Weddings and Baseballs

Three years ago at the beginning of June my stepdaughter got married. It was the weekend before we went to Scotland and France for three weeks. She and her intended met playing softball. In keeping with their relationship, the wedding ceremony took place on a baseball diamond at a local community centre. The entire reception area was decorated in keeping with that theme. The predinner snacks were baseball field nachos, popcorn, mini hotdogs. The colour scheme was their favourite baseball team.

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They are lovely people and it was a lovely wedding. The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome. We had a good time. I pray they have a long, healthy, and happy marriage.

I asked my stepdaughter well in advance what the colour scheme was going to be, she informed me it was the colours for the Toronto Blue Jays. Red, white and blue quilt coming up. I was a little surprised when we arrived and the coulour scheme had changed. Oh well. At least the colours of the quilt are the home team.

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Voila, a baseball diamond, red representing the players on the field. They loved it.

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Isaiah 62:5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Post Christmas – PreChristmas

I’m only a year late posting last Christmas’ quilt and realizing it is time to start thinking about this year’s Christmas projects.  This fabric was another find I couldn’t leave behind.  It was a layer cake I bought at the IQS in Gimli, MB.  The result was a lap quilt to donate to the church’s annual bazaar.

 

Alas, it did not sell.  I gifted it to a wonderful and faithful member of the congregation.  She does not get out to Sunday morning worship any longer.  She has type of dementia that she handles fairly well by leaving post-in notes everywhere as a reminder.  She would call me Mondays after she had attended church with appreciative words for the sermon.  Not long after she would call again, same reason.  And then again, and again, until she remembered to throw out the post-in note reminding her to call me to tell me she appreciated my sermon.  It was a blessing.

I gave her this quilt at the end of the bazaar, just as she was preparing to leave.  During her ride home she mentioned to the driver someone had given her a lovely quilt.  The driver answered, “Yes, I know, the minister gave it to you.”

“Did she?!  How thoughtful of her.  A good preacher and generous too!  Too bad I won’t remember to thank her.”

Psalm 119:49  Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.

For the Love of Fabric

As much as I try to convince myself otherwise, I am way beyond being a fabric collector.  I see something I like and I buy it, without thought of what it might become, or when I might get around to using it.

Here is another case in point.  I really, really, liked this fabric.  It was the combinations of colours that caught my eye.  They spoke Christmas to me.  Luckily, I belonged to a small gift exchange in the congregation and I made a table runner and four place mats for the church secretary.  She greatly dislikes birds, but assured me these were ‘okay.’

Luke 12:24  Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Tired and Retired

 

How does time pass so quickly?  It has been over two years since I have completed a quilt?  If you could see the pile beside the ironing board you might wonder, “How that could be?”  I have at least a half dozen tops that need binding, or sandwiching, or quilting.  Big Sigh!  I have been much too involved with work and just can’t seem to carve out time for hobbies.  I am tired.

May 2018 a colleague retired as the Executive Director of an important mission in the city and accepted a part time position as the Minister of Word and Sacrament for a rapidly growing indigenous congregation.  They refer to themselves as Oji-Irish, walking a blended spiritual journey of Indigenous and Christian belief and ceremony.  A person of great strength and immeasurable compassion.  To honour the occasion I designed this stole and it was gifted at a regular meeting of presbytery.  The colours of the Dakota Star and the cross are those of the Medicine Circle.  There are four bear paw blocks at the bottom of the stole.  These represent the individual as a member of  the Bear Clan. The eagle fabric on the back was chosen as it is part of the recipient’s name.   I know God’s Spirit will rest always upon them and richly bless their ministry.

Jeremiah 6:16 – This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

In the Bulb

At the beginning of November, with the church bazaar approaching fast, I embarked on designing a nine patch quilt.  Something quick and simple to donate for sale.  I had a jelly cake roll that would fit the project perfectly.  This is the end result.

The layout reminds me of a map.  I added two other fabrics from my stash to make the quilt crib size.  The quilt was priced at $125.00, I donated my time, only wanting the cost of the fabric.  A deal!  It’s still available.

In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

Strength for Today

It has been a trying year.  Too many prominent members of the congregation have died with difficult circumstances surrounding their deaths.  It is emotional fuel for continued conflict and hurt within the leadership.  Too much personal anxiety around mental health issues in immediate family members, inheritance details, feelings of isolation, and decreasing hours of daylight has given birth to a silent litany of “I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care” as a way to cope.

I’ve been quilting, constantly, but not finishing a single project.  I’ve started three major pieces in the last month, all with deadlines.  I get almost finished, pull it down off the design board and start something else.  I contemplate whether my inability to finish mirrors my inability to let grief go.  Daily I begin by praying I will have enough emotional resources to get through today.

A couple of weeks ago the widow of one of the recently deceased members celebrated her 65th birthday.  Attempted to celebrate.  It has been very difficult for her.  The first anniversaries after a loved one dies typically is, the first Thanksgiving, the first birthday, the wedding anniversary, the baptism of a grandchild.  Christmas is going to be bleak.  I managed to finish this quilt and gift it to her.  I named it “Strength for Today, Hope for tomorrow.”  A line from the powerful hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness.  I pray it brings her comfort and some measure of peace.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Lamentations 3:22-24   The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

And Two Shall Become One

Yesterday was the first wedding I officiated in my new congregation.  It was a long and lovely day.  The bride looked beautiful, the groom handsome, and both, very nervous.  Both are quite shy, hating to be the centre of attention.  Their vows were barely a whisper.  They got through it and the second highlight was the piper leading them out of the church.
I had been working with them towards this point for over a year.  It gave me time to sew them a quilt as a wedding gift.
I designed it with two different blocks, Bridal Path and Honeymoon, using the colours they chose for the wedding.  Repeating hearts was a theme through their engagement, only made sense to quilt it with hearts.  The Quilty Guilt did a lovely job.1 Corinthians 13:4-7
⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Christmas/Easter/Communion/All Saints’/Transfiguration/Baptism Banners

48″ x60″

This is how far behind I am.  We did manage to get ten banners completed in time for Christmas.  We hung and dedicated them the first Sunday following the celebration of Christ’s birth.  That would be January 29th!  They have been hanging in the sanctuary up until last Sunday when they were replaced with the Lent banners.  I know it was a week past the beginning of Lent but we celebrated Holy Communion on March 9th, white and gold being appropriate in that case.

They were all a variation of log cabin blocks done in yellow and set in white.

 

Eight of them were 36″ x 48″ and two were 48″x 60″.  Each quilter could place the star and quilt their banner as they pleased.  When it came time to switch them out I finally got out the camera to take and post the pictures as I promised I would.

Of course for at least one of my banners I had to do something entirely different.  I wanted a project with more of a modern feel.  I absolutely love it.  There are a few people in the congregation that aren’t as impressed with it as I am.  After all, breaking with tradition is a difficult thing to do in the church. 😉  Resistance to change seems to be a defining characteristic of Christians.  There are lots of jokes about it.

How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb? — We don’t change!

Although, my favourite is, because I am — How many Calvinists does it take to change a lightbulb? — None, the lights will go on and off at predestined times.

And my second favourite, because I am — How many Presbyterians does it take to change a lightbulb? — Well, it requires a least five committees to study and review the need and procedure behind changing the lightbulb, each committee represented by at least half a dozen people, so — 30?

I wonder when the Christ returns and there is a new heaven and a new earth if any one will want to be part of it because they have never ‘done’ it that way before …

The ‘modern’ banner is still my favourite.

Isaiah 43:19  I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Meeting the Deadline

The Mystery Quilt is quilted, bound, washed and in the dryer on a very low setting.  Tomorrow night it will be one of the silent auctions at a fundraiser for youth.  The binding was hand stitched on this morning as I watched the Canada – USA men’s semi-final hockey game at the Sochi Olympics.  Our boys dominated.   It was a good game, worthy of being a final game for gold.  Our women won gold in hockey against the USA yesterday.  A nail biter, we were trailing 2-0 with four minutes left in the third.  They tied it up with less than a minute to go, and scored a beauty to win in overtime.

A seminary classmate recently became a Canadian citizen.  We exchanged comments on facebook the day of his swearing in.  He said he felt conflicted over which country to cheer for since he now has dual citizenship.  It got me to thinking about loyalty and what binds us.  He has been an American all his life.  We graduated from seminary at the same time.  He had married while he was studying and recently he and his wife were blessed with a beautiful baby girl.  Are relationships the glue, the possibilities provided through education opportunities, the ability to build a good life, freedom to make choices, love?  What is it that forms and shapes our loyalty and love for country.  Is it nostalgia, because this is the place of first breaths and discovery of the world’s wonder, the taste of fresh wild strawberries, the sound of the robin’s praise from the top of the maple tree bright with spring green leaves?  Is it learning the national anthem through a daily repetition with classmates, to swim in clean, cool waters, to fall asleep to rain’s gurgle and drip on the roof?  What is it that spawns patriotism?

Proverbs personifies loyalty and faithfulness.  There appears to be some chance that they are fickle, able to forsake.  Somehow we are to bind them to ourselves, absorb them into our being and live them for life abundant.

In life’s marvelous quirks and twists, I flip over the corner of the quilt for its portrait and I am reminded of maple leaves.  “God keep our land.”

Proverbs 3:3  Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.

 

Ordination Stole – Ordinary Time

A dear friend of mine was ordained for ministry yesterday.  It was a lovely service, she was very emotional and excited.  So it is for those of us set aside to be a Minister of Word and Sacraments.  It is also a little daunting, because we take on the responsibility to bring the Word of the Lord to the people of God.

I finished the stole, and she was delighted with it.  Coincidentially the minister that gave the charge used the words of Micah 6:8.  I had quilted those very words into the design of the stole!