Matthew 1 - Baby Jesus Quiet Book Page

Matthew chapter 1 lists Joseph's genealogy and records the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary.

Memory Verse: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”” Matthew 1:21.

Materials needed to create the Baby Jesus quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used white
• Betty Lukens Felt book 011 Life of Jesus as a Boy available at Koorong (not an affiliate link)
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Cut out all the pieces for this page and the page itself from the Betty Lukens set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.

Sew the gates onto the doorposts by the sides.

Sew the Betty Lukens page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside the pocket (or better yet - play with them)!

Finished!

Sew the Betty Lukens scene onto your page along three sides
to form a pocket for piece storage

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Matthew 1 - Learn about Joseph's lineage and how Jesus was born to the virgin Mary
• Imaginative Play - put Baby Jesus to bed
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

I left the wise men out of the cover picture as they are not mentioned till
Matthew 2 - didn't think about it until after taking the photos that
actually the shepherds are not in this chapter either!!

Read the Chapter

Matthew 1

Devotional

I often think about the fact that without sin entering the world you and I would never have existed. Should we be grateful?

In everyone's lineage there is going to be some kind of sexual sin... I'm not sure about my lineage, but with almost 6000 years of history there has got to be quite a lot.

Adam and Eve could have had children without sin entering the World - but would WE have existed, or someone else... there are so many eggs and sperm around with slightly different DNA. If everything hadn't gone pear shaped, there would have been different combinations made, and plenty of people, but not specifically me.

When I explain my view to people, they often think I am saying that sex is wrong or bad or something. I don't mean that at all. God created intercourse to be beautiful. But we are all descended from people who have resulted from sexual sin. Everyone has prostitution, adultery, rape or something in their ancestry at some stage. Even having multiple wives like Jacob did is something I can't see happening in a perfect world. Not to mention all the children from Levirate marriages whose first child was considered the child of the father's brother/relative (the woman's first husband who died childless).

Would you have been born if sin never existed? Would your great great great grandparents have slept together? And then would you have been created?

Jesus Himself would have never needed to be born in the flesh either. If sin never existed, there would be no reason for Him to bother. Matthew goes out of his way to mention all the unmentionables in Joseph's lineage. Tamar (who slept with her father-in-law by deception), Rahab (a prostitute), Ruth (from a despised race), Bathsheba (an adultress), and Jeconiah (who was cursed). If you want to read about the Curse of Jeconiah and the different explanations for the differences between Matthew's and Luke's genealogies the following article is a fascinating read - The Two Genealogies of Jesus, the Curse of Jeconiah, and the Royal Line of David posted on the website The Jesus Question.

So there are plenty of scandals in Jesus's family ancestry. He even wears the (assumed) shame of His own birth. People who did not believe Mary's virgin birth story assumed that Jesus was a bastard - Joseph's son conceived out of wedlock. And it's understandable. God had to send an angel to Joseph personally to convince him to continue past the betrothal and marry her. Until that point, Joseph had decided on divorce (a legal requirement of betrothals, unlike engagements today). He must have been so hurt by Mary's appearance of unfaithfulness.

If you are feeling the guilt of sexual sin in your own life or family history, take this record in Matthew as encouragement, and remember, none of us today would have been born without sin including Jesus.

I tried to think of a good song to include with this devotional - it seemed like a tough topic to find a song about. But God had it covered. This song popped up in my random Spotify feed that day, and although it was written as a love song, like a lot of love songs it can easily refer to God.

Selah - Bless The Broken Road (with lyrics)

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What do you think? Should you be grateful for sin because ultimately you wouldn't exist otherwise? I'd be intrigued to read your responses below in the comments.

Letter cutting hacks

When I made my first quiet book for Tahlia, as many people do I wrote her name on the front cover.

Tahlia's Quiet Book - Front Cover and First Page

I simply printed out a font with a computer, cut it up and pinned it on to use as a pattern to cut out my felt. Although cost effective, this method gets very tedious as you might imagine. So if you want to make things a little easier, then here are five methods to hack your way to perfectly cut felt:

1.  Scotch tape - 

Stick your pattern pieces down to stop them sliding all over the place while you cut them out. This method is brilliant for intricate details and wherever you don't want pin holes in special fabrics. 

I used the scotch tape method for my
Psalm 122 - Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem Quiet Book Page

2.  Tracing - 

Use a marker (you can get air erasable ones) to draw on the felt so you can cut out your pieces without worrying about the pattern pieces at all.

I used the scotch tape method for my
Isaiah 53 - Messiah ben Joseph Quiet Book Page

3.  Freezer paper - 

Although this is expensive and difficult to find in Australia, this method may suit you. Find a tutorial on how to use this method by Oliver Rabbit here: How to Cut Perfect Shapes out of Wool Felt - The Freezer Paper Method.

4.  Die cutting -

This is a great method if you are doing a lot of lettering. Just put your die on top of your felt and put it through a cutting machine. All the edges are perfectly cut for you. I use the Lollipop Uppercase Alphabet Set with an Original Sizzix and it cuts well, even though thick felt. Because the font is so thin you only need to stitch once down the middle of the letters which is a great advantage compared to the original hand cut font on Tahlia's front cover.

I used the die cut method to make these number blocks

5.  Buying pre-cut felt letters - 

You can find packets of felt letter and numbers in dollar stores, craft stores and online - such as these (not an affiliate link). But be prepared to buy as many packets as you will need as you may only get a couple of each letter per pack.

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Which methods do you prefer? Do you have any other suggestions? Share them below in the comments.

5 Awesome Kids Bible Resource Websites

Today I'd like to share five awesome Bible Resource Websites for children:

1.  My Little house

Image source

I love the free printable Bible 3D calendars and pictures available here. I plan on printing some of them on felt and turning them into quiet book pages. Didier Martin also makes wonderful printable toys and MiniWorlds, which can be put together to make a scene to inspire imaginary play.

2.  Gospel Hall

Image source

There are an ton, and I mean a tonne, of Children's Bible Activities, Crafts & Printable Games available on this website - and they are all free. You can print, make and take many of the activities to your Bible class or Sunday School. So many of these ideas are brilliant, excellent quality Bible class activities. I highly recommend this site, despite it's lack of picture appeal.

3.  Christian Preschool Printables

Image source

Whilst you do have to buy some of these resources, they do have many good quality ones available for free. There are colouring sheets, crafts, puzzles, games, MiniBooks, worksheets, holiday themed and file folder printables and even whole curriculums for download.

4.  Let The Little Children Come

Image source

This website is full of wonderful child evangelism tools that you can use to teach your children how to share their faith with others. This is such an important skill to develop in children to give them confidence and to learn to stand up for their beliefs.

5.  Bible Games Central

Image source

This website is all about conveying Bible truths through fun and captivating activities. You will find a variety of free games suited to all ages, and each one includes Bible lesson suggestions.


Let me know if you find these websites useful!

To get free ideas, tutorials and printable templates to make your own Bible quiet book pages for the children in your life:
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Genesis 13 - Abram and Lot Separate Quiet Book Page

In Genesis 13, Abram allows Lot to choose which part of the Land to use because their families and herds have grown too large for them to stay together.

Memory Verse: “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”” Genesis 13:9

Materials needed to create the Abram and Lot Separate quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used light blue
• felt scraps
• shiny blue material scrap for the lake
• clear craft glue (optional) - I used polyacetic acid & ethylene resin based glue
• ribbon scraps in vegetation motifs and colours
• thin grey ribbon
• letter beads
• my free Abram and Lot Separate template download

Cut out a section of shiny blue material to fit where the lake goes. My material was very prone to fraying, so I folded it over the edge and glued it down and then zig zagged around the sides at the back once it was dry. The front was covered by the mountains and foreground so I don't think I worried about zig zagging around that, but I did glue it down.

Next I sewed down the mountains followed by the foreground and a series of decorative ribbons to look like rows of fields and vegetation on the same side as the lake.

To make Abram and Lot, first sew the hands to a piece of the same coloured felt and cut them out. Wedge these under the sleeves of their coats when sewing the coats to a piece of the same coloured felt to double it up and cut then cut them out. Sew a small button hole in the center of their coats to thread them onto ribbon with for sliding across the page.

Cut two heads for each person - you can't sew one to a larger background and then cut it out for this one as it will be difficult to cut out afterwards because the coat is in the way. But it doesn't really matter if the sewing is messy here anyway. It will be covered up by a beard and turban.

The beards have a slit up the middle to allow them to sit correctly over the coat. I only cut one side of the beard and left a large piece of felt on the other side so it could be sewn neatly from one side and cut away on the other later.

Sew the turbans in a similar way, cutting the back felt piece away after sewing.

Thread Abram and Lot onto a piece of grey ribbon each and cut it to the length of your page. Melt the edges of your ribbon - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying.

Cover the bottom section with grey felt and then cover the line where the grey and foreground meet with grey stones. Thread the word 'left' using alphabet beads onto Abram's ribbon on the left side and the word 'right' onto Lot's ribbon on the right side. Sew down both ends of the grey ribbons using zig zag stitch so that  Abram and Lot can slide along the bottom of the page. Cover the ends with more rocks so you can't see the ugly stitching.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate.

Getting the beards and turbans right is the most difficult part of this page, but I have shared my tips on how to do this in the tutorial.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 13 - selfishness often harms us without us even realising it.
• Directions - this page teaches about right and left. There are very few quiet book pages that teach this.
• Imaginative Play - would you choose the left or the right side?
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

I did consider putting Abraham's tent on the left side, but I decided against it -
the starkness of the landscape contrasts better with the lushness of the right.

Read the Chapter

Genesis 13

Devotional

Lot leaves Abram as a very rich man, having so many herds and servants that they cannot continue to live together. He chooses the best part of the land for himself however, and it is not long until we find that Lot has not benefited from his decision.

It is only the next chapter in which he is taken captive when an army attacks the cities of the plain. Following his rescue by Abraham, he remains living there. Why?

When we find Lot in Sodom, there is no longer any mention of his flocks and herds and servants - the very reason he left Abraham in the first place. I often wonder what happened to them. They must have been sold before the visit from the angels, else surely Lot would have been given a chance to save them as he was with his other daughters and sons-in-law.

I always wonder how different things might have turned out had Lot chosen the other side. I don't imagine that Abraham would have lost nearly everything if he had lived near Sodom. Perhaps that is where Lot went wrong. He moved to a wicked city. Abraham stayed in his tent. And I imagine if he had been given the other side, he would have still lived in his tent. Don't let the priorities of the world sway you. Romans 12:2 NKJV says "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

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Which side would you choose?

Why do hedgehogs feature so often in quiet books?

If you have an interest in quiet books, I'm sure you will have seen some of the many pages featuring hedgehogs.

In The Hoop With Lee sells this machine
embroidery design

I've been thinking about making a hedgehog page lately, but not because I like them. I don't!

I remember a post from a quiet book group on Facebook - Quiet Book hints, tips & ideas by one of the moderators, Cheri Chiles. She blogs over at Fabric and Memories and was wondering why hedgehogs always seem to get things stuck to them and if that was something that real hedgehogs got up to in their spare time. What is the point of doing that as a quiet book activity?! I totally hear you Cheri!! Hedgehogs in a quiet book - I'm just not a fan.

Ok... so why am I thinking of making a hedgehog page then? Good question. Someone I know keeps spoiling me and buying craft goodies online. And she adores hedgehogs. What better way to say thank you than create a quiet book featuring that somewhat-cute creature.

So what is the deal with hedgehogs and quiet books?

You Tube sensation Irina Sorokina of My Craft Quiet Books fame has the answer.  Both hedgehogs and quiet books abound in eastern Europe. Hedgehogs inhabit the forests and the fairy tales, and they are very popular with children. I'll leave a couple of folk tale examples below and then carry on with why they get to get stuff stuck to them.

Hungarian Folk Tales: The Hedgehog

Must Hedgehog Be Prickly? [1990]

Soviet cartoon with English subtitles

Irina also says that hedgehogs are predators and whilst they don't eat veggies, mushrooms or fruit, they do use them to repel insects. I found it a rather strange idea so I looked it up, and yes, it exists and is termed "self-anointing". The process often involves chewing things up with their saliva and coating themselves in the mix. It may also serve as a scent camouflage or type of chemical weapon! Ok, so maybe these pages are not so bad after all, but still, hedgehogs are just not part of my culture. I'd take a joey in a pouch over a bio-sludged hedgehog any day of the week.

If you think you might like to make your own hedgehog page, check out this helpful tutorial and free pattern from Irina below. Then you can self anoint the hedgehog to your heart's content.

My Craft - Quiet book tutorial:

"the hedgehog" page + template

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What do you think - do you love a good hedgehog quiet book page? Or are you with me?

Genesis 37 - Joseph's Coat Quiet Book Page

In Genesis 37, Joseph is given a special coat by his father - his brothers get jealous and sell him as a slave.

Memory Verse: “Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”” Genesis 37:19-20

Materials needed to create the Joseph's Coat quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used green
• felt scrap in brown for the back of the pit pocket
• hot glue and glue gun
• Betty Lukens Felt book 01 Bible Stories available at Koorong
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Cut out all the pieces for this page, and the page itself from the set. The Betty Lukens FAQ section has posted a cutting tips PDF.

Cut out a section of brown felt to cover above the pit pocket to as far down the page as you can manage whilst leaving room to sew the page onto the background felt sheet. Hot glue it in position along the top edge of the pit and down both sides and the bottom to form a pocket for the small Joseph.

Sew the page onto the background felt along three sides, leaving the top edge open to form a pocket. Pop the pieces inside (or better yet, play with them)!

Finished!

The pocket is not big enough so Joseph looks like he could easily get out!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

A very easy quiet book page!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 37 - jealousy can lead to devastating results
• Imaginative play - tell the story of Joseph - his dreams, his coat of many colours, and how he was treated badly by his brothers and sold as a slave to Egypt
• Dress up - dress Joseph in his coat of many colours
• Colours - name all the colours on Joseph's coat
• Inserting - insert Joseph into the pit pocket
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Genesis 37

Devotional

What a difficult life for a young man to find himself in suddenly! One minute the favourite son of a wealthy man, the next a slave in a foreign country. Nevertheless it seems that his father had brought him up with good values despite his favouritism because we find Joseph sticking to his God and his morals through some very tough circumstances.

Whilst scripture doesn't say what the heinous crime that Joseph dobs his brothers in to their father for, the rabbis have recorded it in chapter 38 of the Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer. While you might not believe everything written in this document, the reason Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers and the flocks makes sense in this context. Apparently Zilpah and Bilhah's sons were eating the flesh of the animals in the flocks whilst the animals were still alive. Pretty gruesome no matter how you interpret that. And quite a no-no for a group of people who were bound by kosher law to drain the blood before roasting the meat. If they were in that much of a hurry to eat that they didn't bother to kill the animal, I can only imagine what passed through their lips. Eww.

It may be that Jacob's favouritism of Joseph was well deserved. And it may be that the coat was a present to try to cheer him up after enduring the harsh treatment of his brothers, who knows? There is a lot of back-story missing I think.

Joseph's clothes give punctuation to his story. I love the Joseph quiet book page that Patricia from Patty Cake Cafe made (with a free template) showing all four of Joseph's "costume changes" as he passes through each stage of his life.

The four stages are:

1. Favoured son
2. Slave in Egypt
3. Prisoner in Egypt
4. Pharaoh's Second-in-command

Image source

The coat of many colours is a bit of a mystery. The fact that Jacob made it kinda says to me that he was still a bit of a Mama's Boy. Weaving was a woman's job.  It takes longer to weave using many colours, so that increases it's value. But was the coat made of many colours? Scholars are not so sure. The word is largely unknown in the Bible, being used only one other time in connection to Tamar the daughter of King David. Some think that this coat was 'girly', and I think I remember reading in Robert Alter's commentary on Genesis that Jacob calls his other sons 'handsome' but Joseph he calls 'beautiful', presumably because he looked like his mother Rachel. While this is all very interesting, I can hardly imagine Joseph's brothers being jealous of a 'girly' robe.

Other scholars I read said that the word more likely refers to the arm-length of the robe. I guess it would also take longer to weave a coat with sleeves in it, so it would also be more valuable. It probably reached to the palms of his hands, and a coat like that was not made for hard work. Perhaps Jacob kept him from hard work in order to keep him from being corrupted by his brothers. Or perhaps he wanted to keep him home to teach him God's word as it had been revealed that Joseph was to be the leader of the family through his dreams.

Whatever the case, Joseph's coat has a story to tell. And I am sure his brothers enjoyed dirtying it up on him. But they couldn't stop God's plan for Joseph. In fact their attempt to rid themselves of him ultimately helped Joseph achieve his greatness. So next time you are in a tough situation, just remember that all things work together for the good of those who love the LORD (Romans 8:28) just as they did for Joseph.

The same is true for the story of Jesus. It is well-known that Joseph is a type of Christ. There are many similarities occurring within the two stories. Whilst Jesus started out as the favoured Son of God in Heaven, like Joseph He lost His glory, descending to Earth and was sold, betrayed, and was unrecognised by His brethren, but will ultimately take up a position of power once again. The Jewish leaders betrayal of Jesus ultimately helped Him achieve God's plan of reconciling man to Himself by providing for our sins, just as Joseph's betrayal ultimately led to reconciliation with and provision for his brothers.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Jacob and Sons/Joseph's Coat

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What have you always imagined Joseph's coat looking like?

How to Stop Ribbons Fraying

The secret to stop ribbons from fraying and ruining your hard work is a very easy one.

This technique will work on most ribbons - anything with a polyester component. It will not work for pure cotton ribbons.

Simply melt the edges with a match or candle. Hold the ribbon close to the flame but don't let it touch or it may catch on fire. It will shrivel slightly so you need to cut the length ever-so-slightly longer than needed. Do this over the sink or a surface that will not burn in case you need to drop a burning ribbon!

Candles are great for when you have a whole lot of ribbons to do - otherwise you may use a whole box of matches in one sitting.

Preparations for multiple Malachi 4 - Sun of Righteousness Quiet Book pages

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If you already knew this secret, who taught you?

How to re-size printable quiet book templates to fit your page size

Do you need to re-size a template to fit your quiet book page size? There are so many ways you can adjust a printable download to fit.

1. Adjust the printing options from your computer.

Keep in mind that there are different ways to print from your computer -

• Often you can print directly from internet file storage such as Google drive
• You may choose to download an image or PDF and print directly from your computer image storage
• After downloading, you can also choose to open your file in Adobe or your Word processor and print from there
• Again, you can download your image and open it in Paint, Photoshop or another editing program where you can edit and then print

In the above example from Google Drive, by clicking on the more settings section, there are four ways to adjust the size of your file:

a) You can adjust the paper size by choosing another option - A5 will print on A4 paper at half the size, etc.

b) You can adjust the pages per sheet. If you choose 4 pages per sheet and also choose to print four copies, you will get four copies of your file - one printed in each quarter of your page.

c) You can adjust the scale using the fit to page box - this adjusts the size slightly and may prevent some edges getting cut off.

d) You can adjust the scale using the number box with arrows. This adjusts as a percentage of the original image and will allow you to reduce and enlarge the image (by going above 100). It is easy to adjust an image to the exact size you wish using this method.

2. Photocopiers often have a reduce and enlarge button which you can adjust using a percentage value.

3. Of course if you only have an A4 printer or photocopier and need to print in A3 or another larger size, you could take the image into a printing service shop and ask them to enlarge it for you.

The Print & Copy Shop, Lower Main Street, Ballybofey
© Copyright Kenneth Allen and licensed for
reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

I was inspired to write this post because someone in a quiet book sew-along I am running is making A5 sized pages. That is half the size of my normal templates, so I thought I might be able to make it easier with some instructions on how to change the size of your printables. I often use these methods when I use a colouring page as a quiet book pattern, such as when I made my Psalm 46 - Be Still and Know that I Am God Tea Set Quiet Book Page. I printed multiple tea cups at a reduced size on one sheet of paper adjusting the printing options on my computer using option b) above.

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Let me know if this has helped you out with re-sizing your printable templates!

Hand Stitched Quiet Book Cover

I recently saw a hand-stitched quiet book cover which someone had made their grand-daughter. It was so lovely, I had to share it with you all.

I think you will agree, the design is very simple, but it looks stunning.

The pages are made from one or two of the Betty Lukens quiet book kits (not an affiliate link) which I have featured before in several posts:

• How To Ring Bind Felt Quiet Books - Free A4 Buttonhole Guide
• Micah 5 - Oh Little Town of Bethlehem Quiet Book Page
• Genesis 6 - Preparing For The Flood Quiet Book Page
• Genesis 7 - The Flood Quiet Book Page
• Genesis 8 - In The Ark Quiet Book Page
• Genesis 9 - Rainbow After The Flood Quiet Book Page
• With many more to come!

This time however, the instructions for gluing pockets on the reverse of the pages has been followed.

When the book is put together this means that all pages are stacked on top of each other facing up and then bound. The original instructions ask you to hole punch the felt and run string through the stack, but this book has been bound very wisely ignoring that portion of the instructions!

Instead, it looks like the stack has been hand stitched together first and then the tightly fitting hand stitched cover has been attached to the stack. This allows decorative stitching to be used on the outside and solid-hold stitching to be used on the spine underneath.

My other posts on how to bind quiet books include:

• Ribbon Quiet Book Binding Method
• How To Ring Bind Felt Quiet Books - Free A4 Buttonhole Guide

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Which binding method appeals to you most?

Malachi 4 - Sun of Righteousness Quiet Book Page

Malachi 4 is the last chapter of the last book of the Old Testament and it looks forward to the dawning of the Sun of Righteousness - Jesus.

Memory Verse: “But for you who fear my name, 

the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings." Malachi 4:2a

Materials needed to create the Sun of Righteousness quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used royal blue
• felt scraps in sun colours, I used yellow, orange, red and maroon
• lots of ribbon scraps in gold, yellow, orange, red, maroon, brown, pink or whatever colours go with your chosen felt colours
• a pair of white shoelaces with blue flecks - I bought mine here in white blue (not an affiliate link)
• my free Sun of Righteousness template download

Use the template to cut out four pieces of felt in coordinating sun colours. If your page size is smaller than mine, you can cut the template in half and make a quarter sun or use the smaller four layers and leave out the largest one. To make this page for the sun of righteousness, you need four layers only. If you are making a sun page in general, feel free to use all five layers.

If you are making the Bible version, you need all four ends of the shoelaces but one long length will suffice for a general sun page.

Cut up enough coordinating ribbons to fill the top edges of each layer, leaving room for a shoelace at one end of each. Melt the edges of your ribbons to prevent fraying.

Pin the ribbons leaving room for the shoelace under the yellow layer first. Before sewing them down, thread the shoelace through the ribbons to ensure you cut it at the correct length. Melt the end of the shoelace to prevent fraying.  Sew down the shoelace end underneath the layer before sewing down the felt on top of the ribbons which will secure them at the same time. Go backwards and forwards a couple of times in places where you are using thin ribbons to ensure they get caught in the stitching. Repeat this process for each layer, finishing with the smallest - alternate ends that the shoelace is located. Some ribbons thread easier from one direction than the other so ensure they are facing the right side for the shoelace location on that layer.

The first half explains how to sew this page and

the second half explains the spiritual significance.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy.

Cutting the semi-circles straight across the bottom edge will enable you to line them up easier, however, it may add too much bulk to the lower edge of the sun where they are all piled up.

You may be able to use the sections cut out of the centers of the semi-circles if you want to swap the order of colours around and make a second page at the same time.

Using a lunch box with dividers can help you get organised for a TV pinning session on the couch.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Malachi 4 - Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings, the tassels remind us of the commandments
• Threading - thread the shoelaces through the sun's rays
• Counting - count the number of rays on each layer
• Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
• Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination

Read the Chapter

Malachi 4

Devotional

In Numbers 15, God told Israel to make fringes on their garments and to put tassels on the four corners. The tassels had to have a blue thread running through them - so the shoelaces are meant to represent the tassels and the sun's ribbon rays are indicative of the fringes. The blue thread was to remind them to keep the commandments - something which seems a little odd don't you think? How does a blue thread remind you of the commandments??

The rounded shape depicting the tablets of the 10 commandments was probably introduced in about the middle ages by Christian artists.

Aron de Chaves \ de Chavez. Painter at Amsterdam in 1700.

However, both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds (Jewish commentaries on scripture) report that the shape was square. It was half as thick as it was wide and high so when both tablets were placed together they formed a cube. They were made from sapphire stone, which is why a blue thread is supposed to remind you of the blue stone of the commandments.

Image Source: A Layman Looks at the Word

Jesus would have worn a prayer shawl similar to the one below. The word for the tassels in Hebrew is the same word used in Malachi for "wings". The woman who had an issue of blood in Matthew, Mark, and Luke must have known this prophecy and believed Jesus to be the Sun of Righteousness therein. So she figured if she could just touch His tassels she would be healed. She was!

A tallit, or prayer shawl with fringes and
tassels - like Jesus would have worn

There were many people in the crowd no doubt jostling Jesus, but her touch drew power. Faith made the difference. It wasn't fancy - I doubt she even told anyone her plans. Her faith was silent until she had a story to tell.

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Have you heard about the "wings" on a prayer shawl before?