Shepherd's Light: Shepherd's Light

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Shepherd's Light
Finishing

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.

This past winter I learned about the painstaking work of restoration when I set out to repair a damaged quilt. With my heart in my throat, I ruthlessly cut away the worst of the damage; then spent hours unpicking, basting, and hand-finishing. In the end, the quilt still shows some of the scars of its trauma, but it has been returned to a thing of beauty. It was one of the quilts I used to illustrate a scripture truth: the pain of the cross and the glory of the resurrection. Now, it has a second, equally powerful story to tell: a message of restoration and second chances.

As our Shepherd restores our souls, He cuts away damaged parts of our lives: destructive habits, twisted desires, broken relationships. He seems harsh sometimes: restoration is never without cost. At first we may feel as if our lives are worse rather than better, but slowly, lovingly, God replaces the damaged with the restored; the hurting with healthy. As God restores each of us, our scars give us a story to tell of repentance, forgiveness and second [third, fourth or even fifth!] chances.

As you work on putting all the pieces of Shepherd's Light together, reflect on the ways God is putting you back together: the areas He's cutting away; the mistakes He's repairing, and the beautiful whole He has in mind as He restores your soul!

[We documented the restoration of our Cross and Crown quilt for you to see: Quilt Restoration]

Step 1 Setting Points

1. Cut 4 squares 9 1/2". Cut in half on one diagonal to make 8 triangles.

2. Cut 2 squares 12" Cut in half on both diagonals to make 8 triangles.

3. Cut 4 rectangles 17 1/2" x 7 1/2"

Sew a triangle to one side of the remaining shadows blocks, paying close attention to the shading: I chose to have the lightest patch toward the centre. The triangle will extend past the edge of the block.

Use a ruler to trim excess even with edge of the block Sew another triangle to the adjacent side, as in the photo. Make 8 units.

Sew half-square triangles to the sides of this unit to make a rectangular unit. [See photo for placement]. Make 4. Sew rectangles to the bottom of these units. Press and square up to 17 1/2" x 15 1/2"

Step 2 Frame Blocks

Add 1 1/2" x 10 1/2" strips to the top and bottom of the Cups and Providence blocks.
Add 1 1/2" x 12 1/2" strips to the sides of the blocks. Press and trim framed blocks to 12 1/2"
Add 2" x 12 1/2" background strips to the top and bottom of all blocks except the centre Shepherd's Light star.
Add 2" x 15 1/2" background strips to the sides of the same blocks.
Press and trim framed blocks to 15 1/2"

Step 3 Assemble Centre

Lay out the blocks with the Shepherd's Light block in the centre and the remaining blocks in the position you prefer.
Sew the centre together in three rows:

Block, Framing Points, Block
Framing points, Shepherd's Light, Framing Points
Block, Framing Points, Block
Press all seams toward the Framing Blocks

Sew the three rows together to complete the centre.

Step 4 Add Borders

Measure the finished centre through the middle of the piece to find the measurement for your borders.
I chose to add a 3/4" folded border in red
- cut 2" strips length of fabric to the measurement of the piece [if you need to piece these strips, use a diagonal seam to reduce bulk
- baste the strips to the edge of the quilt so that the folded edge is toward the centre and the raw edges are even. Overlap at the corners.
My second border is cut 2 1/2" for a finished border of 2" in the lightest colour
My final border is 6 1/2" cut for a finished border of 6" in a dark medium. This was also cut length of fabric. Because I used fairly busy prints for my borders, I did not choose to mitre corners, but sewed them so that the longer strips are on the sides.
My finished piece measures 62" square.

Copyright 2006©: Kimberley I. Graham. No portion may be reproduced or redistributed without express written consent

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