covering made of padding enclosed between layers of fabric and kept in place by lines of stitching.” But Kelly’s quilt is so much more than that. It is the tangible expression of her grief and a visible representation of her deep and abiding faith in God.

When her mother, Cynthia, died unexpectedly from an aortic aneurysm two years ago, Rockwall resident Kelly Case’s comfortable world was rocked to its very foundation. In the second semester of her freshman year of college, she couldn’t believe that her energetic, healthy mother was suddenly gone from her life. She struggled to make sense of her loss, using a journal to work through her feelings, trying to find some peace in the chaotic thoughts that were swirling around in her head.

As an art major, Kelly would be required to produce an original project for her senior art show.  “I knew that I wanted to make something to honor my mom and to represent my grieving process,” she remembered.

She formulated and rejected a variety of ideas until she had a clear vision of what she wanted to create. She originally chose canvas as the background for the piece but decided that the material was too stiff. Kelly wanted it to be warm and organic, so she approached her dad about letting her use the wedding quilt that her aunt had made for her parents.

She also knew that she wanted to honor God with her project, which would be on display for an entire month at her college. Kelly hoped that her artwork would speak volumes to the other students, especially her fellow artists. Out of the entire art department, she was one of only three Christians of which she was aware.

Kelly went through her old journals and found the Bible verses that she had been reading during each stage of the grieving process.  Next she took her mother’s clothing and painstakingly cut out letters from the fabric to replicate poignant passages. The fabrics she chose ran the gamut of fiery reds to chaotic orange and yellow to tranquil blues and greens. Some of the spacing of the letters was uniform, while other groupings were jumbled and crowded.

The planning and work on the quilt took over 100 hours. Kelly remembers working eight hours at a stretch and surviving on just two hours of sleep each night during the week before her show as she struggled to finish her artwork. Amazingly, she did not measure anything. All the words fit perfectly together in the space she chose, as if by magic.

Kelly’s belief in God serves as a solid foundation for her life. She lives out her faith by ministering to others through Young Life, serving as a group leader in the organization. It was through an experience with one of her Young Life girls that she found the peace she had been searching for. “I had gone to the funeral of the mother of one of the girls about six months after my own mother’s funeral,” Kelly recalls. “The funeral was a celebration. Everyone was wearing bright colors, and there was upbeat music. God used this other mother’s funeral to speak to me and to remind me that I can rejoice because my mom is in Heaven.”

In her senior thesis Kelly states, “I cut my mother’s clothes piece by piece and used them as my medium, transforming them into a restored form and giving new meaning to fabric that would otherwise remain forgotten and lifeless. The labor-intensive process of hand-stitching each letter onto the quilt that was a wedding gift for my mother and father was painful. The monotonous act of needle piercing precious, irreplaceable fabric represents a sense of permanence. Cutting the fabric was irreversible, much like the difficult truth of death on this earth. With each tedious stitch, I was reminded of her absence. However, the words I was laboring over instilled in me peace and comfort in that with Christ death is not permanent. Because of His selfless sacrifice I will see her face again.”

Kelly will graduate from college this December and thinks she would like to be an elementary school art teacher. “I’ve been in school my whole life, and more than anything, I’m excited to see what I’m going to do next,” she says with a smile.

Kelly’s quilt will be on display in First Presbyterian Church of Rockwall throughout June.

Thanks to Mary Thacker for sharing this story and photo. 

See Mary Thacker’s recent story called “Piecing together memories: Completed quilt brings tears of joy to elderly woman”.

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