Liturgical Calendar Wall Hanging

These last few weeks I've been working on a secret project! I can't say I love secrets, but when I decided I wanted to make a version of the Liturgical Calendar Triptych that I made back in 2023/2024 for our son's birthday, I had to keep it hush-hush. 

I had just two weeks before we were going to see him and celebrate, so I didn't have much time! My intent was to make a smaller version that would be suitable for hanging in his office. He's a pastor, and I was pretty sure he'd enjoy this representation of what is called a liturgical calendar following the Revised Common Lectionary. As I mentioned my original post on the other project, the calendar provides a three-year series of Biblical readings for Sundays for many many denominations in the US and Canada and beyond. The major seasons of the church year are represented by color, and that is the part that both of these projects are focused on. For this one, I decided on a size of 52" wide by 20" tall, just about 1/3 scale or the original. To help me gauge that size as I sewed, I put parallel strips of blue tape on my design wall, which helped very much!

Perusing my stash, and considering the timeframe, I used mostly fabrics I already had on hand, though I did order several pieces of Marcia Derse's Palette, a fabric I had used liberally in the original triptych, and I knew it could get here quickly. Here are the fabrics I used:

Blue

Kona Blueprint

Marcia Derse Palette in Royal Blue

Essex Speckled Yarn Dyed Ocean

Alison Glass Topography in Pond

White

Kona White + Organic White

Free Spirit Arctic White + Winter White

Essex White

Alison Glass Topography Whisper Chartreuse 

Red

Kona Rich Red

Essex Crimson

Marcia Derse Palette in Cardinal

Black

Kona Black

Marcia Derse Palette in Vine Black

Purple

Kona Nocturne

Marcia Derse Palette in Concord Grape

Yellow

Kona Banana Pepper

Alison Glass Topography in Lemon

Unknown woven

Green

Kona Clover

Essex Kelly

Marcia Derse Palette in This Green

Once I had the sections pieced to their approximate size, I began trimming them vertically and piecing them together. I would sew a joining seam, press it well, then measure before trimming for the next addition, rather than cutting all the colors the widths I thought they needed to be first. This method allowed for any width being taken up in the pressing due to the bulk of multiple-substrate fabrics. 

For a backing, I continued to pull from stash, using Kona Willow, Jungle, and Pesto. 

I quilted vertical lines at increments of 1/8" to 1/2", feeling like the unequal increments kind of fit with the colored sections being different widths. Of course, I used matching threads, though using what I had, while I had the necessary colors, they were of different weights. All together, I used 40wt 2730 [Delft Blue], 2024 [White], 2870 [Green], and 2250 [Red]; 50 wt 4225 [Eggplant] and 2892 [Pine]; and 28wt 2120 [Canary]. Not perfect, but it worked ok. The 40wt seemed to quilt the nicest on this piece.

Once trimmed, I used Audrey Esarey's @cottonandbourbon Quilt Facing Tutorial, which is free on her website. For better or worse, the top and bottom facings were differing greens (the single most used color on the quilt front); though I used blue and white fabric for the ends to match those sections. Whatever, it seemed ok once it was done, and happily, the piece measured exactly 52" long, the number of weeks it represents. I must have over-compensated a bit making the colored sections on the front, but I left as much height as I could, and it finished at a smidge over 22" high. 

Lastly, I added a hanging sleeve - also a free tutorial from Audrey - thinking my son might use a rod of some sort to hang it in his office. If not, it can be ignored or removed. Considering we live a few states away, I thought it was safest to add it just in case. Happily, we are together for a few days, so I was able to gift it to him today on his birthday. Glad I was able to finish it in time!