CRCNA Quilt Block

I was just finishing a quilt this week--yes I was sewing the binding to the back by hand--when I got an email from one of the ministry directors of my church. She had attached a request for quilt blocks for a group quilt for one of our denominational offices. A block request? Oh, yes. That squirrel got me to chase it right then and there.

I belong to a rather small protestant denomination called the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA, for short).  As a binational denomination, it comprises about 1000 congregations in the US and Canada and has denominational offices in both countries. This year, the Canadian office in Burlington, Ontario, has been undergoing a renovation, and the staff is now collecting artwork for the decor. One piece of art they would like to display is a quilt made by members of the domination to reflect the diversity and breadth of membership and symbolize a "welcoming embrace" to all who worship.

The requested block is a simple one--a log cabin with a large, rich purple center (centre, in Canada, eh?) square to represent Christ the King as the center of hearts, homes and churches. The rest of the block is up to the maker, with four light and four dark logs. 

Here is my completed block. 

Picking out the purple square was easy for me, as I don't have many fabrics of that color to pick from. I chose Marbella Purple from the Wanderlust Collection by Paula Nadelstern for Benartex. (I had won this in a giveaway awhile back. Thanks, Sandra!) At first I was going to use other gorgeous fabrics from this line because they are all so pretty together, but then I slowed down to become more intentional about what colors I wanted to use. I thought about what colors were meaningful to my congregation, and decided to focus primarily on the liturgical colors we use to celebrate the different seasons of the church year. These colors also appear in a set of five stained glass windows our church commissioned a few years ago. (You can see the windows here at Conrad Schmitt Studios, Inc if you'd like.) The colors also appear in various shades in the ministry logos on our church bulletin and other printed materials. 

I auditioned a lot of different fabrics to get the mix I wanted, and in a short time, my work space went from this:

  
to this: 

Squirrels are messy!!

I'd like to say this took no time at all. After all, it is just a log cabin block. But in truth, it took me the better part of an afternoon and evening, auditioning fabrics and then making sure my block was square, precise, and (always an issue when I'm sending a block to someone else) neat on the back as I sewed. 

My favorite part of the block is the little butterfly in the middle of the top log. I found it as I was searching through pale blue scraps, and it immediately reminded me of the year our sanctuary was decorated with ethereal butterflies for Easter as a symbol of resurrection and transformation. 

I hope this block uniquely represents my congregation as part of the denominational quilt. A quilter in Edmonton, Alberta, will be making the quilt from the diverse blocks. I hope she receives lots of blocks from across the two countries. (And hey, if you are a quilter and happen to attend one of the CRCNA churches, I hope you are participating.) I'm looking forward to seeing a photo of the whole quilt when it's finished. 

I'm linking up with Sandra at mmm! quilts today for her DrEAMi (Drop Everything And Make it) linky party because this certainly was an insistent little squirrel. I'm glad I chased it. 

And I do have a finish this week (nearly 3 years from the beginning!), but I'll save it to share next week. 

Have a good weekend! (And watch out for squirrels.)