Stoles Created from Congo Cloth

Trying to be a better steward of this good earth a call was put out to clients and friends to find sources for fabrics that were organic or sustainable that we might start incorporating into our ministry stoles.

One connection led to another which led us to a group within the Mennonite church that hosts a project that connects church women and men in North America and the Democratic Republic of Congo through the beauty of cloth, prayer and personal relationships.

Cloth is a hallmark of Congolese culture and creativity. We, like many others, were quickly drawn to its bold beauty. We therefore anxiously anticipated the appearance of the first fabrics we purchased!

The day arrived and tears ran down our face when the package was opened and the story of the fabric was read. The motto of this ministry is "every stitch a prayer." Ahhhhh. Sigh. How lovely!

This stole can be seen in full here.

And now we've had time to sew with just a bit of this sumptuous fabric to create a design for Carrot Top Studio's Easter collection. This stole (detail at right) uses the Congo fabric just in the border but we look forward to using the other Congo fabrics we have added to our fabric stash in even bolder ways. Two projects in the Congo will receive monetary benefits from the sale of these fabrics. One is a sewing training center and workshop to help start young women on their careers. The other is a sewing group that helps women who have been victims of sexual violence by teaching them fiber arts skills.

You may read more about the Congo Cloth Connection here.

Celebrating the Christian Year with Food

I was thrilled to discover  the book A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz. It's a great match for my passion for honoring the rhythm of the church year and for creating in the kitchen and trying new foods. Maybe this suits you also? The author speaks of fasting and the giving up of particular foods during the season of Lent. The giving up of certain foods and culinary pleasures can enhance this period of prayer and turning to God. If you are keeping everything simple during this season--including your meals--you might appreciate this recipe included in the cookbook.


Lentils with Cumin and Coriander


1 cup dried lentils
5 cups water
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, shopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper


It was for a dish probably quite like this one that Esau sold his birthright (Genesis 25). Lentils especially strongly spiced, were a popular dish at the time of Christ.


Rinse the lentils and carefully pick over to remove any pebbles.


Bring 5 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add lentils and boil for 2 minutes, then remove them from the heat and set aside for 1 hour.


In the meantime, saute onions and garlic in olive oil. When the lentils have soaked for 1 hour, add the onions, garlic, cumin, and coriander to the pan with the lentils.


Cook, partly covered, for 1 hour more, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are quite soft and the water is mostly absorbed. Add more water if necessary to keep the dish from drying out too much, but the mixture should be thick.


Add salt and freshly ground pepper; taste for seasoning.


Yield: 4-6 servings.


What is served at the table when we break bread together can be a visual reminder of the season of the church year at your church dinners and in our homes. Cooking, serving and sharing food enriches our lives in many ways...even during Lent.

Lent has begun and we shall try to embrace simplicity in our daily lives. Likewise we clinch minimalism in our worship spaces as we strip them to the humblest of symbols such as this hand-woven purple cloth. The unassuming cloths and symbols in our worship spaces are a visual way of fasting before the joyous feasting of the Easter celebration.  Traditionally the church uses the color purple during this season to represent penitence, and solemnity. Yet the color purple also associates with the dignity of royalty and reminds us of the hope of Christ the King who we will honor and celebrate in the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

The following is an interesting bit of information regarding purple.  It is from “A Noble Color” by Christina Garton (Weaving Today, 9.28.11.) The author shares: Many of us have heard the term “royal purple” but do you know the lineage of this noble dye? True royal purple, also known as Tyrian purple, was first discovered by the Minoans of Ancient Crete. However, it was in Phoenicia—whose name translates as purple—that the dye became famous.

In much of ancient Europe, purple dyes were rare, hard to make, and expensive, so only the rich and powerful could afford them. Wearing the color purple was an advertisement of social status and Roman laws restricted its use. Only the emperor and statues of the gods could wear trabea, togas dyed entirely in purple. In Byzantium, the color was similarly limited to the imperial family.

This highly coveted dye comes from a not-so-lofty source: the mucus secretions of predatory sea snails. It takes thousands of snails to dye even a small piece of cloth. Fortunately for us, there are cheaper—and easier to collect—natural and synthetic purple dyes, making the color of kings available to everyone. 

By using color and simple symbols in worship may we journey through Lent in a way that we can be prepared to celebrate joyfully the mysteries of our salvation.

A special note: Thanks to Rev. Dawn Carlson for sharing her weaving and the Noble Color article! We appreciate clients like Rev. Dawn who enthusiastically embrace including the visual in worship and are so eager to share what they do with us. This helps our little, quiet studio feel warm and unclouded all throughout the year. 

Upon a Mountain

It was upon the mountain where they had gone to pray. He was changed completely .Shining! Glory! We celebrate the transfiguration this Sunday.


Today we share a visual to meditate upon:

Livan Kudriashev, Luminescence, 1926

...and some words to enhance our understanding:

Suddenly they saw him

    the way he was,

the way he really was

    all the time,

although they had never 

    seen it before,

the glory which blinds

    the everyday eye

and so becomes invisible.

    This is how

he was, radiant, brilliant,

    carrying joy

like a flaming sun

    in his hands.

This is the way he was--is--

    from the beginning,

and we cannot bear it.

    So he manned himself,

came manifest to us;

    and there on the mountain

they saw him, really saw him,

    saw his light.

We all know that if we really see him we die.

    But isn't that what is required of us?

Then, perhaps, we will see each other, too.

Madeleine L'Engle

Together we celebrate the promise of the living Christ!

St. Valentine

In mind Valentine's Day is a holiday trumped up by the greeting card companies to get us to buy their products. I don't buy (ha, ha!) into it. In my mind love is better expressed in more surprising and subtle ways than a marketing department of a major corporation trying to convince me to say what I feel. How did it come to this? 

It seems as if not a lot is known about Saint Valentine other than he was martyred for not being willing to give up his Christian faith. Now that's not trivial and should be celebrated and learned from!

I do not know the origins or artist of this lovely image of St. Valentine. I am drawn to the art because of the magnificent vestments. These aren't the style of what we create at Carrot Top Studio but we certainly admire this type of intricate design and fine craftsmanship. Additionally, red seems to be an appropriate primary color on the chasuble to represent the passion this man must have had as he reportedly  married Christian couples, was imprisoned and then spent his time converting the prison guards! 

May we all find unique ways to celebrate,  learn from and remember St. Valentine!

Experiencing Unity

Where have you experienced moments of unity with your brothers and sisters in Christ? Last week while in Haiti I had this experience in worship as confession was professed aloud, while together singing one song at youth group but in different languages, and while working side by side with our new Haitian friends to brighten the interior of the cinder block school building with bubble gum colored paint. But one of the highlights of this experience for me was painting silk with the La Femme de la Croix (Women of the Cross). Monday afternoon found me under this tree in a patch of dirt and dust anxious to see how this project would be accomplished.

In no time at all the supplies had been assembled. A small table was found and covered with a large sheet of plywood and we were ready to create.

The group this time consists of young women ranging from preteen to young adult. They first wet the silk.

Then trays are set up with Dixie cups and recycled Communion cups (it's a sustainable project!) These circular receptacles will help establish the ringed designs in the silk.

Carefully the silk is placed on top of the tray and poked into the cylinders. Many hands make light work in this step!

And then the fun can commence! Paintbrushes apply the dye to the silk. The artists have a wonderful sense of color theory and there rarely is an end product that isn't stunning and bright. If I close my eyes I can still hear the chatter and giggling as the group worked together....and really, these joyful sounds could have been any women in community in any part of the world. Unity.

Get a group of charming young ladies together and what happens next? The boys show up! Trust me, they were quickly shooed away!

After several hours, the work was seen to completion and the silk was set on the rooftop to dry.

The next day the silk was ironed by Marietta, the lead of this project and her friend Jenny. 

All the artists get to keep one scarf for themselves and the remainder are brought back to the United States and sold through my home congregation. The monies are sent back to Haiti to support the education of these artists. Carrot Top Studio buys the silk and cuts it into symbols and images to applique onto ministry stoles. Our current collection is available here. We donate the profits back to La Femme de la Croix. 

Haiti silk is transformed into palm leaves on this Lent stole.

If you'd like to know more about the work that's being done through the ministry of Pastor Pierre you may read my daughters' blog from our trip last week, here. As for Haiti as a whole we were greatly encouraged to see fewer tent cities than we did on our trip in June and to hear Pastor Pierre speak highly of the work that the Haitian president is trying to do.

Word as a Work of Art

When we think of art in worship we often think stained glass windows, carvings on the Communion Table, or liturgical vestments. But can a Bible be a work of art? Can it make a visual connection with the reader? Of course we have seen this throughout history especially during the Medieval times. Have we lost this tradition in our contemporary society? We certainly have many--maybe too many--options for Bibles today but here are a few that include amazing art intermingled with and supporting of the Word.

The St. John's Bible

For several years I have follow the work (online) of the Benedictine monks of St. John's Abbey in Minnesota who have worked with a team of calligraphers and artists to create the St. John's Bible. This morning I have discovered that La Roche college, in  my home town, has acquired one of these hand-illuminated Bibles. I am bubbling over with anticipation of being able to see it. One can also visit the Abbey or view the Bible while it tours to a variety of museums.

The Four Holy Gospels

Secondly, The Four Holy Gospels is an exquisitely designed and produced edition of the four canonical Gospels in the English Standard Version, published in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Version Bible in 1611. Makoto Fujimura is the artist behind this work. He works tirelessly on behalf of quality, faith based media. His art skillfully combines ancient art techniques with contemporary interpretation.

And lastly I have long been enamored by the work of expressive calligrapher Timothy Botts. Many years ago I was able to attend an artist talk of Mr. Botts. I think it was long enough ago that the presentation was done with a slide projector! I believe he was the first artist that I ever heard speak openly and passionately about how his faith was intertwined with his work. There need to be more artists like him today! Including an illustrated Bible he has a published a variety of Christian books. A Carrot Top Studio favorite is his visual interpretation of the Psalms.

In ministry and worship we should not neglect that fact that Word can be a work of art and can draw us closer to God so we may learn better how to worship and serve Him.