'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????

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

‘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.