'F' is for Facing Bench . . .

"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

 



Cork Meeting - Ireland

‘F’ is for Facing Bench . . . In Quaker Meetinghouses there is a section of benches or seats that are identified as being the ‘head’ or front of the room. These benches or seats are usually slightly elevated or there is a slight difference in their appearance from others in the Meetingroom and are known by Friends as the facing bench/benches. Traditionally those sitting on the facing bench are the ‘Clerk,’ ‘Pastor,’ ‘ministers’ or ‘elders’ of the Meeting and are considered spiritually gifted.

“The Presence in the Midst” painted in 1916 by J. Doyle Penrose, a well-known Quaker artist born in the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland but lived most of his life in Watford, England, shows the elders on the facing bench and a separate gallery for ministers – the raised gallery is behind the facing bench which is on the floor. These Friends are gathered in the silence of worship and are listening for Christ - the presence of Christ in the center of this Quaker Meeting for Worship can be seen.

 

Today the use of the facing bench varies among Friends – in ‘traditional’ Meetings those benches or seats are reserved for specific elders of the Meeting, while ‘non-traditional’ Meetings may allow anyone to sit there or committees may take turns sitting on the facing benches. Unless you know the customs of a Meeting you’re visiting its best not to sit there, unless you have been invited to by a member of the Meeting.

 

Mooresville Friends Meeting

In my Meeting, there are normally three Friends that sit on the facing bench – our Pastor, a member of Christian Ministry & Council (CM&E) Committee – the committee that gives oversight to our Meeting for Worship (considered the ‘elders’) and the Friend who leads our singing. On occasion there might also be a special speaker sitting there as well or in place of our Pastor.

 

Care should be taken by the Meeting when nominating and approving Friends for their Christian Ministries & Council (CM&E) Committees. As the ‘elders’ of the Meeting they should live their lives in such a manner as to represent our faith and our Meetings in a good light.

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‘F’ is for Fabric Boxes and Folded Star Hot Pads. There are lots of quilt blocks and quilts that I could have featured here, but my goal here is to share a variety of different quilted projects with you.

 

Rainbow stripe

Fabric boxes – I found several versions for these cute little boxes but they all seem to have the same basic instructions, the only real difference was in the dimensions of the fabric pieces and how deep the tucks are in the corners. Basically make a quilt sandwich (layer two squares of fabric – the outer fabric & the lining fabric with a piece of batting), stitch through all three layers around the outer edge – leaving an opening to turn right side out and turn right sides out. Then quilt the square as desired. Fold and mark the corners. The last step is to fold the tips down and sew on buttons.

 

Aunt Carolyn's
Ladybug box

I’ve made about 30 of these little boxes in all sorts of fabric combinations – the 10 lucky girls and CIT (Counselor-in-Training) that get assigned to my cabin up at Quaker Haven Camp next month will all get to choose one to take home with them! A couple of weeks ago I gave one to one of my Aunts when I saw her – she had made a comment when she saw the first one I made, and so I made a special one just for her!

Daisy Box Trio

 

Peppermint
Folded Star

Folded Star Hot Pads – described by some as a form of fabric origami they might look rather intimidating to most, they’re not difficult to make – just a bit time consuming. These amazing hot pads are created by folding and layering fabrics – a technique that was common in the 1980’s. It takes a lot of fabric to make a single eight-inch hot pad. They can be made larger and used as table toppers, table runners, placemats or used in clothing.

Holly Folded Star

 

I’ve found instructions for making them round or square, with round being the most common. Traditionally these are hand-stitched, however I have seen a few tutorials online showing how they can be done on the sewing machine instead . . . I’ll stick with making mine by hand.

 





One of the
Folded Stars
taken to Ireland

I think I made my first folded star hot pad in July 2008 at Church along with my youngest daughter (who was 12 years old at the time) – she gave the one she made that day to her Grandma for her birthday that September. If I were to guess has to how many I’ve made over the years I expect that number would be close to 100 - for our USFW (United Society of Friends Women) Fall Bazaar; USFWI (United Society of Friends Woman International) Triennial; gifts for – Christmas, wedding showers & weddings and I even donated four to The Market Place for the Irish Quaker Faith in Action fund-raising sale (mission work) when I participated in Ireland Yearly Meeting while on Pilgrimage in July 2013 along with several other items I had made.

 

'Ants' Folded Star
Hot Pad Cub Scout
Pack fundraiser

Both the fabric boxes and the folded star hot pads work up very quickly, are easily personalized and make awesome gifts! Did I mention that they are both rather addicting?????? In a good way, of course!

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

'E' is for Equality . . .

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

 

‘E’ is for Equality . . . a Quaker belief that all people are equal in the eyes of God. That no one person is above anyone else – no one is better than anyone else. Among Friends everyone has an equal voice or say in the decision making process. Friends believe that we’ve all been created equal by God and that there is ‘that of God in everyone.’

Friends don't tend to use ‘titles,' such as Mr., Mrs. and such when addressing one another – Friends address everyone by their first name or first & last name only. I’ve even known Friends to just address another simply as ‘Friend.’ I found that this was based on their understanding that there is no hierarchy, based on one’s standing – whether that is age, position or wealth. I expect that my parents and grandparents are all rolling over in their graves over this - they brought me up to respect my elders. Imagine the fits they're having over my children and granddaughter calling everyone by their first names!

There are other ways that Friends expressed their belief in equality, one is  ‘hat honor,’ the practice of taking one’s hat off or bowing to another person. This particular practice isn’t practiced now like it once was.

Men & women are equals – both can be found in various ministry roles among Friends. Friends played important roles in the anti-slavery movement, many freeing their slaves and supporting the ‘Underground Railroad’ – becoming conductors and turning their homes in to ‘safe houses.’ Friends worked for prison reform, and are still very active in this ministry. Treating all people equally and with dignity – regardless of race, gender, age, orientation, religion, job or rank, etc.. I suppose that one could, in some cases, substitute the word inclusive in place of equality.

What other ways do Friends practice equality? Is it easy? Are there other ways that that we can practice equality as Friends? As individuals? As a Meeting?

 

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‘E’ is for Echo quilting and Embroidery . . . a couple of different quilting ideas to share with you in this post – echo quilting and embroidery. Both can be used to actually ‘quilt’ the quilt, hold the layers together, and both add some ‘decoration’ to the finished quilt.

Echo quilting is when your quilting lines follow the shape of the applique or design. It can be done with a regular presser foot, a free motion foot or a walking foot – this depends on what you’re quilting and personal preference. Echo quilting can be done any distance from the design – from 1/4–inch to 1-inch distance, the distance would be depend on the design you’re quilting around and the look you’re wanting to achieve. It’s like the ripple effect when you toss a pebble into a pond or lake.



'Echo' quilting

The example I have is a pillow that I helped my youngest daughter make this last Christmas as a gift. She sent me a picture that she found online and asked me to help her make it. I created the pattern, grabbed fabrics from my stash for her to choose from and helped guide her in piecing it. The echo quilting just sorta happened - the photo she sent me was quilted with 'stippling,' which I haven't done. To keep the stitching as straight as possible, I marked stitching lines with a disappearing marker on the fabric. The echo quilting is done around the tree. She picked a simple wave stitch to do the quilting.



'Crazy Quilt' stitching

And then there are quilts that contain embroidery like the Crazy Quilts I talked about in my ‘C’ post. Back when I was in college I purchased a package of quilt squares to embroider with some animals on it – the plan was to embroider them and sew them together to make a baby quilt for one of the girls on my floor that was pregnant, I didn’t get it done in time for her but I did finish it and was able to dig it out and use it with all four of my kids several years later. Disappointed that I couldn’t find it to share with you all here . . . my first quilt.

Embroidery can be a part of quilting stitches or designs stitched in the blocks OR the embroidery can be the quilt. It can be done by machine or by hand. I have a couple more ‘quilts’ to share with you that are embroidered . . . actually they are quilt patterns that I have done in ‘counted cross-stitch.’ I have a counted cross-stitch computer program now that creates the patterns for me - from a photo if need be.



'Wedding Ring' quilt
in Counted
Cross Stitch

The first embroidered quilt I made was a Wedding Ring and I believe I made that for one  my cousins. I had a pattern that was two rings by two rings and was for used on the front of a wedding photo album. I liked it, but it was way too small for what I wanted. So, I made several copies of the chart cut a few of those up and taped them together until I had created a new pattern that was big enough. I then decided to add a border to it and some ‘binding’ to create the illusion of a quilt. The finished cross-stitched quilt is then matted and framed. I made quite a few of these over the years, choosing floss to match the wedding colors. One was black, grey and white with red binding and another was peach, mint green and white. The one I have here was done with dark orange spice, light tangerine, very dark avocado green and ultra-dark coffee brown with dark garnet for the binding. This ended up being one of those 'addictions,' that is the first one was so much fun and turned out so well that I made quite a few of them as wedding gifts for family members.



'Single Irish Chain'
quilt in Counted
Cross Stitch

Second is an Irish Chain quilt pattern that I did using pastel variegated and white embroidery floss. A Single Irish Chain quilt is made up of alternating Nine-Patch blocks solid blocks. I experimented a bit using the variegated floss instead of a solid color when I made this one. Stitching a row of white and two rows of variegated around the edge is like putting borders on a fabric quilt.