'K' is for Kaleidoscope . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

‘K’ is for Kaleidoscope . . . At some point I had to make a kaleidoscope – I don’t recall when or why but it may have been back in college for one of my Elementary Education classes or in Scouting, it doesn’t matter except that I know how to make one and how it works. The kaleidoscope I made contained three mirrors glued together forming a triangle (with the mirrors facing each other) which was then slipped into a tube with small bits of colored cellophane dropped in front of the mirrors. As the tube was turned, the pattern changed . . . the exact same pattern never to be created again.

 

I see Friends as kaleidoscopes – individuals and groups are constantly moving and changing. Friends move from here to there and move their membership from one Meeting to another – all for various reasons. Friends’ opinions and attitudes are different and ever changing as the world around them changes.

 

Over time as individuals, Meetings, Yearly Meetings and other Quaker groups - we grow and mature and the world changes around us as governments make new rules and laws. Our thoughts and opinions vary on these new rules and laws. And all of this affects what we do and how we do it, to some degree.

 

Some of Friends are good at thinking for themselves; other Friends have strong opinions one way or another on various topics and issues that arise; some Friends are naturally good leaders . . . and other Friends are not such good leaders – always looking to other Friends in the group for guidance when it comes to figuring out the sense of the Meeting, committee or group.

 

There are Friends among us that struggle with some issues that are brought up. Some Friends have so-so or weaker opinions on the various topics and issues. Some Friends are not meant to be leaders, and as Friends we’re OK with that – every Friend has a place where they fit in and all Friends have an equal voice and part in the process.

 

None of this makes any of us better OR any of us worse – every group needs leaders and followers, after all, we can’t all be leaders or all be followers! We need a good mix between the two.

 

To an extent, who we are and our individual and corporate beliefs are shaped by those around us – whether that is other Friends, family, friends or co-workers. We all learn from others and that shapes who we are both individually and corporately.

 

Recently here in the United States one of the big issues or topics has been with LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, and Queer). The US Supreme Court legalizing same sex marriage – oh my! Some County Clerks and their staff refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples and some refusing to issue marriage licenses to anyone. Business owners refusing to serve same sex couples including – photographers, cake makers, venues, and there are pastors/ministers of various faiths, including Friends, refusing to marry same sex couples.

 

Friends have various thoughts on the whole LGBTQ issue – and it doesn’t seem to necessarily have anything to do with which Branch, some of it is just personal. There are those that are openly accepting, those that want nothing to do with them and those that are only partially accepting. Some Meetings that have not seen eye-to-eye with their Yearly Meeting have and are being forced to conform to what the Yearly Meeting says is right . . . or leave the Yearly Meeting. Some Pastors have openly said they would marry same sex couples – causing quite a stir in some areas.

 

The LGBTQ issue has also come up within both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts here in the United States in the last couple of years. Members of Friends Committee on Scouting have discussed this and are available to support Friends, Friends Meetings and Yearly Meetings – we have a whole page on our website, http://quakerscouting.org, dedicated to Scouting and Homosexuality. We encourage Young Friends as well as our Adult Friends to participate in Scouting and Guiding Programs.

 

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‘K’ is for Kaleidoscope quilts/quilt blocks – a relatively easy block to make, the tricky part is fabric selection and then cutting out the triangles/wedges for the block.

 

The kaleidoscope is a form of a pinwheel block. Putting several of these blocks together you’ll end up with a psychedelic quilt with an awesome optical illusion. This block can also be a great stashbuster, a way to use up old scrap fabrics.

 

Rainbow Stripes

Kaleidoscope quilts became popular in the latter part of the nineties and their popularity continues – they are visually strong, bold and striking. The key to obtaining a successful kaleidoscope effect in a quilt is the fabric selection to create that optical illusion. The designs are centered in a symmetrical way that resembles looking through a kaleidoscope.

 

Care should be taken when selecting fabric for a kaleidoscope quilt. Fabrics should be a large to medium print, preferably with a bold pattern. Fabrics that don’t work well in other quilts, because they appear too busy may be the perfect choice for this type of quilt. High color contrast, bold patterns and large motifs are the key points to remember when selecting fabrics. Fabrics with too little contrast would reduce the kaleidoscope effect. Small prints will work in a small block. With large prints, make sure there is enough background under the prints so that the design doesn’t become confusing. The background gives the eye a place to rest and allows the optical illusion to pop out.
 

Tulips

Fabrics with at least an 8-inch, but more of a repeat will give you more options. A fabric with a 24-inch repeat and good color contrast, strong lines and enough background showing – would be ideal. Knowing the repeat will help you figure out how much fabric to buy.

 

The background fabric shouldn’t detract from the strong visual effect of the kaleidoscope. The background and kaleidoscope should complement rather than detract. Auditioning various background fabrics before making that purchase would be helpful. Tone-on-tone prints, marbled monochrome prints or prints with very soft colors and very subtle prints seem to work the best.

I've made two different kaleidoscope blocks to share here. The first one I made was with a rainbow stipe that I had - turned every other one the other way, which aligned the red and green stripes to line up all around. The second one, that I made this afternoon, was done with a large tulip print that I had recently gotten for a project. I think you can see more of the 'kaleidoscope' pattern in the tulip block.

 
 

 

  

'J' is for Jargon . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

‘J’ is for Jargon . . . Some time ago, when I was looking online for definitions of Quaker terms I ran across a couple of sites called ‘Quaker Jargon Buster.’

 

One said “This guide is intended to help people who are new to Quakers to navigate the mindfield of Quaker language.”  Another talked about Quaker history and how we continue to use various words and phrases that others might not – “those with meanings that are no longer used; keeping titles/names for committees despite the purpose being changed; those words & phrases that have a different meaning when used in a Quaker context; or those that are considered to be just plain quaint.” I see both of these useful to Quakers/Friends as well – since we don’t all use the same term/terminology for the same thing.

 

So for my non-Quaker friends, family and others who read my blog, I’ve picked out some Quaker Jargon. The first three are ones that are not recognized by all Friends.

 

Birthright Friend – Historical term identifying members who were born into a Quaker family.

 

Convinced Friend – Another historical term identifying members who were not born into a Quaker family, those that chose to become members.

 
Hold in the Light – Holding or lifting a concern for another person or situation up to God, as in praying for someone or a situation.

 

 

Monthly Meeting – A local Friends Meeting/Church or congregation. Monthly Meeting meaning that they meet monthly to conduct their business.

 

Yearly Meeting – A group of Friends Meetings/Churches (Monthly Meetings) within a geographical area whose membership gathers once a year to worship and conduct their business.

 

Programmed – A Meeting for Worship led by a Pastor with an ordered worship service, much like any other Protestant faith. Programmed worship includes all or some of the following elements: singing, reading of scripture, a prepared message, collecting offering, prayers and some time waiting in the silence.

 

Unprogrammed – The more traditional form of Quaker worship in which Friends gathering in silence or expectant waiting. Unprogrammed Meetings have no pastor or minister to lead their worship. Vocal ministry, speaking from the silence, can be offered by anyone and may or may not occur during worship.

 

Consensus – When the membership of a Meeting/committee achieves unity in its discernment of a decision, they have reached consensus, as Friends do not vote.

 

Clerk – The Friend who leads the business meetings/committee meetings and is appointed by the membership to serve in that role for a specific period of time.

 

Way will open – When an action is felt to be necessary, but one is unsure exactly why or how to accomplish it.

 

 

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‘J’ is for Jelly Roll Quilts . . . Super-fast and easy quilts to make and each one is totally unique. Jelly roll quilts are made from jelly rolls, what else?

 

Two Jelly Rolls, Fat Eights
and border fabric

So, what is a jelly roll? The term “jelly roll” refers to a rolled bundle of 2.5-inch by width-of-fabric-(typically 40-45-inches) strips of coordinating fabrics. Not all jelly rolls contain the same number of strips – those I’ve seen typically have 20 or 40 strips. The basic jelly roll quilt uses 40 strips.

 

Purchasing pre-cut jelly rolls save time in selecting the fabrics and cutting the strips but one shouldn’t feel they have to purchase the pre-cut jelly rolls . . . dig into your fabric stash and cut your own strips! Two of the jelly roll quilts I’ve made were from strips I cut myself.

 



Isabelle's  Pillow

To make a jelly roll quilt, begin by shuffling your fabric strips to randomize the order – one-way prints won’t matter in the end. Next, sew all the strips together, end to end (2.5-inch ends) – typically these seams are sewn on the diagonal but you can simply sew them together straight if you prefer – if sewing them straight you can add a bit of interest by randomly adding 2.5-inch squares as you attach the strips – if using solid/tonal strips use a print and if using print strips use a solid/tonal for the squares.

 

Once you have sewn together all 40 strips, with or without the squares, cut off approximately 18-inches from one of the end strips – they say to toss it away, but why??? I’ll cut this piece off when I begin and sew it in with the other strips as I go! At this point, if you sewed on the diagonal, you’ll want to trim all those seams down to ¼-inch and press all the seams – your preference here – open or to one side . . . I press mine open, it helps to reduce the bulk later on.



Catherine's Pillow

Now, the real fun begins, seriously! Find both ends, not as easy as it sounds. I usually find one end and then working my way down that looooong strip to find the other end – keeping right sides together as I go, so that the strip won’t be all tangled up when I begin sewing. Got both ends? With right sides together start sewing . . . that really loooong edge together! This is gonna take a while, be patient and take your time, there's no need to pin it. When you get close to the fold, cut it and finish the seam. You’re strip is now 4.5 x 800-inches long! Find the ends again and straighten it out and start sewing this long seam together, won’t take as long as the last seam did. Cut the fold and finish the seam. Repeat this process 5 more times – you should now have a piece that is 32 strips (64.5-inches) long by 50-inches wide – the exact width will depend on whether you sewed your seams on the diagonal or straight and if you added the extra squares in it. To finish – press all your seams one direction. Add a border if you’d like or just binding.

 

So far I’ve made several jelly roll quilts this last year and I have jelly rolls to make 3 or 4 more quilts . . .

 

Elizabeth & Kyle's
Wedding Quilt

The first one I completed was a blue & green tonal – a wedding gift to my oldest daughter & her fiancée, Elizabeth & Kyle (August 2014), the matching mini version (#3), was given to their daughter at the same time. I used the scraps for the bindings. At Thanksgiving I was told Isabelle was “mad at Grandma” I asked why . . . “because I hadn’t made her a pillow to match her wedding quilt!” LOL! With her birthday just about three weeks away I was able to whip up a pillow for her!



Unfinished at this point

The second one I made was during the Jelly Roll Race the group of quilters at my Meeting had. I didn’t particularly like the black/white/purple/ silver metallic colors, but I had found these jelly rolls cheap on sale! BUT, by the time the strips had been sewn together and the border was added it had grown on me! Most of the quilts that had been made that Saturday were displayed in the front of the Meetingroom on Sunday morning during worship. I was told my youngest daughter liked mine - funny as it's not in her colors!



Catherine's Quilt

The fourth was made for my youngest daughter, Catherine, for her March birthday, although I gave it to her before heading back to college in January. Knowing that she loves pink & orange and polka dots when I saw these jelly rolls when I shopping in September I had to get them! I sent  her a picture text and asked “Thoughts?” her reply was “Cute” . . . not that I needed to hear that, they were already in my cart! I also purchased a matching roll of ‘fat-eights’ (9x22-inch pieces of fabric). I made a matching pillow for her birthday. The grey chevron worked perfectly for the borders, except I hadn’t thought of it being directional – so to keep the zigs & zags all running the same direction, I had to piece the top & bottom borders (you have to look really close to see the seams) and to keep the headaches to a minimum I added the polka dot squares in the corners!



Irish Jelly Roll - Unfinished

My fifth jelly roll quilt came about this Spring, I had purchased quite a variety of Irish/St. Patrick’s Day fabrics to make my Ireland Pilgrimage Memory quilt, so after I finally picked a pattern and decided which fabrics I was going to use I thought it might be fun to make a jelly roll quilt using the fabrics I had collected over the last two years! I haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to use for the border on this one yet, so it remains unfinished at this point.

Patriotic Jelly Roll

This Summer I made a Patriotic Jelly Roll quilt from strips I cut from the stash of red, white and blue fabrics I had been collecting. When I got the top done I decided I would finish it at a later date, well that later date was only about four weeks later. I pulled it out, added the borders, quilted it and added the binding. Selling this one to help raise money for a younger cousin who had cancer surgeries last month. 

 

The four jelly roll quilts that I've finished all have 'scrappy borders' - that is I've sewn together pieces of all the fabrics included in that quilt for the binding. I really love that look! My Irish jelly roll quilt will have a scrappy binding as well. The black, white, purple and silver metallic quilts binding will be the same fabric as the blocks in the corner of the borders.


A fun activity among quilters is to participate in a ‘Jelly Roll Race.’ The quilting group at my Meeting held such a race in August of 2014 – those who participated were able to complete the basic jelly roll quilt top during the event. Borders, quilting and binding were added later.

Isabelle's Mini Quilt

Have I mentioned that these quilts are addicting??? I’ve got jelly rolls to make a pastel tonal to which I may add either some print squares or strips to it or just add a print for the borders; bright bandana prints and dark bandana prints which will both have denim borders.

 

Oh, I finished in Second Place at our Jelly Roll Race last August – my prize was a jelly roll! I’m not sure what I’m going to do with that jelly roll yet.
 

 

 










 

"I" is for Integrity . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him
In whose sight I shall find grace.
And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

‘I’ is for Integrity . . . honesty and sincerity in all that you do; consistency in what one says and their actions. Treating others with honesty and respect in our daily lives, the way that we all should live, but many don’t.

Early Friends were known for their integrity in their business dealings – their honesty, fair pricing and the development of the single pricing market system - which lead to their success in business. But, this also resulted in their persecution as it prevented them from swearing oaths – which would have implied that they didn’t tell the truth when they were not under oath.

Integrity, speaking the truth - being consistent in your words and deeds. Treating everyone as equals – always being the same person in all situations and with all that one comes into contact with. Being solid . . . being honest and fair – always. Not standing by but speaking out about injustices seen.

The Golden Rule – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Matthew 7:12

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Irish Chain pattern

‘I’ is for Irish Chain Quilt OR Ireland Pilgrimage Memory Quilt . . . and I’m wondering what took me so long to realize that the perfect quilt pattern for this special memory quilt was the Irish Chain. As usual, I was totally over thinking this project!

I didn't get a chance to purchase any Irish fabric when I was in Ireland and Northern Ireland - except for a few pieces of Irish Linen from Ferguson's and I had thought of putting the small squares into some sort of quilt or wall hanging . . . and when I first decided on doing an Irish Chain I was planning to stitch some of them to the solid blocks and as you will see - that didn't happen.

Nine-patch block

I choose to make a single Irish Chain with a twist or two. The single Irish Chain quilt is made by alternating nine-patch blocks with solid blocks. My fifty-four nine-patch blocks consist of three different fabrics – a green Irish print, white-on-white shamrock print and golden yellow tonal. I had made matching luggage tags from this green Irish print for each of the Friends I would be traveling with, and a few extras. The thirty-eight solid blocks were cut from the white-on-white shamrock print. The yellow tonal blocks represent the ‘pot-of-gold’ at the end of the rainbow . . . which also explains the bright rainbow stripe border! I was a member of the International Order of Rainbow for Girls as a youth member in South Bend and served on the Advisory Board for the Assembly down in Greenwood as an adult . . . so I love rainbows!

Strips sewn together
to make blocks

To simplify making all the nine-patch blocks I cut 2 ½-inch strips of the green, white and yellow fabrics and then sewed the strips together, creating 6 ½-inch by 40-42-inch strips of both green-white-green and white-yellow-white, twice as many of the green sets. From there I cut 2 ½-inch wide sections from these larger strips. Three of these strips were sewn together to create the nine-patch blocks.

The finished quilt!

There are nine photo blocks in the center of my quilt, with photos taken during the Pilgrimage, arranged in chronological order top to bottom and left to right. These blocks are all labeled with the location and the date taken. The top photos were taken in the Republic of Ireland showing our visit to Glendalough, Ireland Yearly Meeting, a ‘title’ block, Blarney Castle (and YES I did kiss the Blarney Stone . . . not that I needed too!) and tea at Cork Meeting House during IYM Sessions. The center photo is the only photo of all seven Friends that were on the Pilgrimage, as we shared dinner together at Bewley’s Hotel in Dublin. The bottom photos were taken in Northern Ireland showing Moyallon Centre (behind Moyallon Meeting House) our 'home-away-from-home' during the second week, scenes from our Black Taxi Tour, a listing of all the Friends that were on the Pilgrimage along with their home Meetings, walking the Wall (around the Walled City) in Derry/Londonderry and the Giant’s Causeway.

Some close-ups of the center photo blocks . . . 

Republic of Ireland
Glendalough - Ireland Yearly Meeting (Cork)
Blarney Castle - Tea at Cork Meeting House

Northern Ireland
Moyallon Centre - Black Taxi Tour
Walking the Wall - Giant's Causeway

The whole group!

I set-up all the photos and the printed blocks on my computer and printed them out on special fabric sheets that I had purchased at JoAnn Fabric Stores on my color printer.

'H' is for How . . .

"And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi,

Let me now go to the field,

and glean ears of corn after him

In whose sight I shall find grace.

And she said unto her, Go, my daughter."

Ruth 2:2  KJV

 

‘H’ is for How . . . I read a Facebook post from a Friend a couple of weeks ago and the word “how” just seemed to jump out at me and being that I had just published my ‘G’ post I began to wonder if this is what I should blog about for ‘H.’ So I jotted it down on a napkin, hey it was handy, and then some other thoughts started to follow:

        How can I/we do it?

        How can I/we get it done?

        How about trying . . . . ?   OR

        How about this?   OR

        How about that?

        How about I/we stop and listen?

                Listen to each other . . .

                Listen to the Spirit . . .

                Listen to God . . .

So, how do we do it? Through the various committees and boards – within the Monthly Meetings, Area Meetings, Yearly Meetings and the other various Quaker organizations.

 

Issues may go straight to the next business meeting or be given straight to a committee or board to work on. No matter whether the issue is within the Monthly Meeting, Area Meeting, Yearly Meeting or other Quaker body there are some issues may take several months or more to reach a resolution – to move ahead or not.

 

Along the way we also have personal issues that we’re dealing with and in doing so ask a lot of the same questions and go through the same process of discernment while seeking clearness.

 

Discernment and clearness, whether personal or corporate, is not always easy – BUT it’s part of the Quaker process and that's how Quakers do it. As individuals we take time discerning and seeking clearness, not rushing into making decisions. Corporately it’s part of the Clerks job to look for consensus of the Committee, Board or Meeting – not always an easy task to do.

 

One thing Friends know is that the Quaker process is not quick.

 

 

I’ll leave you with one more “How” . . .

          How many Quakers does it take to change a light bulb????

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‘H’ is for Half-Square Triangles and Hexagonal and how I made them, sorry that just snuck in there.

 

Half-square triangles are used in a number of quilts and quilt block patterns. Two half-square triangles make up a square, usually a light & a dark fabric are paired up forming a square with a diagonal seam – this is the most used pieced unit in quilting.

 

These blocks can be pieced from triangles but those are tricky to work with due to the bias cut of the one side. An easier and quicker way is to make two half-square triangle blocks at one time - take a square of each of your two fabrics (the same size), place them right-sides together, draw a diagonal line from corner to corner and sew a straight line ¼-inch on either side of the line you drew. Cut along the drawn line, either press the seams open or to one side according to the pattern instructions.  You now have two half-square triangle blocks. This method is so much easier than cutting triangles and trying to sew them together without stretching the bias cut edges.

Half-Square Triangle
Table Topper

The table topper pictured here was made several years ago - and for some reason I hand-pieced and hand-quilted it. Go ahead and call me crazy! It may have been because that made it 'portable' and I was able to work on it without being tied down to my sewing machine. I made another one just like it, but used a cream tonal in place of the floral print. I just attached the binding to this one, have no clue why I didn't do it sooner. The other one is pieced and is ready to be quilted, will be hand-quilting it as well. This is a really quick and easy table topper to make.

 

 

One of the
triangular wedges

I’ve had the pattern for this Hexagonal Table Topper since early 2011, it was a free pattern put out by JoAnn Fabric Stores dated 3/20/2011. I’ve wanted to make it, but never felt that I had the ‘right’ fabrics to make it – the finished piece pictured on the front of the pattern appeared to be made from 1930’s reproduction prints – and I didn’t have any . . . this Spring I started looking for fabrics that gave that feel. That being said, I didn’t make it until mid-June 2015.

 

Hexagonal Table Topper

It took several hours to cut out all the 60-degree triangles needed – 162 from the 16 prints and 54 from the solid cream for a total of 216 triangles! This process made easier by cutting 2 ½-inch strips of each fabric and using a 60-degree triangle template. I spent around eight hours over two days laying out the six large wedges, trying to mix-up the prints and then sewing them together row by row – around an hour and fifteen minutes for each wedge. So much time spent trying to match-up all those points.

 

Along the way I took photos and shared them on my Facebook page, where F/friends and family left comments and waited to see the finished piece.

 

 

I could have also posted examples of quilts and quilt blocks made with hexagon shaped pieces, but I did that in my ‘G’ post with two examples of Grandma’s Flower Garden mini-quilts, so I won’t do that. I will share some other hexagon shaped table toppers with you in another post.