Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Born from Above

You may remember A Storm Story from a few months ago, where I responded to an upcoming Sunday text by creating a small quilt. The piece was then used in communication graphics for our church that week, as well as on the cover of the bulletin.

Photo graphic by Josh Judd-Herzfeldt. Used by Permission.

So I have since learned that what I participated in has a name, Visio Divina, the practice of contemplating with the eyes, ie. through visual art.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to create another piece for Sunday, May 30; which in our denomination is recognized as Holy Trinity Sunday, and follows immediately after Pentecost. I won't go into the significance of those themes too much, though some of you may be familiar with them. Suffice it to say that I found expressing this theme very difficult. I think it was the confluence of the assigned scripture (John 3:1-17) with the actual theme. I'm no theologian, for sure. But the words that kept coming back to me in the text were "born from above." So the piece I created shows descending doves, which are a pretty well-known image representing the spirit of God.

The doves were cut from my own improvisationally drawn template; and pieced from red scraps, red also being a reference to the spirit. And to me, the scrappy mix symbolized the complexity of understanding or even reconciling oneself to a Trinity. They were then echo-quilted in red thread, and are obviously the key feature of the piece. From there, quilting itself played a secondary role, using several gold threads, including a 12wt, which is not one I commonly use, but it sure makes a statement. Those gold threads were used to symbolize both God the Father, as well as emphasize the 'born from above' theme. The vertical lines of quilting in the bottom half give a nod to God the Son, drawing the image 'down' to the earth where Jesus walked among us.

The quilt was finished with a faced binding and measures 18" x 20". Thanks to those of you who read more about the inspiration of this unique piece. I find it a distinctive challenge to combine both my faith and my creative gifts in this way.

10 comments:

  1. Both quilts are beautiful and aptly illustrate the message you were trying to convey. When you do straight line quilting do you usually got from top to bottom or side to side? If both, then how do you decide?

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  2. Your liturgical quilts are amazing! I hope you create more.

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  3. How long did you have to respond to the request? I think one of the most fascinating aspects of these for you are that they have very real deadlines.

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  4. I think it's such a beautiful representation. how lucky your church is to have you!

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  5. (Google ate my last comment!) What a wonderful insight into your process, resulting a beautiful interpretation of the bible reading. Those doves are truly amazing! As was noted on IG, I fear you have started something here and may well be employed to be the resident fabric artist for your Church!

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  6. This is so beautiful, Debbie! I love how you captured this!

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  7. I enjoyed reading all the thought that went into this project, as well as seeing your design. I really like the quilting and the meaning behind it. Great interpretation, and what a neat way to meditate on the text!

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  8. Beautiful little quilt Debbie! And I really enjoyed reading about your thought process and the meaning behind everything.

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  9. I missed this post and just now found it.
    Your Dove quilt is amazing, thank you for sharing your thought process!

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