Hi Everyone:
This is Sarah-Jane with another lesson from my SOL. You know, I’ve been quilting for a little while now doing small items, but on Friday last I finished my first big enough project, a 24” x 60” table runner. I usually reserve Saturdays as my creative day when I do my handmade cards, quilting projects, bag making…..the list goes on and on. I love keeping my hands busy. I made an exception, however, and worked hard on Friday to complete this project that had been pending but put on hold for a few weeks. The patchwork, which is the putting together of all the little pieces, was already finished, but the quilting, which is combining the patchwork top piece with batting and a backing fabric using simple or decorative stitches hadn’t yet been done.
Why this quilting story you may ask? Please bear with me, it gets good 😁. Well after all the hard work of cutting, and sewing the little pieces together and doing some straight-line quilting, I began to apply the binding to finish the edges. I attached it to the front then had to turn it to the back and sew it down. This can be done by machine from the back, but you run the risk of messing up things on the front. I’d spent all day wrangling this thing through my machine in my very small work space and I’d had enough, so to give my upper body a rest and to ensure my work came out great I decided to sew on the binding to the back of the quilt by hand using what’s called an appliqué stitch.
I spent over two hours sewing on nine feet of binding with small quarter-inch stitches and believe me, when I began it seemed like a daunting task. At the end of it all, however, my patience and perseverance paid off as the binding came out beautifully; much better than if I had rushed to finished it by machine, and my runner looked like a piece of art.
There was so much learning for me in making this runner and I thank God for that. I have so much to share but I will give you another lesson from it at another time; suffice it to say that some things in life are worth the extra effort or the sacrifice or the journey. Sometimes we look at our mountain, whether it is caring for a family member, a long project at work, or a personal struggle and it seems formidable, even never-ending. The journey might take a lot out of you and you might feel tired and worn out, but let me tell you friends there is no better feeling than when you reach the end and know you went the extra mile, remained faithful through it all and did a good job.
I cannot tell you the sense of accomplishment and fulfillment I feel since having completed this simple project, not to mention the learning along the way. That to me is one of the most important things about our mountains. God is always teaching us through them and also through our everyday life. We just need to understand that and look for His nuggets along the way.
For homework, think about the mountain you are facing or even the ones you have faced in the past, and look for the lessons you’ve learned. You will see that it all comes together just like patchwork to add to your experiences, fortify you for the next challenge and eventually help you to create a beautiful life.
This is Sarah-Jane, until next time, God bless.
P.S. You know I just had to show you the quilt 😁
