consider it all joy…..

I have to admit, it has been a rough last 3 months and Covid19 really wasn’t the worst of it for me. My situation really doesn’t compare to the suffering going on right now, but it has made me realize that we are all susceptible to pain and suffering.

Recovering from an injury just isn’t fun and dealing with pain, casts, surgery, shoulder issues, and a hand that just doesn’t work right was frustrating and discouraging. I am so thankful for my husband Mark, family and many prayers that sustained me through the process. Because of Covid19, therapy wasn’t an “essential” option at this time, so a therapist friend graciously set me up with some home therapy exercises, I am so grateful. I am healing up and my hand and arm are working better everyday! Living by faith and trusting that God is in control has given me hope in these days of uncertainty. I am trying to be joyful because of God’s promises, but I have to be honest, I’m not always joyful.

The day after my cast was off, I walked into my sewing room determined to finish a project that was waiting for me while I recovered. This quilt has been a difficult one for me. Do you ever have projects that just don’t come easy? This one has been on hold for around 2 years. The piecing and appliqué were easy, the quilting was not. First I put it on the quilt frame and started to quilt. Not very far into it I decided that I didn’t like the way it was going. So off it came and I put it away for another day.

In January I decided to tackle it. I took out all the quilt stitches and then pinned it back together to quilt under the arm of my machine. I should let you know that it is a flannel quilt and I’m sure it will be sometime before I make another one!

I really didn’t have a great plan to quilt it so I just started dividing it up into sections. It was going along ok and then I broke my wrist so the door to my sewing room stayed shut until a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to finish it so I decided to stipple in the dark background. I was committed but as I got more and more into it I didn’t like it. I should have used a darker thread and I should have taken more time to figure out a design instead of a stipple.

I have to tell you all I wanted to do was to accomplish something after spending the last 3 months of not doing much and this quilt was it! I’m not happy with it. All I see is that the thread is wrong and the quilting isn’t right, but it’s done and my daughter says it beautiful so I decided to go ahead and hang it up.

The other day I was watching a quilting video and the instructor was talking about quilting techniques and she said something that stuck with me. She said quilts don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. (Isn’t that what my daughter said.) She also advised to take the lessons learned from imperfections and apply them to the next quilt and learn to enjoy the whole process.

Enjoying the process….I see a theme here. Choosing to enjoy the process of life even if it throws me pain and frustration has led to a life that is full and beautiful. I love making quilts and the older I get the more I learn from the process of making them. Piece by piece, block by block my life is getting completed by the hand of God.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4