Friday, February 13, 2009

Heavenly Sewing


Guess what I sewed today? It's an icon cover.

My sister emailed me the other day to ask if I could sew some covers for her two new icons. (This is the same sister who gave me her Bernina 1130 last year.) Of course I said yes. Not only do I love to use my Bernina, but I am very happy to share (in a tiny way) in her work.

An icon is a representation of a sacred personage (such as Christ, a saint, or an angel) or a scriptural event (such as the wedding feast at Cana) which is commonly painted on a wooden panel for prayer and liturgical use in the Eastern Orthodox church and the Eastern Rites of the Catholic church. Icons are painted in a very stylized manner which is deeply symbolic. They have often been described as windows into heaven.

When my sister finishes an icon, she likes to encase it in a sort of linen bag which protects it from fingerprints while it is being conveyed to the person or church which has commissioned it. Here's a picture of one of the icons that will be enclosed in the covers I made last night. Do click on the image for a closer look. The reason the gold glows so beautifully is that it's 24 carat. (Besides painting commissions, my sister also sells notecards based on her icons. Click here if you want to see her website.)

3 comments:

The Calico Quilter said...

Her painting and your stitchery are beautiful. Talent really does run in your family.

BTW, could you fix the link to your sister's website? I would love to see more of her work.

Catholic Bibliophagist said...

Here's the updated link.

http://www.sacredimageicons.com/

It's to her main page. From there you'll be able to navigate to her gallery and store. I think she must have updated her webpage since I wrote that post.

Bella said...

Absolutely beautiful icon, and so poignant to see it during Lenten season.
Your meticulous cover does it justice -very nice work!