The Ministry of Tissues and Tissue Covers . . .

"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 



Package of tissues

Before I went to Friends World Committee of Consultation World Plenary in Pisac, Peru in January of 2016 I decided that I wanted to make something to take with me that I could give to Friends I met at the Plenary. Nothing big, just a little something that they could take home with them.

I had seen several patterns for making small fabric covers for the travel sized tissues and I thought that would be perfect . . . OK, maybe not so much for the gentlemen, but the ladies could use them. I made about 80 or so from many different fabrics and even sewed a label inside with my name, Monthly Meeting, Yearly Meeting and FWCC World Plenary, Pisac, Peru 2016 on them.



 

A sampling of tissue covers

The tissue covers and tissues were a big hit! There were several Friends, from around the world that I knew were going to be there that I wanted to give one to, the rest - given out randomly to Friends that touched me in some way - Friends in my Home Group, Friends I had conversations with that I found very deep and touching, Friends that I passed and just wanted to share with. 



One of those new Friends that I met in Pisac, Peru who came from England has become a really good F/friend of mine. We connected on Facebook and chat both publically and privately there. When she found out that I would be coming to England this summer for YMG (Yearly Meeting Gathering) she said I needed to bring tissues and covers with me. OK, easy enough.



Gallon bag of 80 tissue covers

I made time during the year to stop and cut out fabric, stitch the covers, make labels with my name, Monthly Meeting, Yearly Meeting and YMG 2017 on them and sewed them in the seams. I made around 80 covers and went to the store and purchased the tissues to go inside.

I've been at YMG for five days now and I find that I have passed out between 30-40 tissues and covers to Friends. Friends I've only known through Facebook or the Quaker Alphabet Blog, a Friend I met this summer whilst taking an online course through Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre and Friends that I've met this week and just had a conversation with.

The first three recipients at YMG were the Clerks. Sunday evening after the business session had ended, I made my way down to the Clerk's table where the Clerk and the two assistant Clerks were standing. I put my tote on the table and took out three packages of tissues, handing one to each of the Clerks . . . the Clerk made a comment about expecting more tears, which I didn't quite understand. I had received the email from the YMG the day before I left to come across the Pond which encouraged Friends to bring something to YMG to share/give to other Friends. I explained that I did not make these after receiving the email that they had already been made and packed. Each Clerk was then able to pick-out the cover they'd like to have.

The Friends in the group I'm with this week got tissues and covers. Friends that have blessed me with conversations have received them. Friends I've seen as I've walked from here to there have received them. Friends I've been in workshops with have also received tissues and covers. This evening, several young Friends also received packages of tissues and covers . . . it just seemed like the thing to do!

Tissues in a cover

I attended a workshop Tuesday afternoon, put on by one of the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre tutors on ministry. On the way back to my room and dinner I stopped at the corner, where two Friends were talking - one from England and one from Bolivia . . . I handed them and another Friend tissues and then offered them tissue covers for them.

As I said earlier, there is no rhyme or reason as to who choose to give the tissues and tissue covers to. Sometimes I choose Friends that I know or have known . . . but most of the time it's just random - call it a random act of kindness if you will . . . this evening I've seen it as a ministry. YIKES!!!! There I go using that "m" word again!

The faces on the Friends that I share the tissues and covers with are priceless, as I hand them the package of tissues first and then dig the bag of covers out of my tote. This brings joy to my heart!

So, last year Friends from around the world received the gift of a small package of tissues and a tissue cover from me . . . this year it's Friends at YMG in England - British Friends, Scottish Friends, a Bolivian Friend, a Friend from New Zealand, a Friend from Canada, a mother & her daughter from Germany, a Friend from Finland and some American Friends.

I traveled to England in part not to merely attend YMG as a visitor, but to participate as fully as I could . . .

I came to YMG to learn . . .

I came to YMG to share with Friends . . .

I've been blessed by Friends here this week . . .

Who's next????

How does this ministry touch those who are on the receiving end????

Where will this ministry go next?????

'N' is for Numbers . . .

"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



‘N’ is for Numbers . . . it’s all about numbers!

Friends use numbers in place of names for the months of the year as well as for the days of the week. So, instead of saying today is Monday many (not all) Friends would say today is Second Day, and instead of saying June Friends would say Sixth Month.

This can be traced back to the use of numbers in the Bible – one example is when the women went to tomb, the Bible says they went on the First Day.

We talk a lot about other numbers . . . the number of members in the Monthly/Local Meeting and the Yearly Meeting. The number of members on committees – having enough members to get the work done, but not too many, enough so that no one member or group of members are overly burdened with too much work to do.

Numbers . . .

How many do we need for the program/event to go forward?

How many campers can we handle during any one week of camp?

How many campers will attend Adventure Camp?

How many Counselors and CIT’s (Counselor in Training) do we need for the week?

How many game stations will we need?

The use of numbers for the months and days of the week just happens and it only affects non-Quakers . . . trying to figure out what we’re talking about, sometimes.

A lack in the number of members in the Meeting or Yearly Meeting and/or in committees is a concern that we would spend time worrying over.

Another number that Friends might worry over would be how much money is in the treasury/bank account. How much money is coming in? How much is needed to cover our budget?

Many times we spend way too much time worrying about the numbers . . . not just as a faith body but personally as well.

Take a few minutes this week to think about all the numbers in your life and in the life of your Meeting/Church. How many of those numbers do you take for granted?

Just for fun . . . How many Quakers does it take to change a light bulb?

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Floral print with solid purple
made for my oldest daughter

‘N’ is for Nine-Patch . . . Traditionally, nine-patch was one of the first blocks taught to new quilters . . . and as it turns out, other than the quilt I made back when I was in college (embroidered blocks), the first quilt block I was taught, by a couple of the quilting Friends in my Meeting, was a nine-patch!

Very simply put a nine-patch is a block that consists of nine equal squares, with the squares sewn into three rows of three squares each. This quilt block is very traditional and versatile. You can make your squares, and thus your blocks, any size you want! Cut your squares 1.5-inches and make tiny 3-inch blocks . . . OR cut your squares 10.5-inches and make large 30-inch blocks!

Different patterns seem to immerge as you mix light and dark fabrics together and solids and prints. If using a larger print – you might ‘fussy cut’ those squares or use that print just in the center of your nine-patch. Nine-patch blocks are fun and easy to cut and make – there’s nothing difficult about them. Easy enough to piece by hand or machine – the choice is yours.

My first nine-patch block

As I said earlier, the first block I was taught was a nine-patch by some Friends in my Meeting that was during Vacation Bible School. Our Christian Education Committee thought it might be good to add some classes for the adults/parents to participate in (a way to increase our attendance). One of those classes was quilting. Each participant was given 18 squares of fabric – 9 print squares and 9 solid squares. We stitched them together by hand, which took a couple of days – even taking it home each night to work on it. After our two nine-patch blocks were stitched together, marked a quilting design in each of the solid blocks, basted the nine-patch to a piece of batting and then quilted the design. The two blocks were then hand-stitched together and stuffed to make a pillow. Well, I knew I had some of the print fabric in my stash at home and I decided I wanted to make two pillows instead of one and to use pillow inserts instead of batting. Well, I have my two nine-patch blocks quilted and ready for the backings . . . all I need to do now is to put my hands on the print fabric I have, which I’ve seen it a time or two over the years, and finish my two pillows.

Pair of nine-patch pillows
High School graduation gift to a friend

I’ve made several nine-patch pillows since, and given them away as gifts, these are usually 12-inch pillows – some just as is and some with borders and eyelet lace ruffles. As you can see, all of the nine-patches here use only two fabrics.

I’ve also made two quilts that have nine-patch blocks in them. You can check them out here:

http://ishallfindgrace.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-is-for-affirmation.html

and here:

http://ishallfindgrace.blogspot.com/2015/07/i-is-for-integrity.html.

Both of these are quilts I made for myself and use.

This post is truly ALL about numbers . . . 

Pair of nine-patch pillows
Graduation gift to a Friend

"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.

'G' is for Giving . . .

"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



‘G’ is for Giving . . . What we give and how we give it takes on many different forms – when thinking in terms of giving to the Meeting or Church Friends and non-Friends first thoughts would probably be the giving of their tithes & offerings BUT . . . it’s not just about giving our money, we also need to remember to give of ourselves. As a whole, Friends are good at doing both – some are better with their tithing, others giving of themselves and still others do both equally well.

 

 

Giving of our tithes & offerings . . . financially supporting the Meeting/Church and its ministries. The Bible mentions tithing – giving one-tenth of what one has to the Church, in the form of money or crops. The a lesson I heard more than once in Sunday School and Church when I was a child - that tithing is an obligation/responsibility of being a member of the Church.

 

Whether your Meeting/Church collects tithes by passing an offering plate or basket during worship, you drop it in a locked box or mail it in – your tithes are important to your Meeting/Church. Throughout the year there are various special offerings – in my Meeting we take up special offerings for retired ministers, Gideon’s, Churches in Mission (food pantry) and for the various mission projects supported by the Meeting/Church.

 

 

Giving of ourselves . . . we’re also asked to give our time, talents and gifts. Giving and doing for our local & yearly Meetings, our communities and for various missions around the world. While this doesn’t take the place of giving our tithes it’s still important that we share our gifts and talents with others.

 

Giving our time, gifts & talents – through serving on committee and boards, helping out with special projects and events, teaching Sunday School/First Day classes, helping during Meeting for Worship, serving as CIT’s (Counselor-In-Training) and Counselors at camp, helping with VBS (Vacation Bible School), youth ministry, helping make applebutter, crafts & working at annual bazaars/craft sales, mission trips & service and the list goes on.

 

Giving what you can where you are, that’s what God asks us to do. Knowing or finding out what your gifts & talents are and using those to benefit the Meeting/Church and your community - helping to grow God’s kingdom. The other side of giving is receiving – it’s been said that “it’s better to give than to receive.”

 

 

As I was working on this post I ran across a piece I wrote in the Fall of 2013 just a few months after I returned from a Pilgrimage to Ireland/Northern Ireland. That piece talked about giving – how and what I was able give to my Irish Friends. It was about how that giving made me feel, how I was blessed in the giving and sharing during that journey. This was a huge part of my Pilgrimage experience.

 

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‘G’ is for Grandma’s Flower Garden – quilts made from hexagons, also known as Flower Garden, French Bouquet or French Rose Garden quilts, a popular quilt pattern since the mid-1920. Early quilts made with hexagons were commonly made using the English Paper piecing method which is different from current paper piecing and is done by hand and not machine. English quilters call all designs made from hexagons honeycomb quilts and the hexagons are referred to as sixes.

 

Today some quilters still use English Paper Piecing and many quilt shops here in the U.S. teach this method, while other quilters trace around a hexagon shaped template. A ‘solid’ template (tracing around the outside of the template and using that as her cutting line) is used if the quilter will be piecing her piece on a machine and a ‘window’ template (where the middle of the template is cut away and the quilter traces around both the inside & outside of the template – using the inside line as her stitching line and the outside line as her cutting line) if she plans to piece by hand.

 

Grandma’s Flower Garden quilts are made by adding rows of hexagons around a central hexagon – the ones that I’ve seen have been from one row to three rows around the central hexagon. A quilter will make all of her ‘flowers’ before she begins connect them into the finished quilt top. These ‘flowers’ are then connected with a row of white or green which create a path between the ‘flowers.’ The path can be a single row of hexagons to connect the ‘flowers’ or more – giving a different look to the finished quilt. The size of the hexagons used has varied over the years from an inch or less across to several inches.

 

 



Pastel "Grandma's Flower
Garden" mini-quilt

The pastel and white Grandma’s Flower Garden quilt pictured here was made from 2 1/2-inch hexagons, using a ‘window’ template. I was only going to make one or two ‘flowers,’ but as you can see I made a few more than that. When I started connecting the ‘flowers’ I decided I didn’t like so many white hexagons in-between so I auditioned (tried) several different colors and liked the peach color the best so I traced and cut out peach hexagons – this created white ‘flowers’ among the pastel ‘flowers.’ There are a total of 215 hexagons in this piece.



Traditionally these quilts are either quilted in-the-ditch or by stitching a quarter-inch inside each hexagon – I chose to quilt mine using the in-the-ditch method by hand. The lime green binding seemed to really finish this mini-quilt. Start to finish, I spent 15 days tracing the hexagons, cutting them out, piecing them together, quilting it and adding the binding. Finished size is 14.5X35-inches.

 

 

Purple "Grandma's Flower
Garden" mini-quilt

I had originally cut out hexagons from a small purple print but put those aside after seeing the etched butterfly prints that I had. After finishing the pastel etched butterfly quilt I was sitting around one night and picked up the purple print hexagons that I had cut and stitched that block together . . . which lead me to cut out more hexagons and make this second mini Grandma’s Flower Garden quilt.

 

This time off-setting the 'flowers' and used a shade of green for the path. I also added a border before adding the binding. Again I hand quilted this one 'in-the-ditch.' This piece was made with - 2 ½-inch hexagons and measures 17.25X21-inches. There are a total of 95 hexagons in this piece.



 

I remember my mother hand-piecing a Grandmother’s Flower Garden for me using leftover scraps of fabric from clothes she had made for me. She worked on this while my brothers and I took our swimming lessons at the YMCA in Mishawaka, Indiana. She sat in the bleachers sewing the pieces together by hand. I know she had quite a stack of ‘flowers’ pieced but she never got it put together. I have no idea what happened to all those ‘flowers’ after my mom died in 1994 – expect that my step-father threw them in the trash . . . not knowing what they were.

 

 

As I sat at McDonald’s quilting the pastel etched butterfly mini quilt, I had two customers come up and ask me if it was for sale, they wanted to buy it! Well, no it’s not for sale. I was able to make this totally from fabrics in my stash so it really didn’t cost me anything but my time . . . and I don’t think there’s anyone out there that would be willing to pay me for all the time I put into making this.

      

'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!