Job's Troubles

This year has been tougher on a lot of people I know than many others.  And one of those it's been particularly difficult for is Susan, a friend of a friend.  I won't get into everything that has happened to her, but I will say that she can use your prayers.  She's in the hospital for the long haul and her friend, Lindsay, came up with a great idea to help brighten her stay.  She asked for volunteers to make small quilt blocks or wallhangings to decorate her room.  This is my contribution...

Job's Troubles

It's based on the 'Job's Troubles' quilt block from the book More Biblical Quilt Blocks by Rosemary Makhan.  I liked the look of the block and thought it appropriate for Susan's circumstances.

Back of Job's Troubles

I don't know Susan personally but Lindsay said she likes bright sherbert colors.  I had these fat quarters just lying around in my stash and thought they'd be perfect for her.

Fat Quarter Medley

I used the first 2 and the last 2 in the picture and threw in some white on white I also had on hand.  Because I only had the fat quarter of each fabric, I had to be inventive when it came to the borders and binding.

Mitered Border

I used a 2 color border with mitered edges.  I took several pictures showing how I do my mitered borders.  If you'd like to know more, let me know and I'd be glad to post about it.

Preparing each miter

I prepared each miter before sewing any of them.

I've found this method to be the most accurate for me, although like most things, there are half a dozen different ways to do it.

Back of quilt (and David's feet)

All of the blocks in this quilt were paper-pieced.  There are only 4 pieces per block so it went together very quickly.  If you've never tried paper-piecing, you should give it a try.  It's probably not as hard as you think and very accurate.  I used Fun-dation Transparent Quilt Block Piecing Material for my background.   It's stronger than tissue paper and fairly transparent.  Because this is a wallhanging that won't be washed, I left it in.  If this were a lap or bed quilt, I would have torn it out before quilting.

Preparing for quilting

This little quilt finishes at 17" square so it was pretty quick to quilt it.  I really just stitched in the ditch and did some outline quilting in the borders.  I'm going to try to mail it out tomorrow.

And as usual, David helped me out on this project.  You saw his feet in one of the earlier pictures.  He also helped keep the background fabric warm for me until I needed it.

David on my ironing board

And on a sad note, my sister's dog, Ace, has passed on.  He contracted distemper in the pound and his neurological problems were too severe to overcome it.  He was only with us a short time but made such a big impact on all of us.

Until later...

The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant. 

By Rick Warren