A stitch in time saves nine.

The saying goes "a stitch in time saves nine" which means by preparing today you may save some time and effort later. So as I sit here with my incubating clients, a term picked up by Stephanie Edwards - Musa. I should be updating my SOI, mailing letters out to possible sellers, networking and calling past clients. But I think I'll write a post instead.

About 15 years ago a friend of mine purchased a house and found a treasure of old aprons as old as the 1920's. Most were gently used and had some hand embroidery on them. My friend gave them to me and told me to do something cleaver with them. And not knowing exactly what to do with them I sent them to my sister and asked her to make a quilt out of them for my friend.

Well, about that time my sister was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The tumor was under her right ear and had fingers that went to her brain, down one arm, around vocal chords and down to her legs. As my sister waited for test results, doctor calls, more tests she worked on this quilt. It gave her something to do besides worry.

The doctors prepared my sister and her family for the worse case. Any number of awful things could happen. Ultimately, she ended up with no voice and a great difficulty in swallowing. For years the doctors attempted to fix her throat, all for not. But after several attempts she can speak today as clearly as she ever did, but with great effort.

I presented my friend with the quilt after it was done and my sister was recovering. She cried, I cried, the entire room full of people cried. My friend couldn't accept the quilt, she felt it meant more to me and my sister and after all the aprons were a gift. So the quilt now lives at my house and I love to tell the story.

Conclusion; A stitch in time sometimes save more than nine.