Becoming a "Masterpiece"

This world is not our home. We will have trouble, loads of it. Jesus tells us this. 

“…These things I have spoken to you so you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome.” -John 16:33

But he has not left us alone to get through our hardships. He is along side us giving us peace, strength, and forming us new again- to be a source of beauty and hope to the world. 

"Masterpiece" took many weeks for its completion. I decided to make the background pieced with all shades of white/gray. Then I carefully pieced the vase into the background. I love how it turned out.  

 The next step was to top quilt. I decided to do this by hand instead of machine for a different feel and effect. I used the largest wooden frame for the vase. Then I used a smaller frame for the areas around it because I found it was easier on my body to quilt it without having such a large frame to maneuver. 

For this quilt I used a thick strand of 8 weight thread using the color magenta on the vase and off white for the background. And after 40 hours of hand top quilting, it is complete!

I decided to sew in some whimsical flowers and ferns. The Baptist fans are in the bottom part of the vase. I'm definitely laughing at how they turned out, its kind of a reflection on how we are still a work in progress and that we are not perfect despite God using the brokenness of our lives to create a masterpiece. We are far from perfect, but it can still be beautiful. 

Will you let God take your broken pieces and create a Masterpiece?