Christmas bauble

Introduction

Ours won’t be cross-stitched!

I’ve searched for a long time but haven’t found an example that isn’t embroidered in cross-stitch.

Of course, ours will be traditionally embroidered, but I’ve used this example to show that this year’s Christmas ornament will be modeled on the Quaker bauble.

Here are a few lines to introduce you to the Quakers

Quakers, or members of the Religious Society of Friends, are a Christian movement that originated in England in the 17th century.

Although the movement first developed in Great Britain, it flourished particularly in the United States, notably in Pennsylvania, a colony founded by William Penn, himself a Quaker.

The Quaker Christmas tradition is unique, as historically, Quakers did not traditionally celebrate the holiday. As a result, Quakers didn’t decorate their homes, exchange gifts, or hold feasts as was common in other Christian traditions.

Quaker textile craftsmanship reflects their ethos of simplicity, quality, and functionality. Like other rural religious communities, the Quakers practiced the art of patchwork, where pieces of fabric were recycled and assembled to form quilts. Based on this technique, the “Quaker ball” is made from numerous pieces of fabric (26 to be exact) joined together.

So this year, I’ve chosen to make this ball in traditional embroidery and to explain the process in detail in a series of articles dedicated to the subject.

As this is a long-term project, we’ll proceed as follows:

In today’s post, you’ll find the patterns for the various pieces of fabric required, which you can download HERE or directly from the Patterns menu on this blog.

In the coming weeks, you’ll find all the necessary explanations for each one.

Once all the parts have been completed, we’ll assemble the ball at the beginning of December, which gives us plenty of time to work quietly.

Embroidery parts

Embroider 4 times

It’s important to draw these parts very precisely on the fabric to ensure easy assembly.