Faith and Felt Obsession: Book of Luke

Showing posts with label Book of Luke. Show all posts

Sunday, 13 August 2017

Luke 12 - Where is Your Treasure? Quiet Book Page

In Luke chapter 12, Jesus talks a lot about possessions, and what they say about our priorities.

Memory Verse: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke:12:34

Materials needed to create the Where is Your Treasure? quiet book page:

A4 felt background sheet. I used pink.
felt scraps
ribbon
large heart button
trinkets for the treasure inside
sewing threads to match ribbon
the treasure chest template by Stephanie from Imagine Our Life

I'm not going to give a detailed explanation here because Stephanie has already done a tutorial on how to make the chest in her post. Of course you will need to make the loop of ribbon on the lid large enough to fit over your heart button, and sew the heart button in place on the bottom piece.

It is important to sew the chest pieces using a colour thread that matches the ribbon rather than the felt so that when you sew the pieces onto the page and you go over the ribbon it doesn't look funny. That's my opinion anyway.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

Getting the loop right is probably the most difficult section.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

Luke 12 - This page tells the story of how it is better to store our treasure in Heaven, because on Earth our treasure can easily get stolen or ruined
Imaginative Play - who doesn't like to find treasure!
Buttoning - Opening and closing the treasure chest
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

Luke 12

Devotional

As I was reading this chapter and wondering what to write the devotional on, one thing stuck out to me. A man asked Jesus to tell his brother to share the inheritance with him. Jesus doesn't. Actually, he reproves both men with one story. A man had a bountiful crop and no-where to store it, so he decided to build new barns so he could store it all up for himself and sit back and relax and not work anymore. Instead he dies that night and who knows who got to enjoy his bountiful crop. Jesus' point was that it is better to share what extra we have rather than trusting in our possessions to look after us. We can't look after ourselves by having lots of possessions anyway. For all we know, we will die tomorrow, and no amount of goods can change that.

The inheritance cannot save either of them, but God is the one who will meet their needs. And we can trust Him to because he values us much more than the sparrows, whom he never forgets. Life is about more than food and clothes, and God will ensure he looks after the basics if we stop chasing after them like madmen and take time to focus on the important things, like seeking the Kingdom of God and looking after others.

I used to be enthralled with the idea of self sufficiency. As I have grown older, I have begun to realize that self sufficiency is impossible. No one can grow and make everything they need. It takes too much effort and too much skill. Some climates are not suitable to grow certain things. We can do without a lot, but even so, I get exhausted thinking about everything I would have to do if I wanted to be self sufficient.

God created family and community so that we could support each other. We are supposed to need each other because that teaches us that we can't supply everything we need, and that we need to rely on God. The village baker and the village candlestick maker had very different jobs, but if you had a village full of butchers/bakers/candlestick makers (and every other job-ers), there would be a village full of hungry people with no working tools.

If we all focused on what God has given us that we could share with others and we would all benefit from the best of everything.

That man had a chance to ask the Lord of the Universe a question, and he blew it on "tell my brother to share the inheritance". I hope I would ask a more meaningful question than that, and receive an answer I could treasure.

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Where is your treasure?

Thursday, 26 May 2016

Psalm 100 - Sheep of His Pasture Quiet Book Page

In Psalm 100, we are likened to being sheep in God's pasture.

Memory Verse: "Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." Psalm 100:3 (NIV).

Materials needed to create the Sheep of His Pasture quiet book page:

A4 felt background sheet. I used white.
sheep button/s
farm, sheep or pasture scene material
tulle (soft is better)
sewing thread
texta
paper, ruler, pen... or this free template (this is my first attempt at embedding - if you can't access the template please let me know; I also apologise that Tahlia got to it and drew all over it before it got scanned... you should still be able to use it though!)

Before starting on this page, you may want to check out a very similar page I made for a Puzzle Quiet Book Page Swap. You might prefer the method I used there. It is more of a traditional button maze, whereas this page uses more of a marble maze design (although I am using a button not a marble).

1. If you want to make your own template, cut out a sheet of paper slightly larger than the size you want your maze to be and use it to mark out where you want your lines to go. Make sure there is enough room for your button to move between the lines, including extra space which will be taken up by the zig zag stitch.

I got my inspiration from Joan Ellis, a fellow member of the Quiet Book Club group on Facebook. She posted pictures of marble maze designs she had made, and she has kindly allowed me to share them with you!

EDIT - 2 photos have been removed

Her instructions for making actual marble mazes from material are as follows: Simply cut two same size rectangles. Stitch right sides together and leave a two inch opening. Turn right side out, press. Draw in your maze, stitch the lines securing the end and beginning of each seam, slip in the marble and sew closed.

To make a template, use a clear ruler. Make the spaces 3/4 inch for a peewee and 1 inch for a player sized marble. To leave room for top stitching all around, she starts with a 1 inch margin around the edges and works her way in.

If you live in the Albuquerque area of New Mexico, USA, you should definitely check out Hip Stitch, a quilting store and sewing lounge where Joan teaches sewing and does free monthly demonstrations. They sell ready made marble mazes and kits so you can make your own. They even offer private sewing classes at a VERY affordable rate. Unfortunately Joan has already done a marble maze demo this year, but I'm sure if you asked nicely she could organise another at some point!

EDIT - 2 photos have been removed

I chose this last example of a continuous loop as I don't imagine that God's pasture has any dead ends!

2. Use your or my free template to cut out your scene material and tulle. Lay your material over the top of your maze template and use a texta to copy the maze lines onto your material if you are able to see through to do it. Otherwise copy them onto your tulle. I did it both ways and found it easier if the lines were marked on the material rather than the tulle because the tulle moves around a lot and it is more difficult to get the lines in the right spot when you are sewing.

3. Sew the material and tulle together along the outer edge of the maze, remembering to slip a button in between before you get to the end. You could use a few buttons, but mine have a flock already painted on them. Also, I didn't want to run into another button on the way around which might slow momentum on a continuous loop.

4. Clip the corners and fold the edges under. Pin it onto your background felt and sew it down around the edges using a zig zag stitch with a very small stitch length. Sew over the maze lines you marked on your material with the same zig zag stitch.

Finished!