Friday, June 18, 2021

Bless Our Home mini quilt pattern (free)...

 


"You will be blessed when you come in, and blessed when you go out."
Deuteronomy 28:6

Don't we all want our homes to be blessed? When you have lived in as many homes as we have over almost 30 years of marriage (twenty two homes, no joke) and all but the last home was a rental, you get used to praying a blessing over the new dwelling and sometimes that blessing is prayed multiple times during your residency.

In September 2018 we bought our first home, bringing an end to the cross-country rental living we'd known for so long. It felt so different, and even today I find it hard to describe, but there was an even greater sense within our hearts to walk the boundary line day after day during those first weeks, praying for the blessing of God and a cleansing of the land on which we now lived. 

But then I realised how important it was to be a physical part of the blessing, as well. 

Every day when I tend my home, I bless it. Every meal made with love and eaten beside my husband, is a blessing in our home. Every new garden bed, every tree or flower or vegetable planted, is part of how we bless this house. Every time I scrub the shower, sweep the floors, wash the windows, hang fresh curtains...I bless our home. Every hour spent tending this quarter acre on the outskirts of town, is another hour of blessing.

Since we moved into our house almost three years ago, I've come to understand that when I ask the Father to bless our home, He expects me to be a tangible, practical part of the blessing too, and it's another reason why my heart has been drawn into a deeper love for homemaking, and why I love to encourage your homemaker heart as well. 

I first created the "Bless Our Home" pattern in 2017 and later on gifted it as a tiny wall hanging to a friend. Last week I saw a lady on Instagram (Yvonne) had stitched my design and it reminded me to make it again, but this time for my own home. I don't know why I'd not done so sooner, but then again, this was probably the 'right time' because now it means so much more than it did in 2017. 

So, if you'd like to make your own, use the link below to download the pattern.

DOWNLOAD "Bless Our Home" stitchery/mini-quilt pattern

In the pattern you'll see that I drew a 5.5" square and turned it on-point before tracing the stitchery design onto the centre. I've cut out further than the traced line for the photo below so that you can see what I'm talking about...


Then I added a 1.75" wide border all around...


...and then a 1.5" wide green border, before fusing a square of scrap Pellon behind the block.


I love to hand quilt small projects and used three different Perle 12 threads to stitch inside the borders.





There's something very relaxing about hand quilting, and the final effect seems to say "home"...



I trimmed away the excess Pellon, and cut a piece of backing fabric the same size as the bordered stitchery.
Laying the backing fabric right side down onto the front of the mini-quilt, I stitched the two sections together around all four sides, leaving a 3" opening for turning right side out. 



Gently push out the corners with a blunted tool (I use a very large wooden knitting needle) before ladder stitching the opening closed.
Finally, hand quilt 1/4" inside the outer edge. 

I sewed a teeny tiny hanger into the top back corner of the mini-quilt...



...and my new version of "Bless Our Home" was complete and ready to hang in our living room. 



The fabrics used were from the new Tilda Gardenlife range; threads were all DMC variegated apart from the straw-brown used for the basket and flower centres. 

In the pattern I've mistakenly written that the flower centres are satin-stitched, but in fact they are a set of three colonial knots sewn close together. It's been a long day and mistakes happen. But of course, you could do satin stitch if you wanted to. 

I'd love to see photos if you make this pattern. Just email them to me (details HERE) or tag me on Instagram @homelifewithjennifer or #jennyofelefantzdesigns

It's 11pm on Friday night and it's been a long busy day, so I shall bid you all goodnight and pray for you as I drift off to sleep...

God bless your home, and may He bless you as you bless your home,


24 comments:

Joanne said...

Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for this pattern :) Nice Gardenlife fabric combination !
Has it been almost three years already ! I read a comment on a youtube chat. A woman wrote...It seems that I'll sneeze and it will be November !
After such a long day I hope your weekend is lovely, restful, creative and enjoyable :)
hugs, take care,
Joanne

Joanne said...

Hi Jennifer,
Forgot to mention that I love the teeny tiny hanger !
Joanne

JES said...

I love the perspective you shared on blessing your home. So beautiful Jenny ♥️

Shirley said...

I love what you did with the Bless this Home wall hanging. The hanger is a wonderful idea. I had never thought of that. Have a wonderful weekend.

Kim said...

Oh, so cute! This would make a nice housewarming gift. Thank you for sharing.

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Thanks Jes, it makes all the difference as we go about our chores. x

Unknown said...

Yo enamorada de tanta belleza, quiero bordar todo. Gracias ❤️

Sherry said...

So pretty! Thank you for the pattern.

Carol in Texas said...

Jenny, you have given me a very valuable thought to keep in mind as I clean baths, scrub floors, vacuum carpets and cook meals. I will remember that I am blessing our home. That is a wonderful idea. Thank you. I love your blog and take so much of what you write to heart. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your life with your readers. Carol in Texas

Susan said...

Thank you, as always for your thoughts on being part of the blessing of your home. That is a wonderful concept. This beautiful tiny wall hanging may well be stitched here this fall as I recover some stamina. I've always liked the pattern and, in conjunction with your post, I see a great reminder here for me.

Angie in SoCal said...

What a sweet little project! Those tiny hangers are so cute. Would you give us the dimensions of them so I can find some here in the US to buy?

Jenny of Elefantz said...

3" wide across the bottom.

Kay said...

How absolutely beautiful. I love the idea that I bless our home by all the things that I do here, thank you for sharing this thought. x

Amy said...

Jennifer,
Your work is wonderful.I LUV hand work.I have bought 2 patterns from you , and look forward to working on them soon.

Ingrid said...

Gracias por este diseño tan lindo Jennifer. Que Dios te siga bendiciendo con mucha salud y creatividad para que nos sigas inspirando. Recibe un fuerte abrazo venezolano

the gathering girls said...

Thank you so much! It is so kind of you to bless us with your creativity. 💕

Susan said...

Thank you for the pattern and more so for your thoughts on blessing our homes.

Águeda said...

"Now it means so much more than it did in 2017 "
Much, much more.
Thank you very much Jennifer. I wish your family is already recovered from the cold. God bless you.

Carrie Ando said...

My dear friend Jenny. On May 28th we moved from a 2 story house (lots of work) to our new bungalow home on our beautiful little island just off Brisbane. I could not move for the next week and we both had a detoxing head cold. On the 7th I was due to have a small operation but (thankfully) this was cancelled due to my health. Otherwise I would not have been prepared (thank you Lord).
That night we received a phone call to say that our daughter (aged 41) who had been estranged from us for 7 years due to her husband, had asked for us - she was in hospital given 2 days to live with ovarian cancer. We were blessed with 5 minutes to say goodbye. Jenny, the look on her face as she saw us spoke volumes - pure love. We are very comforted knowing that our baby girl is now in the loving arms of God. Our sadness is the estrangement still is in place from our grandchildren. We pray the cover of blessing over them all the time.
NOW - I finally feel able to read my emails once more and YOURS is the very first one that I opened. Just what I needed. The encouragement to walk the borders of our new home, pray blessings in all that we do and also (once again) sew the very pretty "Bless Our Home" to adorn our walls with love. My last one was also gifted.
Jenny, you are truly an angel directed by God to intervene in our lives with your loving heart. You work long and hard but please know that you do so much more in our lives.
Receive my blessing given to you by the blood and in the name of Jesus, upon you and your household.

Snoodles said...

Thank you for this sweet pattern! Your posts inspire me to bless my home each day. Love to you in Christ,
Jacque

Diana Stitching said...

This was a lovely post, and it cheered me up on a day when I felt overwhelmed with stress. I love the mini-quilt, and I really agree with you about the blessings of homemaking. Love from Diana in England x

Angie in SoCal said...

I came back to this post because of: "I've come to understand that when I ask the Father to bless our home, He expects me to be a tangible, practical part of the blessing too,". I read that and it was as if I had come out of a fog into light. I really don't like housework. It's so repetitive. And when the kids were young, I had so much to do. But now when it's only the two of us, I was fretting that I wasn't doing what the Father wanted me to do - more charity work, more praying, more... yes, housework. I am blessing my home with making it more tidy, a more a calm place to be. My Guardian Angel steered me to your blog, Jennifer, so I could be about the Father's work. Thank you. I look upon my housework now as a new reason to smile and be glad.

Ckler said...

Bendiciones

Ckler said...

Muy lindo