In April, Lorraine and I spent an afternoon together in her studio to discuss the arts, textiles, nature, and the like. We also played around with an image I created using her technique of working with fabric. The result isn’t a finished work but I was able to work through the various steps that Lorraine uses to create her works of art (in a very truncated time span).  Lorraine hosts weekend classes as well as speaks publicly about her work throughout the year. Check out her website  www.Lorraineroy.com for more details.

Here is my drawing and the resulting textile piece.

The drawing we worked off of:

The fabric version of the image using Lorraine Roy’s fabric sliced and netting technique:

Close-up top (you can see the thread painting on these next two photos):

Close-up Bottom:

Enjoy!

Diana

Yup, I’m busting my stash of fabrics and making miniature quilts from the fabric leftover from quilts I’ve made over the last 13 plus years.  I’m clearing out my unfinished projects, de-cluttering gadgets I don’t use, and stash busting. My aim is to come close to empty on my last fabric bin so that I can begin fresh. With a goal to make at least one project each month throughout 2013 I should do a pretty good job of getting through a lot of the fabric that is left.

I love the library. The kids and I go almost every week. We reserve dozens of books on just as many topics. Mine range from admiring knitting and crocheting stitches , to quilt and fabric arts artists, plus a whole lot more. In one of my finds a quilter recommended using half triangle squares to bust your fabric stash. So I raided my scraps and came up with this little table runner.

5″x5″ square

30″x7″ Table runner.
Enjoy!
Diana

Years ago I tried paper piecing an elephant with the plans to make an entire quilt with them for one of my children. I never got past the first elephant. I kept messing up and found paper piecing quite frustrating.

However, under the guidance of Kathy Wagner (instructor for miniature quilting) I once again attempted a paper piecing quilt project. I have to say it isn’t my favourite method because it’s so finicky. However, I appreciate it because of the resulting precision. So I will likely use it sparingly in my future work.

2.5″x2.5″ Square in a Square Paper Piecing

Detail of a single patch

I also did some playing around with free-motion quilting. Nothing to lose and experience to gain.

Here’s the finished result – a small table runner, approximately 21″x10″.

Enjoy!
Diana

I hope to make at least one or part of a new quilt each month but who’s to say where that may lead.

Here is my January Quilt:  Mini Ohio Star

Mini Ohio Star mini quilt by Diana Scholtens 2013 (12″x12″)

Mini Ohio Star 3.5″x3.5″

Mini Ohio Star 3.5″x3.5″ blocks

Mini Ohio Star close-up

Enjoy!

Diana

Brian Stewart delivered the text of this message to the 160th Convocation of Knox College, Wednesday May 12, 2004.

I couldn’t find this anywhere on line except as a word-processor file, so I’ve created a pdf and posted it here.

Here are some pictures from the event at Ruthven Park. Thanks to Brian Enter for the photography. Enjoy!

We enjoyed some bird banding in beautiful weather.

There were some beautiful birds to enjoy.

Rick Ludkin, the head bander, explained the banding process to the 25 people who came out.

There was quite the crowd in the banding lab.

We had opportunities to take the birds outside.

Hold the birds.

And then release the birds back to the wild.

We also also tried out some birding equipment.

Then we went on a bit of a hike to see the local birds along the Grand River.

We stopped for a group picture along the way and ended the morning back to the banding lab for hot chocolate and Tim-bits.

What a great day outside enjoying and developing an appreciation for creation!

There was and is a strong push in this community to define our Christian faith against more liberal forms of Christianity, that is, those that had different views on the place of Scripture in the Christian life, or had alternative definitions of salvation. The critique of liberalism within my community was that it was an attempt to be like the world and still keep the faith, to have your cake and eat it too. And I appreciate that. To be Christian is to be different.

As my faith grew, I also developed a deep appreciation of God’s creation. I loved being outside, exploring the ditches and ponds in our neighbourhood, catching bugs and watching birds. The richness of life on earth has always fascinated me. And that love continues, as I currently work at a native plant nursery, enjoy studying natural history, and regularly interact with others involved in stewarding creation in many different places across Ontario. I love creation!

It should be obvious that these two loves can and do overlap, but often they seem worlds part. In North America, especially in the USA (although not so much in Europe, thankfully), concern for creation within the church is considered a symptom of liberalism. In a recent article in the Globe and Mail, Margaret Wente identifies environmental concern as a symptom of liberalism, as a sign of trying to be like the world. She asks the question that is the title of this article, “”If you really, really care about the environment, why not just join Greenpeace?”

This is the tension that I have always lived with. Should I care about God’s creation in a deeper, (for lack of a better word) more religious way than I do about stamp collecting or aquariums (two hobbies I participated in as a child)? If so, why? Is it simply because everyone else does too, or is there something deeper, a connection to my faith? If I care about God’s creation, am I a liberal Christian, even if I don’t feel like one?

Personally, I think the problem is in the Christian community not understanding the roots of its own faith. The answers to these questions lie in one of Christianity’s founding documents, the Apostles’ Creed. The Apostles’ Creed, accepted by all Christians around the world, was not written by the apostles, but is considered a faithful summary of their teachings. Often recited together as part of Christian worship, it’s opening statement reads, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

What does “I believe” mean in the context of Christian creeds? “I believe” is not just an intellectual assent, as “I believe it’s raining” might be. Rather, it is an acknowledgement by each and every Christian in the world, when they recite this creed, that they want to worship, praise, love, and trust in God, the Father.

Who is this Father? He’s the Creator of heaven and earth. If I respect, love, worship, praise, and trust Someone, how should I treat what that Person has made? Any response that does not include treating that creation with love, honour, praise, and respect is irreverent. It’s not reacting to creation itself, even though so much of it is beautiful and awe inspiring on its own. Rather, the honour and praise is a direct result of the awareness that the God the Father whom I worship, praise, and adore, made this stunning and beautiful world.

It’s that knowledge that drives me, and all those Christians who are earth keepers, to care for God’s creation. It is not liberal Christianity. It does not come out of an impulse to be like the rest of the world. Rather, the foundations of the impulse to care for God’s world are deep in the very origins of Christianity itself. Earth keeping is a testimony. It’s a confession. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth!

Most people are uncomfortable with questions that challenge the status quo. It’s hard work to think outside the box, but without questions, there is no new knowledge. Without questions, we don’t grow. Personally, I’ve always been a bit of a contrarian, so please forgive me as I explore some questions that may seem deliberately provocative.  They are not meant that way. Rather, they are issues that I honestly wonder about and struggle with.

So I have a question for earth keepers. We all prefer organic food because of a commitment to reduced or minimal pesticide and fertilizer use. We assume that this is the best way to steward the earth. But is it really?

Actually, there are studies that demonstrate that organic farming is less productive than conventional farming, especially with certain staple foods like wheat. That means to feed an equivalent number of people with organic food, we will need more land. If that is the case, than arguably I should not be buying organic food because that will increase the likelihood that, as organic food becomes more popular, natural habitat across the world will be converted into farm land.

In places like southern Ontario where conservation organizations are encouraging farmers to convert land to forest, this effort becomes more difficult if organic produce is what the market is calling for. As food prices increase, farmers will look at marginal farmland as an asset rather than a liability, so they will want to keep it as farmland or convert it back to farmland if it has been re-naturalized. This is especially the case now as new drought-tolerant varieties of corn and soybeans make dry land more accessible.

These issues will become especially challenging as earth’s population continues to grow, as is projected, to over 9 billion by 2050. We will need more food, not less, and preferably from less land, so that we can keep as much land as original habitat, if possible, or restore it to natural habitat.

So what’s the answer then? Should we eat conventional or organic food? I don’t know. However, I do know that it is important for us to understand the implications of our decisions. Let’s do our best, and with a prayer for wisdom, look for a good solution, realizing that there is no perfect solution. And be gracious to others who share our love for creation, no matter what their decisions may be.

Cross-posted at New City Church and A Rocha Canada.

Because we live in a community, and because I know Alice, I can take the liberty to respond with a nod to our personalities. Alice is an extrovert. She loves working with people, the push and pull of working with the mess of a hundred different personalities and moods.

I’m a bit of an introvert. I prefer to work with creation because it’s a lot less stressful than working with human beings. There are no personality conflicts. I don’t have to worry about long toes or navigating the ever-changing shoals of working in community. Creation is a lot easier to work with. It doesn’t talk back, argue, or push back. We can get a lot more done working with non-human creation than with humans. I say, forget humans. They’re too much trouble.

Of course, I say this in jest . . . mostly.

Alice has asked a very good question, one that many Christians have asked about caring for God’s creation. Is it more important to care for creation or to love one’s neighbour?

I believe this question is a false dilemma. In many ways, active creation stewardship is an answer to the command to love our neighbours, those neighbours who share the earth with us today, and those that will inherit the earth from us in the future.

First, earth keeping shows love towards our neighbours today by demonstrating concern about the environment they live in today. Environmental problems affect our neighbours, other people who share the earth with us, particularly the poor. Right here in Hamilton this is evident. When we woke up this morning there was a mild east wind. We live in the west end of the city, and as often occurs with a mild east wind, it was a misty morning. There was also the sharp smell of the industrial activity upwind of us, a little like burnt matches. As we went for our morning walk, I wondered what I was breathing in, and how it would affect our lungs and the lungs of our children.

We only “enjoy” this scent once a month or so. If we lived a little north-east of our home, in the poorest neighbourhoods of Hamilton, the smell would be a constant, so much so that I’m certain I wouldn’t notice it. But the scent is a cocktail of chemicals including sulfur dioxide, a product of the smelting of iron ore for the steel industry that has dominated our city for decades. Sulfur dioxide causes acid precipitation (acid rain and snow), damaging soils and lakes across northern Ontario and Quebec. However, it also affects human health. Our neighbours in the north end of Hamilton suffer from increased risk and severity of respiratory conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. In this case, as in many others, harming non-human creation also harms humans.

Second, active creation stewardship shows love towards our neighbours of the future, those generations of human beings who will inherit the earth after we have spent our time on it. How we treat the earth today has an impact on our children, on all future generations until Christ’s return.

How do we know this? Because we are living with the decisions of our forefathers here in Hamilton, for good and for bad. Thanks to the wisdom of leaders in Hamilton, we are blessed to have some of the most beautiful parkland in southern Ontario. The Hamilton Conservation Authority and the Royal Botanical Gardens steward thousands of acres of parkland. These properties provide food and shelter for many of God’s creatures, but at the same time thousands of people enjoy these lands every year, enjoying the health effects of spending time together in creation. I hope we continue to make strides in preserving natural land because it shows we value and respect the needs of all of God’s creation.

However, we are also suffering the effects of poor decisions. Here on the west mountain, Chedoke Creek is, for the most part, completely inaccessible. It does not provide enjoyment to anyone or anything because it is completely covered, wrapped in concrete chains. When it does appear, as it spills off the escarpment just a few hundred metres from our house, it poses a health hazard to animals and humans. It is contaminated with so much sewage that the levels of human fecal bacteria are anywhere from 50 to 1500 times acceptable levels for swimming, never mind drinking. There are no signs indicating the danger, and so neighbourhood children play in the water, even though it smells like raw sewage whenever there is a heavy rain. When I reflect on this, sometimes I feel like I’m living in a Third World nation, with an open sewer running through my neighbourhood.

Chedoke Falls drops out of a storm sewer into a beautiful pool that attracts people to the contaminated water.

How did this happen? At some point in the past, as the west mountain was built up, a decision was made to bury Chedoke Creek rather than to allow it to run on the surface to be enjoyed. Developers tied residential sewers into the creek rather than into sanitary sewer lines. For all I know, our own household sewer line could be one of those causing the problem. It may be my waste flowing down the concrete spillways of Chedoke Creek into Cootes Paradise, where the RBG has been working for decades trying to restore habitat.  Undoing the decisions of the builders of the community I live in will cost thousands of dollars. If this work isn’t completed, Cootes Paradise (and Hamilton Harbour, immediately next door) will continue to suffer from high nutrient and sediment levels, impacting the health of all living creatures that live, work, and recreate in it.

Chedoke Creek winds its way through a beautiful ravine. It's easy to forget you're in the middle of the city when you're here.

These are just two local examples of how environmental decisions made in the past affect human health today, both for good and for bad. And in the same way, the decisions we make today about how we care for the earth will affect future generations of humans. After all, the earth is like a womb. It provides us with everything we need for physical health, in the same way that a mother’s body does for a baby in utero. If we alter the environment of the womb God provided for us–this earth– that will affect the health of future generations. It’s our choice whether to make that future environment better or worse for our children’s children.

I hope it is clear that to me, earth keeping is not about forgetting humans and only caring for the rest of creation. Stewardship of God’s creation is about showing God’s love for all of creation, including humans, working out our place in creation, and lovingly ruling over it, so that all of creation, including humans, can be fruitful. We should be working towards a beginning of the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9 – NIV)

We look forward to that final day, the Day that gives us hope! It is only on that day that Christ will make all things new, and make this old world new again, a place for all his creation to live at peace.

Originally posted at Intersection, the New City Church blog.

For example, I was reading this article about using radar to track birds. Tonight there’s a south wind across eastern North America that you can see on this wind map, so there should be lots of bird movement. Sure enough, when I checked out the radar loop for the US, there are blobs of birds everywhere! That’s just awesome!