Galatians 5 lists the fruit of the Spirit.
Memory Verse: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22 (NASB).
Materials needed to create the Fruit of the Spirit Birdhouse quiet book page:
- A4 felt background sheet - I used light yellow
- my free template
- sewing thread to best match/contrast the page
- scrap decorative cotton fabric (I used a chequered fabric inside the birdhouse, since this chapter also talks about running a race)
- fabric glue or double sided iron-on interfacing
- 25-30mm wide scrap ribbon to best match the scrap fabric
- scrap white/silver mixed ribbons and cord
- small silver/pearl beads
- Korean hard felt in white, hot pink and blue (or a colour that matches with your fabric choices)
- small dot of black felt (you could use a hole punch from a grommet set or similar to make this)
- black Posca fabric pen (and an iron etc to set it)
- lace sections for a nest (lace collars work well)
- 150mm Sew-on Hook and Loop Fastener Tape
My inspiration for this page partly came from a quiet book by PA Country Crafts (referenced below in the devotional section).
To make the birds, cut out a back and front from white felt and cut slits where indicated. You can fold the felt at right angles to where the slit should go and cut with scissors to do this.
Cut lengths of about 12-14cm mixed white/silver ribbons and melt the edges - see my post on How to Stop Ribbons Fraying. You'll need 5-7 ribbons per wing. For some of the ribbons, I used silver cord which I threaded with silver, metal or pearl beads.
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| The secret to cutting multiple lengths of ribbons easily. |
Form fans of ribbons/cord and insert into the slit of each bird to make their wings. These should be made in matching pairs using the same ribbon sets, and be sure to check that when you insert them into the wing slits that you ensure they are pointing towards the tail of the bird and that the ribbons have been inserted so that they line up with each other. For example, if you used a thick ribbon at the bottom of one wing, that the matching ribbon is also at the bottom on the other side of the bird and not at the top of the wing. Use a very tight zig zag stitch over the top of the slit (and edge of the ribbons showing at the edge of the slit) to hold the wings in place and close the slit.
Cut out the beaks from hot pink felt. Sew the two halves of the bird together, inserting the beak as appropriate and ensuring you move the wings out of the way and don't catch them underneath as you go around.
For the egg, cut out one half of the egg from white felt, place it on top of matching white felt. Insert a beak and a small dot of black felt close to it for an eye underneath the egg piece and sew it down with the beak and eye inside. That way, when you hold it up to the light you'll be able to see the baby dove forming inside the egg! Cut out the egg.
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| I tried making legs but they didn't look right, so I just left them off. |
Draw eyes and write the Fruit of the Spirit on the respective birds (love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control) and egg (patience) with the Posca pen and set it with an iron as per instructions (around 30 seconds, moving the iron constantly, with baking paper in between the iron and the felt).
For the birdhouse, start by cutting a small length of the 25-30mm ribbon and melt the edges to prevent fraying. Sew it down over the bottom edge of the page (so you can fold the edge under when sewing pages back to back). This will form a post for the birdhouse to sit on.
Repeat this process on the other side of the felt with another piece of decorative cotton fabric. I used different fabrics for the outside and inside.
Cut ribbon lengths for each side of the birdhouse front and melt the edges to prevent fraying. Fold the ribbon over the edge and sew down to form a nice clean border.
Use a very fine zig zag stitch to finish the edges around the heart. You might want to practice this on a scrap first. Your needle should land over the edge inside the heart hole on the inside side.
Cut out the front and back roof and base of the birdhouse. Cut out the smaller roof piece from the hook side of your hook and loop tape and sew it to the back roof piece of felt.
Position the roof pieces overlapping the top edge of the birdhouse front with the hook velcro facing to the inside of the birdhouse and sew the two pieces together in place.
Cut a length of ribbon to fit the length of the base (slightly too long) and melt the edges to prevent fraying. Position the base pieces overlapping the bottom edge of the birdhouse front. Inserting the ribbon along the bottom edge of the base to be used as a hinge, and sew the two pieces together in place.
Pin the hinge in place over the centre of the birdhouse post so that the inside edge of the birdhouse is facing up, so that when the birdhouse is closed, it will fold inward.
Cut out the back of the birdhouse from your chosen fabric and use iron-on interfacing or fabric glue to attach it to the page, covering the other side of the ribbon.
Use a fine zig zag stitch to finish the edges on the birdhouse back.
Cut your other smaller roof piece from the loop side of your hook and loop tape and sew it into position. You can fold up the front to help you position it well.
Arrange your collar lace into a nest shape and sew down on the outer edge, leaving the top open to form a pocket.
Place your birds and egg in the lace nest. Finished!
Difficulty Level = Intermediate.
The hardest part is sewing the ribbon wings in. It will be easier if you use less ribbon than I did.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
- Galatians 5 - the Fruit of the Spirit, running a race
- Imaginative Play - play with the birds and egg in the birdhouse and nest, hold the egg up to the light and try to identify the beak and eye
- 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
Galatians 5Devotional
Traditional fruit of the spirit illustrations really irritate me. Baskets of unrelated fruit just don't seem to fit with a God who created each fruit to come from it's own plant - He is not the author of confusion. Why do we lump them all in together and sometimes even have them pictured growing on the same tree?
I wanted to do something different with this. I thought about the symbols the Bible uses for the Holy Spirit - water, oil, light/flames, and a dove. The only symbol which reproduces is a dove, and the Bible does refer to the fruit of the womb somewhere, so the idea to use baby doves was born. As I had fallen in love with this birdhouse quiet book page by PA Country Crafts and wanted to re-create it, this was the perfect opportunity.
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| Image source |
To illustrate patience, I figured it would only be right to use an egg. We are still waiting for patience to break out of it's shell. Hopefully the kids get the message demonstrated here.
I used some chequered fabric on the inside of the birdhouse. It was not on purpose, it was just because the fabric colour matched with the other fabric I was using and I had ribbon that went with them both, but I realised afterwards that Galatians 5 is the chapter where Paul talks about the Christian life being like running a race, and not allowing people to cut in on us and prevent us from obeying the truth. So chequered fabric was providentially perfect.
God has given believers the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts - these fruits emerging in our lives should be evident to others. But these works are a product rather than the initiative. The Spirit of God is what encourages the good works in us.
Recently, my husband reminded me that the fruit of the Spirit section is preceded by a list of the deeds of the flesh. Then I realised that this list is accompanied by a warning, and the fruit of the Spirit by an encouragement that walking in the Spirit will lead to a good reward (Chapter 6). All of this seems to mirror the blessings and the curses that related to whether or not God's people would follow the Law given at Sinai. And interestingly, the giving of the Holy Spirit to the early church occurred on Pentecost, which is the anniversary of the giving of the Law at Shavuot. God likes patterns.
