'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.

 

 

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

 

‘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.