Deuteronomy 4 - Seek Me Find Me Quiet Book Page

In Deuteronomy chapter 4, God tells the Israelite's His laws and asks them not to let the memory of all the good things he has done for them fade from their hearts.

Memory Verse: "But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul." Deuteronomy 4:29

Materials needed to create the Seek Me Find Me quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet. I used black
• flat silver cross (I found one at a bead shop) - see the photo at the end of the post to gauge the size - the Australian 10 cent coin pictured is roughly the size of a US quarter.
• embroidered heart from an embroidered geometric tulle panel
• ribbon to trim the heart with
• sewing thread to best match the page
• scissors!

Cut out the heart from the tulle panel. Pin it to the background felt sheet and slip the cross underneath. Sew it down with zig zag stitch. Measure the length of ribbon needed and melt the ends to prevent fraying. I turned the ribbon under at each end for a nice finish. Sew your ribbon down on top of your stitching to hide the edge of the heart, beginning and ending at the junction at the top. I sewed mine down with a slight zig zag stitch as well because of the type of ribbon I used. It made the ribbon sit better. 

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy, plus No Sew version.

One of the easiest quiet book pages ever!
Just use hot glue wherever sewing is recommended for a no sew version.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Deuteronomy 4 - This page tells about how God is wanting us to seek Him and is ready to forgive if we do
• Seek and Find - Find the location of the silver cross underneath the embroidered heart
• Touch and Feel - The embroidery ribbon and sequins on the heart provides a textural quality to the page, and the cross underneath feels hard to the touch, but is hard to find
• Shapes - learn the shape of a heart and cross
• 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

Deuteronomy 4

Devotional

What a beautiful promise God makes with this verse. He has just warned the Israelite not to follow Idols and what the consequences of doing that would be, but then takes the time to reassure everyone that He is very willing to forgive and will not snub them if they do but then repent. He is always there ready to be found if we choose to, in fact He is longing for us to. No sin is too great for God to forgive, for the price Jesus paid with His life is great enough to save us all.

Follow Faith and Felt Obsession on Facebook, Pinterest and You Tube

Are you seeking the LORD with all your heart?

Back to School - Stick Icy Pole Sleeves Tutorial

Welcome to my back to school project for the Sew Much Fun Blog Hop!

I made some cute and handy stick icy pole sleeves. I remember coming home from school and sitting on the couch at home looking out the window on our back yard eating icy poles. Summer enticed me into it. Generally I don't enjoy eating cold things like ice cream, but icy poles were different because you could bite it through the plastic and your teeth had a little bit of protection. Now your hands do too!

Materials needed to create the Stick Icy Pole Sleeves:

• polar fleece scrap, 4.5" x 7" per stick icy pole sleeve - I used white
• minky scrap 4.5" x 6" per stick icy pole sleeve - I used zig-zag and pink
• and just in case you are lazy like me, I made a printable template you can use

First cut out your pieces and pin them right sides together along the shorter top edge, leaving a generous seam allowance. Sew using a straight stitch or a very slight zig-zag stitch (which is recommended for some machines when sewing stretch fabrics).

Next, pin and sew along the sides to form a tube, leaving a normal amount (1/4") seam allowance. Ensure you pin and keep the seam allowance of your previous stitch turned back on itself to reduce bulk when sewing. Please excuse the party blower that Tahlia insisted on putting in the photo. She thought it was hilarious.

After that, turn your tube starting at the polar fleece end (very important) so that wrong sides are together (very important).

Pin across the cut edge (not the folded edge). Make sure that the polar fleece seem and the minky seam are matched together in the middle of the edge and that the seam allowance is once again folded back against itself to reduce bulk. Sew in place.

Clip the corners.

Then turn inside out. You can use a ruler to help push the ends out properly.

Enjoy your hands-freeze-free stick icy poles!

This project is brought to you as part of the #sewmuchfunbloghop - visit the links below to find out what other Back to School Projects everyone has come up with.

Jen our hostess from Faith and Fabric has posted a summary of everyone's projects here. 

You can also find a lovely array of Christian themed quilt patterns throughout her website.

• Emma at Emkie Designs
• Chris at made by ChrissieD
• Alisson at Woodberry Way
• Karen at Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats
• Michelle at Pretty Practical
• Kathy Kathy quilts at

Follow Faith and Felt Obsession on Facebook, Pinterest and You Tube

What are your favourite summer sewing items?

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.

Follow Faith and Felt Obsession on Facebook, Pinterest and You Tube

Where is your treasure?

Radio Interview - Have you heard about the Bible Quiet Book Project?

About a month ago, I did a radio interview about Faith and Felt Obsession's Quiet Book Bible Project.

Radio Interview Part 1

Radio Interview Part 2

Hope you guys enjoy!

Click here to go to Genesis 5 - Lineage Birthday Cake Quiet Book Page

Click here to go to Deuteronomy 4 - Seek Me Find Me Quiet book Page

Follow Faith and Felt Obsession on Facebook, Pinterest and You Tube

Which page would you like me to make next?

Psalm 58 - Snail Quiet Book Page

In Psalm 58, David asks God to make the wicked like snails that melt away as they go along!

Memory Verse: "May they [the wicked] be like snails that dissolve into slime" Psalm 58:8a

Materials needed to create the Snail quiet book page:

• A4 felt background sheet. I used sky blue.
• felt scraps
• rik rak
• sheer printed organza or other colourful sheer material
• embroidered flower motifs or other hide-able object
• glass stone or marble, button, bead etc
• sewing threads to match 
• this snail colouring page from Coloring Pages for Kids (and a printer)

On your background sheet, arrange some green felt in the foreground to make grass and sew down.

Cut out a double layer of the same green felt in the shape of a bush. Sew the two bush pieces back to back. Then sew them down along the right top edge of the grass, ensuring you leave enough room to fit the snail along the rest of the grass.

Fold back the bush and sew/iron on your motif underneath.

Print and cut out your snail colouring page and use as a template. If you need a more detailed explanation, you could read how I used a colouring page as a template in my post on Jacob's Ladder.

Cut out the snail body and sew down, then add the eye pieces on top.

Measure how much rik rak you need by laying it over the snail outline. Cut a little extra to tuck underneath at each end. Melt the ends with a match so they don't fray.

Lay your organza or sheer fabric over the area where the snail shell will be. Pin your rik rak down in a spiral pattern over the top and slip in a glass stone or other item underneath the organza. Make sure there is enough room to move the stone around while it is still pinned. That way you can adjust it before sewing if needed. I started from the outside edge and went in towards the middle, then turned around a stitched all the way back out again. That will help to make it tough and be able to withstand being played with. Then trim the organza back.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate

The tricky part is lining up the rik rak. Also, make sure you cut out the snail shape after sewing it down and not before - I had to re-do it as I missed catching a section and there was a hole that the glass stone kept slipping out of.

This is Tahlia with her three pages of sewing on paper that we did after finishing the snail. She often sits on my lap while I sew and has been dying to test out the fancy stitches on the machine that I never use. So I let her.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

• Psalm 58 - This page tells about how ultimately the wicked will be like the snail - they will melt away and dissolve into slime!
• Imaginative Play - Garden play perhaps, imagine how big everything is when you are as small as a snail
• Button/stone/marble maze - push the stone around the track
• Shapes - learn all about spirals
• Peek-a-boo - lift the flap to reveal the (half) hidden flowers
• 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 58

Devotional

All too often, those in authority use their power to take advantage of others. Sometimes they are scary and they scare people into obedience. Sometimes they seem too difficult to stand up to. I guess David knew how that felt. The king of Israel was supposed to be looking after God's sheep, but instead he was hunting one of them down to try to kill him. David.

In a way this verse reminds me of the story of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz story.  She seems formidable until a simple bucket of water causes her great concern and she cries "I'm melting!" as she dissolves into nothing.

I guess my point is that the bucket of water is like a tiny bit of good or a tiny bit of faith. God and goodness are infinitely stronger than evil. In fact, wickedness is self-destructive. It cannot prevail against goodness.

This point was taken to heart by Desmond Tutu in his opposition to apartheid in South Africa. He knew he was on the winning side, because goodness always prevails in the end. Although living in a very volatile situation, he led his country to a war-less end to systematic racial discrimination and segregation, and advocated reconciliation through forgiveness. The country underwent a transition to democracy, and apartheid rule that had lasted over forty years was broken. It melted away because of goodness.

David had experience with that too. Everyone else could only see a giant problem when they looked at Goliath. But David knew that a little stone in the hands of faith could melt that problem. He trusted God to deal with his problems. Our problems might look insurmountable to us, but when you know how good and powerful God is, suddenly you have a way to dissolve them. Just ask Him.

“Good is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death. Victory is ours, through him who loves us.” Desmond Tutu.

Follow Faith and Felt Obsession on Facebook, Pinterest and You Tube

What would you like dissolved? Take it to the LORD in prayer and don't give up until He answers.