John 13 - Jesus Washes the Disciple's Feet Quiet Book Page

In John chapter 13, Jesus washes His disciples feet.

Memory Verse: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” John 13:14 NKJV.

 

Materials needed to create the Jesus Washes His Disciple's Feet quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used mid blue
• my free John 13 - Jesus Washes His Disciple's Feet Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern
• the free template (first one) available at Nederig zijn - voetwassing by Alie Holman on the geloven is leuk blog - for the feet and bowl
• felt in light blue and white
• 1mm elastic in white
• rooster button - I bought this (not an affiliate link)
• button which looks like communion bread, or painted with nail polish and varnish to resemble some
• nail polish in bread colours (optional)
• varnish (optional - be careful, some varnishes can dissolve nail polish)
• white face washer
• sewing threads to best match the page

Firstly, cut out your pattern pieces from the templates. You may need to print the wash bowl a few times to be able to cut all the pieces.

Cut out a right and left foot from skin coloured felt and sew them down onto more skin coloured felt. Cut them out.

To create the back section of the bowl, sew the light blue water section to the white bowl back. Then sew the white bowl back onto more white felt and cut it out.

To create the front bowl section, sew the white front bowl section to white felt and cut it out. Do not attach the front section to the back section yet.

Repeat this process for the water jug, sewing the front section to the back section along the sides and base leaving the top open as a jug would be.

I chose a square button for the communion bread because that is the shape used by my church, and also the shape used for matzah in a Passover Seder. Matzah must be both striped and pierced (just like Jesus was), so I figured a button is already pierced, and the button I chose also had ridges - I just accentuated them when I painted it. You can of course use a round button if that is what your church uses. I imagine that matzah was round back in Jesus's day because that is an easier shape for people to make it at home.

Paint your button with the nail polish to look like communion bread. You may need to do more than one coat. Seal it with the varnish. Try to keep the holes in the button from being blocked so you can thread them onto elastic. Create a circle with the elastic and tie a knot to secure. Fold the circle onto itself to create a double loop and pin it in place underneath where the bowl will be sewn. Roll up the face washer and check that you have the right length to pull the elastic loops over the buttons on the other elastic loops to hold it in place for storage. Use zig-zag stitch to secure the elastic to the page. Repeat this with the rooster button.

Sew down the bottom section of the bowl along the sides and bottom to form a pocket for the jug behind. Sew down the top section of the bowl along the sides and bottom to create another pocket (inside the bowl) for the feet.

Finished! 

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

There are quite a few layers on this page, especially if you like things double sided like I do. To reduce the layers and make it easier to sew, you could just use the bowl to store the feet and jug and only make a single layer of white felt for the bowl back, sewing it down around the whole perimeter.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• John 13 - Jesus demonstrates the servant attitude He wants us to have at the Last Supper
• Imaginative play - wash and dry the Disciple's and one another's feet
• 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

John 13

Devotional

I had planned to have communion bread and wine as the buttons holding the face washer to the bottom of this page, but as I discovered when I read the chapter... there is no wine mentioned in this chapter! That was a surprise. I ended up switching the wine for a rooster, as the prediction that Peter would deny Christ before the rooster crowed three times is mentioned. 

I made another page for a church quiet book
using the bread button and wine charm

Rather than focusing on the communion aspect of the supper, John focuses on the foot washing, and the last instructions of Jesus (in this chapter, the New Commandment to love one another).

I guess when Jesus says that if the whole body is washed, we just need to wash the feet, He is giving advice and comfort for when we find ourselves sinning even after we have been baptised. 

Foot washing was offered to guests when entering a home as a common courtesy. To not offer it would have been very impolite. Rich people wore sandals, but I think commoners had bare feet, and no mention is made of soldiers gambling for Jesus' sandals... so I think He probably didn't own a pair of shoes. You can imagine how dirty sandal-ed feet would get, let alone bare feet walking along a dusty or muddy road. It was probably littered with donkey and camel excrement as well. So I imagine having your feet washed was something both the host and the guest would appreciate, as well as all the diners next to them. I'm sure the meal tasted much better without that stench around.

Sacrifice of Song ~ HE WASHED 

THEIR FEET ~ Michael Crawford, Vocalist

If Jesus didn't own a pair of shoes, and borrowed a room for the Passover meal, asking his disciples to prepare it, I imagine that the room was not furnished with servants to wash anyone's feet. Not that I can imagine Jesus using servants anyway. Nevertheless, Jesus took the servant's role and washed His disciple's feet - something they were shocked to see. As usual, Jesus took an everyday object and used it to teach a profound lesson - one we are still pondering today.

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Does your church participate in the practice of foot-washing?

Job 38 - God Questions Job Snow Globe Quiet Book Page

In Job chapter 38, God questions Job from the midst of the whirlwind.

Memory Verse: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.... Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail," Job 38:4 and 22 NRSV.

Materials needed to create the God Questions Job Snow Globe quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used grey marle
• My Craft Quiet Books - Felt Snow Globe free pattern (Thanks Irina!)
• my free Job 38 - God Questions Job Snow Globe Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern
• felt in dark blue, light blue, dark brown, mid brown, tan, green, orange, and white
• sequin organza scrap for the night sky
• clear fabric glue
• decorative fabric scrap for the ocean
• rik rak in various widths and shades of blue
• clear plastic (I used some from a packet that some new sheets came in, but you can also buy it as a tablecloth cover)
• snowflake sequins/buttons/beads - I bought this (not affiliate links) and other ones
• ruler themed ribbon - I bought this (not an affiliate link)
• sewing threads to best match the page
• scissors!

Firstly cut out a piece of dark blue felt for the night sky and glue a piece of sequin organza over the top, folding the edges over to the back of the dark blue felt. Once dry you can sew it in position on your page.You can use the outer globe outline to help you position it correctly. 

The sequin organza came from a wedding dress a friend
gave me to use in my sewing

Cut the decorative fabric for the ocean and glue it down on your page next. When dry, use a small zig zag stitch along the edges to prevent fraying. Sew down rik rak to form waves.

Finish the scene by cutting out your felt pieces and sewing them down in the following order, overlapping where necessary - the light blue sky, orange dawn sun, white cloud, brown cliff (with stitching detail to form longitudinal ridges), tan desert, and green grass.

My Craft Quiet Books - Felt snow globe

Снежный шар из фетра

Cut out some clear plastic using the outer snow globe pattern (not the inner section that is meant for the plastic for the My Craft pattern). Watch the above video to see how to stretch your plastic to allow more movement of the sequins. Stretch your plastic. 

I used a thermos lid to stretch my plastic once heated

Sew down the plastic to form the snow globe over your scene leaving the bottom edge open. Place scotch tape onto your sewing machine foot so the plastic will move through your machine easily. I also place paper underneath part of my sewing machine - see my set-up on my Psalm 46 - Be Still and Know that I Am God Tea Set Quiet Book Page post. 

Add sequins into your snow globe beneath the plastic. Try to add enough for a good effect without obscuring too much of the scene below. Then sew down the dark brown base from Irina's My Craft pattern to seal them in. 

Snowflake sequins - only one of the types I used.

Add the ruler ribbon to the base - you can tuck the edges under to keep the them looking nice. The number 12 only just fit across, but that is usually the number of a foundation in the Bible.

Finished - now you can shake away! 

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

The hardest part of this page is sewing the plastic - see my tips above.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Job 38 - this page is all about God's omniscience (knowledge of everything) and our inability to see the big picture
• Imaginative play - make it snow by shaking the snow globe
• 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

Job 38

Devotional

The Gospel OnGuitar -

Where Were You - with lyrics

Ghost Ship - Mars Hill Music

Job is told to brace himself "like a man" in this chapter - not because God is sending discipline, or council, or even telling him off. God is simply "questioning". Humanity is so weak in comparison to God, that God felt the need to prepare Job and ask him to brace himself so that He could even "question" him.

I think we all have questions we would like to ask God. I mean, Job certainly handled himself very well. I don't think I know anyone who could loose their entire business and family (bar one) and keep their words clean. And God honours Job by appearing in a whirlwind to speak to him. I think at that point, it would have been humbling enough for Job - but then he hears all the questions, and God has requested answers to questions that he in no way can answer. It seems the answers are classified at a level above his pay grade / rank (at least for now).

I wonder if we had the chance to ask God our questions, would we regret it?

The Brace Yourself, God Has a Few Questions - Job 38-42 Series post by Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro has some great things to say on this chapter (and it is fairly succinct). Interestingly, they must have counted the number of questions that God asked Job from the whirlwind... and it tickled my fancy. Here comes that number again - 77!

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Have you made a snow globe busy book page? Comment below!

Genesis 26 - The Kiss (She is my Sister III) Quiet Book Page

Another lie, another blessing. What a theme for Genesis chapter 26 - but the ultimate theme is that nothing will stop Messiah from arriving as God planned.

Memory Verse: “Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”” Genesis 26:8-9 NKJV.

Materials needed to create the The Kiss (She is my Sister III) quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used light blue
• sewing thread to best match the page
• my free Genesis 26 - The Kiss (She is my Sister III) Bible Quiet Book Template Pattern 
• felt in motley grey, white, green, purple, yellow, orange, dark brown, and two skin colours
• three gold decorative materials to fit in with The Kiss painting by Gustav Klimt (go for circular pattern for the dress, and angular pattern for the tunic)
• small green trim
• tiny blue embroidered flowers (or cut some like I did) or you could actually embroider them
• small scrap of narrow brown rik rak
• clear craft glue if using decorative material which is likely to fray - I used polyacetic acid & ethylene resin based glue
• hot glue gun and glue
• one jewellery toggle clasp set in gold - I bought this (not an affiliate link)
• white 4mm satin ribbon

Firstly, cut out the square background for "The Kiss" out of grey marle felt. Cut out your blanket out of the decorative gold fabric chosen and glue it in place on the grey marle square. You can use the template to ensure it is glued in the correct position. Once dry, sew along the edge of the gold fabric with a super-fine zig-zag stitch to ensure it doesn't fray.

Repeat this process for Issac's tunic. Then sew down a piece of orange felt for Rebecca's hair. I cut out a section where her face was to go, but I recommend not doing that and just sewing her face over the top of her hair. Again, use the template to position everything. 

Next, cut out the rest of the pieces for "The Kiss" and position them on your canvas to make sure they fit together well. Sew down Rebecca's face and Issac's head. I also tried to line up the circles on Rebecca's dress with the circular patterns on the dress of "The Kiss".

Because my circular gold pattern fabric was quite translucent, I layered it over the top of yellow felt. I glued two layers to the felt, then trimmed and cut the slit through the two top layers again to allow the arm to pass through.

Sew the pieces down in the following order: Issac's hands, Rebecca's hand around Issac's neck, Rebecca's arm - ensure that her dress is in position and sew her arm over the top of the dress, folding the sleeve back as in the picture below.

Then continue and sew down Issac's hair and Rebecca's dress. For Rebecca's dress, start at the sleeve and finish at the arm. Glue Issac's sleeve and once dry, follow with another zig-zag edge to prevent fraying. You may notice it was difficult for me to see where the edge was and I got it a little wrong and had to do it again. Happily, I was able to cover the mistake with a blue embroidered flower.

I cut up the blue embroidered flowers to make them smaller to resemble the ones in "The Kiss" and then hot glued them in place. You can also hot glue the small green trim onto Issac's hair at this stage (but I hadn't found something to use at this stage so I actually did it last). I wanted to match the green trim with a green felt for the topiary bush to tie them in together. And then if I used a pale green, I wanted to use a pale purple for King Abimelek and vice versa.

Initially I was going to make the window out of brown felt to resemble wood, but I realised that the painting would look much better with a white border. Also, I figured that if King Abimelek was looking out a Palace window, why wouldn't it have been white-washed. Surely a palace back then would have been decorated nicely. But now I am wondering if he looked through a window into their house instead of looking out a palace window. But then again, it may have been similar to the David and Bathsheba incident, where the king's palace was taller than surrounding houses, and thus when he looked out his window, he could see straight onto the roof of nearby houses. 

Arrange the window pieces onto a square of felt and sew down each plank in order. Make two window pieces (one a mirror image of the other).

Cut four little lengths of ribbon to form hinges and a latch, and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying. Thread the toggle onto one and fold and secure it to the back edge of the door that you want to open. Sew the hinges to the back edge of the opposite side. 

Then hot glue the other side of the door to this one. Thread the round section of the toggle clasp onto the remaining ribbon and fold it as well. 

Position the window in the middle upper portion of the page and make sure there is enough room for the window to open. I wanted to have a clasp on either side so the window could be latched open or closed, but there just wasn't enough room.

Cut out the window frame and pin it in position over the top of the hinges (but not the toggle ribbon). Pin and sew the inside edge of the frame only. Ensure there is enough ribbon length on the hinges to open and close the window freely.

Now cut out the blue page background from the inside of the window frame. Position "The Kiss" behind it before sewing down the outer edge of the window frame, tucking in the ends of the ribbon hinges and securing the ribbon with the round part of the clasp in place as you go.

Insert the toggle into the clasp to secure the window while sewing the rest of the page.

Cut out your remaining template or pieces and arrange them on your page to get the right position. Sew down the white pot while you have white thread on your machine.

Now you can sew down the pieces of your topiary bush - I couldn't get it to look right and asked Faith and Felt Obsession's Facebook followers to help me. 

Thankfully someone noticed that I had two of the pieces upside down. When that was fixed, it fit together perfectly!

Complete the page by sewing down the pieces for King Abimelek in the following order: neck, head, hand, foot, brown rik rak as a shoe, tunic sleeve, hair, crown. Use your template too line everything up correctly.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

The main difficulty I had was sewing a super-fine zig-zag edge around the paper thin decorative fabric, especially where there was a second layer of the same fabric on top of itself (such as Issac's arm) which made it difficult to see.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Genesis 26 - Lying will get found out!
• Art Education - learn about the famous painting "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt - see the article Art Analysis: The Kiss by Klimt by Artsper Magazine
• Jewellery clasps - open and close the window using the toggle clasps
• Peek-a-boo - open the window to find out what is behind
• 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 26

Devotional

Yet another example of God blessing us despite ourselves. All three instances where a patriarch tells a foreign king that his wife is his sister, in addition to many of the matriarchs being barren for a long time before conception, are meant to portray that God's will WILL succeed despite the enemies best efforts. Jesus was born through a line of lying, wife-sacrificing and barren ancestors. God's strength is made perfect in weakness.

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How did my re-imagined "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt go? 

Psalm 29 - Enthroned Above The Flood Quiet Book Page

Psalm 29 reassures us the God is both powerful and in control. He sits enthroned above the flood.

Memory Verse: “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever." Psalm 29:10 NIV

Materials needed to create the Enthroned Above The Flood quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet - I used blue
• a Noah's ark and animals image - I used this printable from the article Sharing Time: The Prophet Will Tell Us in the LDS kids magazine Friend
• felt in white, green, red and as close as you can get to gold
• Kam snaps
• ric rak
• 30cm of 2mm round elastic
• wooden cloud buttons - I bought these from AliExpress (not an affiliate link)
• dotted mesh material
• 40mm wide rainbow ribbon - I bought this from AliExpress (not an affiliate link)
• gold pleather
• clear craft glue if using pleather to make sewing easier - I used polyacetic acid & ethylene resin based glue
• decorative beads
• a throne template - I modified this Colouring page Saint Nicholas' throne from edupics.com
• hot glue gun and glue

Firstly, get the Noah's Ark and animals transferred onto white felt by the sublimation printing and heat press method - see my post on Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test. Cut out the ark and animals and sew the ark onto the background page along three sides leaving the top open to form a pocket for the animals.

Prepare two wooden cloud buttons by threading 15cm of the elastic onto each and tying a knot to create a loop of elastic. Slide the knot to the back of the button and hot glue in place. Cut the ends short.

Cut your mesh material to size to fit inside your page with extra length (and width if you want to finish the edges first - I didn't but I wish I had). Fold the top over itself a couple of times and pin and sew along the top edge as shown above, placing the elastic of the buttons underneath at either end. Make sure the end is poking out the bottom so you can pull it up and over the buttons to hold the rolled up mesh in place later.

Measure your ground and make a few layers of grass for the animals to sit in. I used ric rak to edge the top of the grass as there would be too many layers of felt along the bottom if I doubled the felt as I usually do. Use kam snaps to attach the grass to the page. At the back, use small squares of spare felt to strengthen them and prevent them ripping a hole when being pulled.

Cut a length of rainbow ribbon to fit your page and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying. I rounded the edges, but you don't have to. Mark where the button holes should be on the ribbon, then sew and cut.

Use the a colouring page as a throne template to make your throne. Simplify the lines by joining some together and rounding off the top.

Before sewing the pleather, I used the glue to attach the pleather to a sheet of felt. My pleather was stretchy which makes it very difficult to sew. Allow the glue to dry before sewing in place. Then sew the red felt on top and cut out the front section of the throne. Decorate with beads at the top.

Make a slot for threading the throne onto the rainbow ribbon by doubling a piece of felt and sewing onto the other half of your sheet of felt. Make sure it is slightly wider than your rainbow ribbon to allow it to pass through easily. Hot glue the throne to the sheet of felt with the slot facing out and centered at the back. Cut out the throne once again.

Thread the throne onto the ribbon and button it on, or store in the ark pocket.

Complete!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate.

Pleather can be difficult to work with.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Psalm 29 - God is in control even when it might seem like He is not
• Rolling - roll up the rain, and roll it down again
• Buttoning - secure the rain when it is rolled up with the elastic and cloud buttons, button on the rainbow ribbon
• Threading - thread the throne onto the rainbow ribbon
• Colours - learn the colours of the rainbow
• Tucking - tuck the animals into the ark
• Using snaps - snap on and off the ground to make it appear to flood
• 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

Psalm 29.

Devotional

Maybe you feel like everything is out of control, but God assures us that He's got it. Sometimes trouble is what we need to wake us up and turn our course. When trial comes are we willing to listen to instructions and build an ark? Or do we insist on our own way?

This Psalm speaks about God twisting the oaks and breaking the cedars. Trees are often used as a symbol of men and strength. So the strength of men is nothing to God. Therefore, why worry about what man can do to you? Rather worry about pleasing God.

Not only does God rule over the kaos of The Flood, but He caused it.

Psalm 29 - HeartSong

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Have you made a Noah's Ark quiet book page? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

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?