Thoughts about Easter

(Topics: Grief and Anxiety, mental health, Easter/Religion, cemeteries)

Hi Friends,

The other day, I spent the day with Charlie.

I have been feeling really, really sad and overwhelmed lately. Sometimes, when I'm feeling heavy, it's very hard for me to figure out why - and knowing why makes it easier for me to either live with the feelings, or to find something to do to help.

I felt like I've been having a harder time than usual staying steady when life threw me curve balls (as life always does, on smaller and larger scales). When my hubby also commented on that, I decided to call my therapist to see if I could get in for an extra session.

(Side note: there is NO SHAME in asking for extra help! I know it's hard. It's hard to know when to ask, and it's hard to ask. It can be hard to admit that you aren't able to do it all yourself. I encourage you to set up support systems so it's easier to ask for help. For instance, I have friends who I trust, who know my whole story and things I struggle with. I can easily vent to them, because I don't have to explain anything. But I also don't want to burden them - so I also have a therapist. Therapists are AMAZING, guys. If you try a therapist, and you don't feel comfortable, it's ok to go to a new one. FIND THE RIGHT FIT FOR YOU 💗💓. Once you find someone you like, the point is that they are trained to help and trained to listen - but they are OUTSIDE the situation. They won't get hurt feelings, and they won't get mad. They JUST HELP. And it's AMAZING 💕💓.)

I got an extra session to get help, because even things that seemed like they should be little were feeling big. My therapist is my outside perspective, and helps me find my rational brain but also helps me acknowledge my emotions.

In this session, she helped me identify stressors that were overwhelming me, or stressing me out, or triggering my grief - even when sometimes it was super subconscious.

I actually prepare a little for my sessions by taking notes on rough days, of what bothers me or big things that happen. This helps guide what we talk about and helps me feel like we use the time a little more effectively (this is not everyone's style - you do you!).

Above the line, notes to tell the therapist.
Below, notes written afterward, with some of what we talked about.

After we went through my list, I asked - WHY?? Why is everything so hard right now?? And she literally sat there and counted things off on her fingers, guys. Counted things back off to me, that I had told her about, but also helped me identify a few more things that had been in the background, that I had not yet seen clearly enough to name.

One was that, the last time we moved, it was not only right after Charlie died, it was literally because Charlie died. We had planned to wait to move until he was 3-6 months old before we moved. Instead, we were in our new place about a month after. So since we're moving sometime this summer, that might be a reason that packing and planning is so hard for me to work on.

One of the other things she pointed out is that Easter is - like Christmas - about a mother, but this time about the son dying. And coming back again...
Mary is a complicated figure for me. Really complicated.

So after we'd identified what some of the triggers were (there were about a half a dozen others, too....), we talked about how to find some relief. Some comfort, and a way through, through the sad and the pain, because the stress isn't as heavy when the sad isn't weighing me down.

The other day, I spent the day with Charlie.

The main solution she suggested was to let myself feel. To spend some time with Charlie, if I could, but to remember and feel and cry and just be, with my pain and sorrow, and weep if I need to.

The universe (God?) listened to my need. I had been worried that I couldn't find time, since it's a decent distance to Charlie's grave; and to sit and feel, I couldn't be rushed. But one of my scheduled items got cancelled, and suddenly I had a whole day ahead of me, to go to my little boy.

I spread out my blanket, and opened the umbrella to keep the sun off (and in case it rained), and I sat down with Charlie, and lay with him, and talked to him.

I told him how much I missed him and how much I wanted to hold him... and I wept.

Tears do cease, at some point. The pain behind my sternum, the pressure in my throat does ease, as though the tears wash out a tightness and release something.

I weeded his garden, and touched some of the decorations and memorials we have for him there.

And I lay with my chest over where he is buried. The closest I can come to holding him.

The other day, I spent the day with Charlie.

It means so much to me, to have a place to care for, that is just his, and his alone.

I have a complicated relationship with Mary, Jesus' mom. Her baby was born alive, which hurts at Christmas. She gets to see him grow up. But she suffers through his death. I imagine that she hurts inside, behind her sternum, so tight it hurts to breathe. I imagine she weeps so deeply she convulses in Joseph's arms. I imagine she knows this pain. But. He lives again. My Charlie doesn't yet.

Jesus died right before a Jewish holiday. That meant that his body had to be dealt with before the sun went down that Friday, and couldn't really be tended to properly until the Sabbath and the Passover was over. Joseph of Arimathea was the guy who put the body in the tomb in the right cloths. He made sure the basics were taken care of, that were important.

But women went to care for his body, to lay him to rest and to say their last goodbyes. Those are the women I watch, in this story. They prepare the ointments to rub on the body, to do the rites of burial and death from their culture, to make things right, as much as you can when someone dies. They go back after their holiday, to finish things.

We know who those women were, because they were the eyewitnesses that Jesus was gone (alive, risen, back).

I care who they were, because they were the grave tenders. The ones who would have placed the headstone and served the funeral lunch and planted flowers with his mom, if it were now.

The book of Matthew says it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. The book of Mark says it was women including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome (so that was a pretty large group). The book of Luke says it was the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, and also lists them as Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women. In the book of John it's only Mary Magdalene.

No matter who it was, they cared. They took the time to go, and planned to care intimately for his body, hands on. I wish so hard I'd been able to do more of the funeral care myself, for Charlie. This isn't something our culture is used to, anymore. And I did not know to ask for it, and I don't know if I would have wanted it at the time -- in hindsight, though, I miss caring for my little boy, giving him the final kiss in his coffin.

I saw a picture, last month. It was a mama and a papa, tucking their baby into his coffin, into his "forever crib". Seeing that, suddenly my heart longed for having done that for Charlie.
To care for a body, to minister to their last cares on earth, is an act of pure love. Of closure. Of peace within sorrow.

As I lay with Charlie, my breast filling the hollow in the earth beneath which he rests, I felt complete and yet bereft. Filling the hole in my heart, the gaping hole in my life with the closest thing I could.

The other day, I spent the day with Charlie. 

While I was there, I read a book to Charlie. We read to Pookie regularly, and it's a thing we can hold onto - one of the things we'd looked forward to, so much. So many other things were taken away, but that we can still do.

I also read a graphic memoir, called Rosalie Lightning, written by a father whose daughter died of SIDS. His experiences - his raw emotion - reading that while visiting Charlie -
He talked of how a loss parent's attention can be grabbed by other children of the right age, how we can stare, stare at what could have been.

Today is the day before Easter. The in-between. The waiting - for us, who know how the story ends. For those back then, the second day since. Counting life based on the life-changing moment. For me, two days ago was 2 years and 10 months. Since.

Charlie is nearly three. How do you plan a birthday party for the 3rd year since a death?

I'm always aware of how old he is/would be/would have been.

Today is the day before Easter as I write this, Saturday. Some churches hold a vigil, traditionally held from before midnight until after midnight, to celebrate the moment of Easter at the turning point of the night.

We went to an evening vigil service. When the priest was preaching about the Easter life, the Christian life, is to focus on LIFE not death - all I could think was, how intrusive is death. How hard, not to think of loss, even with the promise of life.

Right then, two 3-year-olds started to get restless and play.

My Charlie.

I should have been dealing with a restless Charlie.

Every day, I spend the day with Charlie.

No matter what, he's on my mind. This is a holiday (holy day) about life, promise of life, promise of future life, power over death.

My son is dead.

My religion gives promise, hope.

But everyday, my son is not in my arms.

My son is on my mind. My son is in my heart. Everyday, he is with me. I'm the one staring at your son, thinking of what my son might have said, might have done, and hurting.

I'm the one rocking a teddy bear, because my baby is dead.

I understand the hope with my head, but not yet with my heart. I have to take any tiny bit that my heart can understand.

To the lady who passed the peace to my bear, please know that in my heart, you passed the peace to my son. Thank you. I may cry, but my heart is lighter.

💛

Yours,

Sarah

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Designing a Church Website: Thoughts from a "younger" person

Designing a Church Website

Thoughts from a "younger" person

Who is this "younger" person?

I say "younger" because I'm no longer in my twenties... but I'm generally still within the age group that a lot of churches say they want to attract to their church. These are some thoughts and suggestions I have, based on my own experiences researching and visiting churches, as I looked for a congregation to be part of. My experience is largely based on Ohio churches in the ELCA Lutheran and Episcopal denominations of Christian, but the suggestions and thoughts apply more widely.

What am I looking for (and other visitors too)?

When I am looking for a church, I research using a church's website. So the things I look for right away are:

• What denomination is this church?
• When is its service(s)?
• Where is it located? 

Really, that's it. Anything else you want to put on the website is great, but shouldn't be the first thing I see.

Other useful things to have easy to find:

• Pastor/priest's name, and a bio is interesting
• A welcome greeting to visitors
• a "who we are" statement - NOT in churchy language! Needs to be easy for a non-churchgoer to figure out!

Also - make sure your Google Maps listing is up-to-date. You can make sure that the phone number, address, website, and "type" are correct (one church was listed as a "museum" which made it harder to find). You can also add office hours and service times. This is the first place many people check, especially if they are first-time or very sporadic visitors.

What purpose should your website serve?

This can be a pretty broad question, but as I implied above, a website is a great first-interaction. This means that visitors see the website as your "face" - it's how you're presenting yourself and your congregation. Yes, include activities and pictures and events, but make sure they aren't hiding the info a first-time visitor needs to see. A welcome message from the pastor/priest can be great. A basic statement on who you are and what your type of church believes can be really helpful. If you want to have a section for members, where there is info on events and sign-ups and schedules for volunteers, that's wonderful! Make it easy for them to find, but don't hide the info the first-time visitor needs. The more I have to search for info, the more likely that I'll give up and not even try to come to your church.

Don't assume that, in order to appeal to young people, your church has to have a certain type of music or worship. Just like any generation, young people have varied interests and needs. Simply be clear about what type of church you are, make it easy for me to figure out - and I'll find the church that fits me, rather than going to a church that isn't a good fit and being miserable.

 

How a church makes me feel welcome (or excluded)

One of the things I have found is that a lot of churches say they want young people to come, but they don't always act on that. By that I mean that many churches are very comfortable with how they have been for many decades. The act of including new people, fresh eyes, is by nature an act of change. Someone with fresh eyes might point out that something no longer makes sense, or comes across as hypocritical. Meeting those observations with an open dialog will create an environment where someone new feels welcome. Shutting down conversation will have the opposite effect. I love tradition - but a tradition with no purpose and no reason, especially if it comes across as hypocritical, may not actually be a tradition - it might be fossilization. Being willing to recognize that and be open to change can make a congregation really wonderful for a new person.

Additionally, many people my age have children. Make it clear what opportunities there are for children and how they are welcomed! They are the future of any church, and if they aren't welcome, their parents won't feel welcome either - and there goes the future. Have great programs for the kids in your church, set up safety protocols, create an environment where the children learn about what your church actually believes - and then gush to the visitors about it! We are excited to hear it - even if we don't have living children of our own yet. Many churches can also get really picky about children making sound during church. It's joyful noise and they are your future! But if your congregation isn't open to children who might make noise during service, make the information about your cry room or nursery easy to find, and clear to understand. Families that are comfortable with that style of church will find you, and those who don't feel comfortable with that and won't feel welcomed will know to find another church.

Singles are also interested in church sometimes. It is great to have activities at times of day that singles can participate (such as, not just Tuesday morning crochet group - That is a fine group to have, but excludes anyone who works. Think about evening and weekend times too. What about kid/stay-at-home-parent groups? Those could be during the day. Vary it! Change it up!). Make it easy to find information on activities, and who is welcome in each one, but don't push a visitor to join a group or especially to get on a committee. Pushing me to get on a committee makes me think you're desperate and don't care about me - only the labor I can provide. I had one pastor push hard for me to join a committee - the very first time we met! I shouldn't have had to blurt out "my son just died" for her to realize she was pushing too hard... Once I feel welcome, invite me to sit in on a group. Make it "no pressure". If I like you guys, I'm sure to become involved!

If you make an effort to care for God's kingdom/the earth, highlight it!!! It's great to see churches living out the word they preach by doing things such as recycling, using reusable dishes, banning Styrofoam and plastic (one place even gave plastic up for Lent as a whole congregation!), or even larger projects like solar, green roofs, bioswale drainage management, etc. This is important to a lot of people now, so surprise me with what you do! Try new things!

If you recognize visitors are there, it's also a great idea to announce whether or not they are welcome at communion, to point out how to sign up for notifications if you have them (see the next section), and to make sure that your service leaflet is clear (will they know which book to grab? Does your leaflet explain that? A "welcome to visitors" paragraph can be helpful.).

Once you have an idea of who you are as a congregation and how you want to approach visitors, it might be helpful to make sure the congregation all knows, too. We once visited a church where literally no one said hello to us. We may as well have been a part of the wall. Greet your visitors! Maybe consider having ambassadors, who will greet visitors, make sure they have a leaflet. Maybe sit with them? Offer them a tour of the church, and tell them about the church! In the churches where this was done, they ended up being wonderfully welcoming churches in many ways, so to us this indicates an overall attitude of openness to new people, which was great. Also, LISTEN to visitors if they tell you something isn't working! This happened to us once (their website wasn't mobile friendly, we mentioned it, and it was great by the next time we came!)  Especially if we get a chance to see it fixed, it really can raise our opinion of a church!

Show and talk about your vision for the church going forward. While tradition and history are essential, as a visitor who might be considering joining, the future of the church is where I'll end up, so that's important to me. This can be demonstrated in how you handle current events, where children fit in the congregations and the programs for them, community involvement, use of church building and grounds on days other than Sunday, etc. Running the church like it was 40 years ago can be very comfortable for the people who are already there, but it can make it very difficult to join in as a young person - especially a young single or a young childless couple - who might be very concerned with current issues, how the church reconciles theology/tradition with the here-and-now, and are looking for a place that can provide support to them and a home for them. Awareness of current topics, concerns, and technology, while being alert for hypocrisy or even heresy will make the church more accessible. Showing that decisions in the church are made with forethought, planning, and deliberation also shows that the congregation has an eye to the future.

How else can a church communicate with me?

Since we started out by talking about the website, let's get back to that. A website is your #1 place to put up announcements. If your services are combined one week and at a different time, put it on your website! If you have special services, like holiday services or memorial services that are open to the public, put that on your website too! Make it easy to find. A "calendar" page can actually be confusing. It's fine to have for members, but consider a list of events to make the info easy to find for non-members. Also, highlight how the church is active in the community doing God's work and living his message, not just what is offered within the congregation. This is a key piece for many people looking for a church - do you live what you preach? P.S. Make sure your site is mobile friendly! That is one of the frequent ways people will be accessing it, so it needs to be easy to read and navigate on a phone screen. Note: having to download documents to find information is cumbersome, and can even be truly impossible on a phone, so please have it all in html. Flash is also hard to manage on mobile.

If you want to keep repeat visitors informed, who aren't regulars, a great way is an email or texting service. Make it easy to sign up (put it in your bulletin or service leaflet! The pastor can even talk about it in the announcements if they notice new people). Send out updates anytime something is not standard!

If you send out weekly or monthly newsletters, that's awesome. You might consider having it as a separate signup than the "announcement" emails/texts, but maybe not. Make sure all the content is clear and easy to read, and is in the body of the email (clicking links or loading pdfs is clumsy, and many people won't do it because it's an extra step and doesn't function as well on mobile). This is a great way to communicate to all your members too, but remember to make sure you know who needs their copy mailed! Not all people - even "young" people - want everything digital. There are always some who are hard-copy people, and they should not be left out.

Facebook and other social media are nice, but not crucial. That said, having a basic Facebook business page, which is rather like a website, give you another place to list the basics: denomination, service times, location. It can make you easier to find. Posting updates here for particular services or time changes and announcements is easy, and it's a great place for occasional additional content like sermon excerpts, music, or pictures (make sure you have permission of all the people in the picture).

~~~

Thanks for listening! I'm about to start this whole process again, and I can guarantee I'll find many sites that look like they were built in the 90s and never updated, ones that are great for members but impossible to navigate for visitors, and some churches with no website at all - but I also anticipate that I'll find a handful that are great and that I'll learn even more great ideas from!


Yours,

Sarah

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Beautiful Chapel Decorations

(Topic: Religious symbols, fabric crafting, design)

Dear Friends,

Remember a few months ago, I did a series of posts about a set of three banners, including a follow-up post? In the follow-up, I had pictures of some banners that inspired me. I don't remember if I said, but they were in the Valparaiso University Chapel. They have a stunning space, and choose their vestments and decorations to match and support the space.

I recently had the chance to go there again, and they had some amazing decorations up on their staggered brick walls, which you can see the long view of, above in the top picture of this post. They were borrowed from another church, I was told, and made of felt - and, I believe, simply stuck to the wall like a feltboard!

Each decoration was a huge circle - maybe 20 feet across? That's totally a guess based on looking up at them. And each had different types of religious symbology, in some cases similar to the symbology I used in the banners I made, but fascinatingly these were all symetrically mandala-like. I took pictures of several, because their use of color and design was amazing. Please enjoy!

This was in a Lutheran chapel, and the symbol in the center here is the Luther Rose. This one has a Lutheran theme.

Easter theme.

Again, an Easter theme.

A Pentecost theme, which was when I was there.

See what I mean about a lovely use of form and color? I found them to be absolutely stunning.


Yours,

Sarah

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Church Banner Triptych Set

Hi Friends!

Now that you've seen the 3 banners for church develop individually, I'd like to explain a little more about the inspirations, and also tell you some of the hidden secrets!

A stained glass window at church, with some of the symbols of Rocco: Hat, dog, staff.

One of the inspirations was too look at some of the symbology already present in the church, and the histories of the saints themselves.

The St. James window, with the scallop and sword.

Another resource was looking at banners I could take inspiration from. I traveled to Valparaiso around the time I started the project, and initially, this banner caught my eye, for some techniques (not design).

This banner has lots of texture. Couched threads, textured fabrics, smooth fabrics, and metallic threads all play a role.

I particularly liked the couching (where you lay a thick thread on top of the fabric, then use thin threads to sew it down). There are a few pieces that are currently glued and will be couched on the St. James banner, but I abandoned the technique as not giving the effect I wanted, based on the types of fabrics I was using.

However, as I was shown the University Chapel at Valparaiso, there was one banner set that really started catching my eye. Not only were they neat on their own, they gave me clues about how to make several banners look like they belonged together.

By looking at this banner set, I learned that you could use several motifs (light, ribbons, and a scene) and by having them cross over multiple banners, and using a piecing technique to bring in multiple colors, you could still get a set.

I hope you can see that happening here too:

The following info is what I shared with the congregation about some of the hidden features and details of the set.


The Saint Banners: Did You Notice?


St. James

- The red cross actually contains some of his other symbols: the bottom is the pointed sword, and the top and sides represent his scallop(s)
- The red shield is in homage to the St. James Church coat of arms, which is a red shield with three scallops and a sword


St. Andrew

- Some of the blue fabrics have a nautical theme. Bonus if you notice what’s on the period on the word “St.”!
- The overall color is blue because that reinforces the nautical/fisherman theme
- The fish actually has scales, if you look closely. They are made of glitter on a see-through fabric, but the glitter is trapped because I used the fabric upside-down!
- The fish also has an eye
- The net has three ropes, representing the Trinity
- Can you see the St. Andrew’s cross? It isn’t actually made of fabric, but the negative image of the cross is formed by the blue squares, outlining the white saltire


St. Rocco

- This dog is copied directly from a medieval drawing, since St. Rocco lived in the middle ages, including the style of his eye and his collar
- There is a cross on the loaf of bread


All Three: Similarities

- The overall style is similar: the use of bold color and blocks/squares for much of the design
- All are abstract to some degree
- All have an animal
- None have humans
- Each has at least one human tool
- All use a silver fabric (sword for James, fish for Andrew, dog for Rocco)
- All are the same size and use the same background/base fabric
- All three have some form of cross


All Three: Differences

- None share any colored fabrics
- Each has a different featured color (Reds for James, Blue for Andrew, and Green for Rocco)
- Each has a different featured shape (triangle for James, diamond/X for Andrew, and upside-down V/square for Rocco)


Yours,

Sarah

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Church Banner - St. Andrew

Sketch for St. Andrew banner

Hi Friends,

This banner was fun but oh, so much harder to put onto fabric what I had in my head!!! As you can see in the sketch above, St. Andrew (a fisherman) is being represented in a nautical way, with a large fish in the center.

To begin with, I started with the fish. The squares, while a multitude, are geometrically simple, so those came second. The net... ah, the net. We'll get to that.

The fish.

To make the fish, I used the same technique as with the dog: iron-on the interfacing, draw the fish on the paper in reverse, then cut it out.

Fish compared to banner. Note that due to aspect ratios, I had to shift proportions when transferring the idea to fabric.

The squares in place, but not ironed down. Selecting the fish angle: nose down...

...or nose up? The lines are masking tape, helping me keep some angles lined up.

Still hadn't figured out the net, and can't place the fish till the net was done, so I set that aside, and worked on the squares and the name. The squares needed to not have too many of the same print near each other, and I wanted the slight fade-out effect from using different sizes.

Working on the name.

Squares are ironed down. Now placing, aligning, and ironing down the name.

At this point I hit a mental roadblock. Initially, I had thought of creating some sort of string net in dark grey, and couching it to the banner. But the amount of handwork was daunting (not in and of itself an issue), and I hadn't figured out how to not have the ropes show through the fish and give it a weird texture.

I looked at various types of netting, lace, and other hole-y fabrics, in hopes I could find something flatter that would give me the look I wanted. I found nothing that worked. The project came to a standstill. Luckily, I still had some time.

I kept browsing for options and frequently went to fabric stores to try to figure out a way past the incongruities between my vision and what I could put my hands on.

Finally. I realized that maybe I could find a fabric that just looked right. It had to be dark lines on a light background, though, and most prints with ropes are dark blue with white or tan ropes, so this would take some hunting. Eventually, though, I found what I wanted!!!

The diamond "weave" matches the lozenge blank space on the banner, so that is a lovely shape-echo

Here you can see the color a bit better. It's a pale blue with very dark navy lines.

So now I have a net! Still a bit of shaping to be done, but it means I can go back to the fish for a bit.
The fish originally was going to have individual scales, each of a different color. I swapped that plan in favor of a sheer teal tulle, which was much more synthetic than I'm used to working with. Had to turn my iron cooler! And... this part I paid for... it had a glitter pattern shaped like fish or mermaid scales. I reversed the fabric, so the glitter side faced the silver fish, but once it was ironed down, you could still see the scales (without the banner shedding glitter).

... I got a little over zealous cleaning up the glitter (which I am not a fan of!) and accidentally touched my hot iron... had blisters for a week... oops!

The scales and the fin stripes are from tulle fabric and tulle ribbon respectively, in both cases with the glitter encased.

After a bit of playing with it, I managed to shape a net, and started working on positioning:

And here we go! All put together!

Staying ironed on the rocking chair waiting to be delivered to church!

And hanging up!

The symbolism:

The Saltire
You may be familiar with the flag of Scotland, which is blue with a white X (also called a saltire). This is the Cross of St. Andrew, which originates from the shape of a sideways crucifix or similar cross, which is how St. Andrew was killed.

The Net
St. Andrew was a fisherman, and one of Jesus’ disciples.

The Fish
Again, St. Andrew was a fisherman, and he "fished for men" according to the story.

Other names for Saint Andrew include: None! He was only St. Andrew!


Yours,

Sarah

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Church Banner - St. Rocco

Banner plan sketch detail.

Hi Friends,

The second banner I worked on for church represents St. Rocco. Unlike the St. James, who I already posted about, and St. Andrew (yet to come), Rocco was alive in the 1300s, and this means that part of my research could be in medieval manuscripts! Fun!

In fact, this picture from a book cover is actually my direct inspiration for the dog on the banner. There is a dog because that's part of Rocco's story (see below for explanations of the symbols I used). The dog is a whippet style, because whippets and greyhounds were popular in the middle ages. Also, because they are super cute the way they were drawn back then!

A book cover with original medieval art, serving as inspiration for my St. Rocco Puppy!!! :)

Final sketch

Final sketch, framed to give to the Priest whose idea it was!

Doggo!

My first step was to use iron-on double-sided interfacing, as I'd used on the prior banner. I ironed it all over the back of the silver fabric, but left the paper on, sketched my dog in reverse, then cut it out; laying it on the banner gave me a sense if I was where I needed to be. I proceeded to do this with all the other shapes needed for this design.

Initial layout

In the initial layout, you can see that all the edges are still curling up. At this point they all have the double-sided iron-on interfacing, but still with the paper backing. This was my test for placement, then I pinned it all down roughly, just to keep things in their respective places, so I could move to the ironing board.

All ironed down!

As I ironed, I was able to fine tune placement, especially when I had to remove and replace upper layers so I could get the bottom layers right, or when I was interweaving layers, like with the roots and branches. You may have noticed that my sketch and my banner do not have the same aspect ratio. Yep, that actually caused some consternation, since it meant I had to readjust placements and proportions once I was working with fabric! I don't know why I didn't prepare my sketch pad to reflect the right dimensions...

Done and on display! Love that doggo

The Symbols of St. Rocco

As represented on our new banner, 2017

The Forest
St. Rocco lived in the middle ages, and cared for people with the plague. When he also caught it, he went and lived in the forest alone. He is often shown pointing to an open plague wound or bubo on his leg.

The Dog with Bread
While St. Rocco was living in the forest, a dog stole bread from its master and brought it to St. Rocco to keep him alive until he recovered. Some stories say that the master followed the dog, and took St. Rocco to his home to recover. Others say the master simply became a follower of St. Rocco once he recovered.

The Hat with Shell
At one point in his life, St. Rocco made a pilgrimage, likely to Rome. By this point, the shell was the symbol of Christian pilgrims of all types, regardless of where they went, though still most often associated with St. James at Santiago in Spain.

The Staff with Water Bottle
The staff is another symbol of pilgrimage, given that pilgrimages at that time were done on foot.

Other names for Saint Rocco include: St. Roch, St. Rock, St. Roche, St. Rochus, Sant Roque.

Yours,
Sarah

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Church Banner - St. James

Hi Friends,

Last year, our parish priest requested that I make a three-banner set for the church, representing 3 saints that are important to that church. Based on when he asked me and how soon he wanted them ready for display, I agreed to try to have them finished by the saint's day for each one as it came up.

**Note. Since this was done for a church, the descriptions and explanations below will make use of more "churchy" and Bible-related language. However, I'm presenting it here primarily for the artistic and fiber arts side of things.

The first saint's day that was going to approach was that of St. James. Based on research using various saint descriptions and databases, I came up with a list of symbols for each saint, and started working it into a design.

Additionally, it was important that all three banners be distinct and individual, but yet that they have some cohesion and are clearly of a set. I came up with the mosaic-esque element first, and decided to try to have a similar element in each, to keep them unified. I'll write more about my inspirations for the set as a whole when I post about the completed set of 3.

Here are some of my sketches:

The key was in my early sketches, but got exchanged for the St. James cross when I had trouble finding out what the key was supposed to stand for. Drat, because I liked my multi-piece key design.

I liked how the cross came out too, though!

Once I had the design ready, I got the fabrics. I got all of the base/background for the banners at once, since it would be the same for all of them. I measured the hall they would be going into, with the help of the priest, to figure out what kind of space coverage he wanted. They ended up about 3' x 5', though the wall could have handled more. The restrictions that kept them small were 1) it had to be able to fit on banner poles for procession, and 2) the person carrying it needed to be able to see under or around it if necessary.

I cut and hemmed all three bases at once, so I could then just focus on design.

Here you can see the process of layout. I used a combination of pins and eyeballing, and then ironed everything on using iron-on double sided interfacing. In fact, that's the state the banner is still in... one of these weeks I'll bring it home and just sew down all the edges!

Full layout, fully ironed down, awaiting some details.

The details are the shell ridges and the sword runnel. Both are a shiny metallic cord. They are glued on, to be couched properly by hand at a later date.

Draped over a rocking chair awaiting delivery. Didn't want to make creases in my ironed banner, so it took over the living room!

Banner and artist in the church hall!

Here's my write-up of the symbolism used, which was posted beside the banner in the church:

The Path
St. James, after being a disciple of Jesus, became a traveling preacher in his own right, and is said to have traveled as far as Spain. The path represents his travels and his teachings of Jesus as The Way.

The Shield
St. James Parish in [removed] uses a red shield with a sword and shell as their church crest.

The Sword
St. James is said to have been beheaded by a king who did not appreciate his teachings.

The Shell
One of the places in Spain that St. James may have traveled to, and where his relics did come to rest, was named after him: Santiago de Compostela. This is not far from a coastal area, and pilgrims who visited his relics in the middle ages would pick up a sea shell as a souvenir. Some attribute the shell to pilgrims’ souvenirs from the area of Palestine, instead.

The St. James Cross
The St. James Cross combines the iconography of the sword (the pointed bottom) and the scallop (the top).

Other names for Saint James include: St. James the Greater, Santiago (or Sant Iago), San Diego, Sankt Jakobus, St. Jacob.

Yours,

Sarah

To subscribe, find the "subscribe by email" note in the left column and enter your email there. Posts will be emailed directly to you whenever I post them!


Resource list: Visit my spreadsheet at www.tinyurl.com/infantloss