Shepherd's Light: Clover

HOME

BIBLE BLOCKS

BASIC BLOCKS

GALLERY

MYSTERIES

COOKHOUSE
Shepherd's Light
Clover

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me,

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Green pastures sound mighty inviting for many of us in February: you might be looking out your window at snow; here, many of the pastures look more like ponds after the winter rain. The sheep standing in the fields look sodden and miserable as they hunch their shoulders against the wind. Our friends who raise sheep will be glad when the fields dry out, and new grass mixed with sweet clover turns pastures green. Then, their animals won't have to pick among the mud for stalks of last year's grass, [and their owners won't have to bear so large a cost for fodder!]

The green pastures signal a time of rest; of abundance and comfort. Sheep naturally rest, eat, relax in warm spring breezes: if there is water nearby, they have everything they need. They aren't concerned about what next winter will bring: they have enough for now. The shepherd doesn't have to make the sheep lie down and take it easy!

Under the guidance of our Sheperd, the psalmist tells us we can be like the sheep: trust that He will lead us beside refreshing water into the green pastures. Yet, when God gives us times of rest and comfort, we don't "lie down" in the green pasture: we fret over the rainy season that's past, and worry about the difficult times to come. As God brings you to a green pasture time, stop reliving the struggles you endured, knowing that He brought you safely through. Don't fret over the dark days to come: your Shepherd will be there too.

Step 1- Choose fabrics and cut

Our diagrams show the taupe/grey/red version on the left above. The more brightly coloured version on the right is another option that would probably work better if you are adding this block to your Sampler of Psalms quilt. Our suggestions are in [brackets] below, but of course you may use any fabrics you like.

Fabric	Patch	# to cut	Size
Lightest [gold]	A	4	2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles
Dark medium [red]	B	4	2 1/2" x 4 1/2" Rectangles
Darkest [blue]	C	8	2 1/2" squares
Light Medium *	D	2	2 1/2" squares [gold] (centre patch)
Light Medium *	D	1	5" square [green]
Contrast [green]	E	2	2 1/2" squares (centre patch)
Contrast [green]	E	1	5" square
Medium Light	F	2	5" squares

*for grey/taupe version, all D patches are Light Medium; for our example of the colourful version, the centre [cut 2 1/2"] squares are gold, remaining D are green.

Step 2- Fast Four Patches

Place a 5" D square, right sides together with a 5" F square. Sew 1/4" away from opposite sides. [A]
Measure 2 1/2" away from the edge [NOT the seam line!], cut between the lines of stitching to make 2 bi-colour patches. [B] Press seams toward the dark.
Place the two units right sides together so that the dark is against the light. Sew 1/4" away from opposite sides. Your stitching line will cross the seam. Measure 2/12" away from the edge [NOT the seam line], cut between the lines of stitching to make 2 four-patch units. [C]
Repeat with remaining 5" F square and the 5" E square. You will have 2 E/F four patches and 2 D/F four-patches. [If you followed our fabric placement suggestions for the bright version, these will all be the same!]

Step 3- More Four-Patches

Sew the 2 1/2" D squares to 2 1/2" E squares. Sew these together to make the centre four-patch unit.

Step 4- Side Units

Draw a diagonal line on each of the C squares.
Align a C square with the top of a B rectangle so that the diagonal goes from the upper left to the lower right. [1 on the right]
Sew on the line. Trim 1/4" away from the line and press toward the B rectangle.
Repeat with a second B rectangle to make 2 units.
Align a C square with the top of a B rectangle so that the diagonal goes from the upper right to the lower left [2]
Sew on the line. Trim 1/4" away from the line and press toward the triangle. Repeat with remaining B rectangles to make 2 units.
Repeat with the A rectangles to make two sets of 2 units each. [3]
Sew these units together in pairs to make 4 side units. You will probably want to press this seam open to reduce bulk.

Step 5- Assemble Block

Sew two four-patch units to either side of a side unit, paying close attention to the placement of fabric, and matching the points of the triangle with the seams of the four-patch units [circled areas]. Repeat for the bottom row. Press toward the four-patch units
Sew two side units to either side of the centre four-patch unit, matching seam lines. Press toward the four-patch unit.
Sew the three rows together. Press toward the outside rows.

Back to the main Bible Block page

Next Block

Looking for more Bible Blocks? A dozen beautiful blocks in three sizes plus hints for starting your own quilt group:

The Word in Patchwork