"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.