Doing some math

I've never really liked math. I made it all the way through calculus in high school, so I'm not saying I wasn't good at math, but I never enjoyed math. When I got to college, I took Statistics and got my first D ever. I think I dropped the class half way through. The teacher was boring, the class was at 8am and I had no idea what he was talking about. I fell asleep almost every day in class so that is probably why I didn't understand the subject. I tried getting help with the homework, but that wasn't successful either. I retook the class the next quarter and I think I passed with a C, but that pretty much ended my math career.

So, anytime people talk math to me now, my mind shuts down. Hubby talks about how much money we have in the checking account and I nod and smile and hum and think about something else, like chocolate. Then, when I think he is done talking...like when his mouth stops moving, I change the subject.

Well, this morning I woke up thinking about math. Scary. I was thinking about how much fabric I have and how long it would take to use it all up.

I have in the house (because we don't want to talk about the garage or shed) 25 crates full of fabric. I figure there is about 50-100 yards of fabric in each of the crates. I am guessing that much because one time a lady gave me boxes of fabric that she had carefully measured. Each box had about 60 yards in it. Each of those boxes would easily fit into one of the crates. Some of the crates are packed full--so more than 60 yards and some are only half full, so less than 60 yards. So, let's say each crate has an average of 75 yards of fabric in it.

Doing some math here, let's say there are 75 yards times 25 crates, that gives me 1875 yards of fabric in the house. The quilts I make are for kids. An average quilt takes 4 yards of fabric, for the front and back and binding. Some take more, some take less. I can get about 468 quilts out of the fabric that is sitting here in the house, assuming that all of the fabrics go together :)

This year, I made almost 200 quilts. I had help from lots of friends, but using up the fabric here in the house, it would take just over 2 years to use up all of this fabric. That isn't very long. However, I made 200 quilts this year. That means I should have used up half of this fabric in the house! But I didn't! I have probably twice what I had last year. How is that possible?

I have a couple of theories. First is the loaves and fishes theory. Remember the story about Jesus and the little boy? Jesus was out talking to the people on the hillside and they got hungry. The disciples said to Jesus to send the people away so they could get something to eat. Jesus said that he would feed the people, but the disciples said they didn't have enough food. Jesus took the small lunch that the little boy offered and broke it. The more he gave away, the more there was to give. The more fabric I use up, the more gets donated to be used.

The second theory is that the fabric is like rabbits. When you turn the lights out, it multiplies in the dark.

Either way, I'm going to keep using up the fabric as fast as I can, making room for more fabric to appear and thanking God that I have the talents and enjoying every minute of this journey. Sometimes I get discouraged that I can't do enough fast enough, but when I look back over the past year and see how many quilts I have made and think that each one of those quilts have been given to someone to warm not only their body, but their heart, it gives me energy to put another quilt on the machine. Just one more, and then another and another.

A video for you to listen to and think about this morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynXzCoN5I6w&feature=related