Tree Skirt Pattern
 

I'm going to make a tree skirt for the small tree my floor mates and I have put up in our lounge. I am to include the major religions on the skirt (and was requested to do this in a patchwork pattern). Other than the Star of David, which I was able to find a pattern for, where could I possibly find a pattern for the symbol for Islam (the crescent moon and star), Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism? I'm doing this in blue and white, I hope, I need to find the right light blue fabric. I at least have my white fabric picked out.

Thank you for the help!!!

You really need to think about this. Christmas and even Christmas trees are still considered a Christian celebration and probably devoted members of ALL the religions you mentioned will be very insulted to have the religious symbols mixed together on a Christmas tree skirt. Even one highly insulted person can cause you a lot of trouble.

I agree....sadly.
Michelle

I agree. I think that you might be asking for trouble.

Unfortunately the others are probably correct, so unless you know your floor mates very well I might skip the multicultural tree skirt.

mltquilt

We actually have permission from the school to do this, we went through the right channels for this, otherwise we would not be doing this. The tree has blue and white ribbons on it. We are a primarily Christian school, and our floor is mainly United Church of Christ, except for about four of us, who are Catholic. It's only on display on our floor. We were told that as long as we include all religions in the tree and/or decorations, it was allowed. We have a sign that says Happy Holidays.

All I asked for was a pattern for blocks. If we didn't have permission we wouldn't have bothered with this either. I'm offended that you would all jump to the conclusion that we didn't ask for permission, especially since we are putting this in a public space of our floor. I mean honestly, please ask before jumping to conclusions.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to go off and I mean absolutely no ill will. I go to a school that pushes Multi-culturism. They have a giant tree they put up each year in the Student Union (called the Frick Center). Regardless of the fact that we have all Christians on our floor, we were told it had to include the major religions on the tree. So that's what we are doing.

If I had thought that asking for block patter ideas would be an issue I would not have posted this.

The fact that your school is primarily a Christian school is probably not an issue. What if a very devote Islam believer resents his star and quarter moon or other symbol being included in a Christian observation? They do not observe Christmas and have frequently been legally active about things like this. No one implied you did not have permission to do this. I only questioned the wisdom of it. I can see it being on you tube and then on the news and then in the court system.

Blue and white covers Hannakah, Red and green are traditional Christmas. The cross for Christians. Do an outline of the sitting Buddha, do these in appliqué would be easiest. I have never seen an icon for Hinduism. Check on the intèrnet. Good luck on your project.

No, I understand what you're saying but considering that the only people who will see this will be those who are on the floor of our building, that really wouldn't be an issue. We have about fifteen Muslim students on this campus. They partake in all the religious (regardless of what religion is being represented) forums on campus. If they were to see it and say they were offended we would remove it.

But, now I'm starting to resent even asking for help because I feel all I'm getting is criticism for trying to do the right thing and what I was told I was to include. If it were up to me, it would be plain blue and white... our school colors, but the school said we had to include them.

And besides, the school was all over the news back in August. Due to being the only school in the country to ask a students sexual orientation. We like to live on the edge! ;)

HI, funnily enough I have just bought a book called Symbols of Faith by Linda Causee, ISBN 1-59012-022-1. It has 44 patterns for paper piecing in and ranges from, Noah's Ark, Star of David, baby Jesus in a crib to Pascal Lamb andcrescent and star, eye of Horus etc. Hope this of help but maybe not this year unless you are a super fast sewer. Good Luck

Thank you so very much! I chose blue and white primarily for the Judaism connection, but also since that they are also the school colors. And the book I'll check out, if it's available in the library. I'm also looking around on line. Thank you so very much!

As long as no pictures of anykind get sent anywhere, go on any student's facebook, are mentioned on Twitter, etc. there probable won't be any publicity. I wasn't even thinking of students when I mentioned a devout believer. Students usually can't afford lawyers, and as long as a ptotest was in the law courts at least it would't be radical- no guns or anything like many campuses have to deal with.

I am editing my post because my comments were off-topic. You asked for patterns and not for opinions regarding your choice. I made a comment addressing criticisms made about your choice and after giving it some thought feel it was not appropriate because it is not germane to your original request. In light of how swiftly threads that even TOUCH on religious issues get out of hand and snarky, I am choosing to edit my post accordingly.

With regard to your original request, I wish I had patterns to help, but all I can offer is support. :thumbup:

PS. I would love to see a picture of the finished tree skirt!

The only ones who are caring are those of us who are putting it up (the tree went up yesterday, and we are doing the rest next week). But I understand what you mean. Like I said, we have a very open minded campus. We had a hate crime back in October, some one wrote something in a bathroom stall... the school took immediate action to locate them, investigate and charge them with a felony. It wasn't huge to make the news. But that is getting completely off topic.

It's okay! I'm over it. I know what you mean though. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, whether or not we agree with them. It's a part of life and how the world seems to work. So no hard feelings. I did overreact too, so I'm also at fault.

Also, I will take pictures when it is done.

OH! Sorry for the double post! I didn't mean to do so.

You might also spend the time on google or at the school library, researching with keywords including the name of the religion and the world symbol. Good luck. you still have time to get it done!

I say go for it!!

This time of year is not about political correctness. It's about caring for and loving friends and family.

No matter what anyone does nowadays, someone will be offended.

I personally think it's a fantastic idea.

Hi, did you find what you need? I have the Illustrated Book of Signs & Symbols that has each religion you requested in it and what their various symbols mean. I could probably scan it and send it to your email. Let me know if you still need something!

I just googled and found several symbols for you. Here is the site: http://www.makesplash.com/

You have to go down quite a bit and look for a post called "Loosing my religion." Despite the use of the wrong word, it is illustrated by a nice little graphic, with 9 or 10 other religions and a couple of symbols of both Judaism and Christianity. This sort of reminds me of one year when I was in a newsroom and decided to do a small tree. There were several Jewish reporters concerned, so we compromised. The vast majority of the ornaments were small photos of section pages in the newspaper over the previous year. We also added a few dreidels and gold coins to balance out the red and green. It was a popular tree and lots of the ornaments got taken as souvenirs before the holiday ended.

I have read about your school and it seemed like a breath of fresh air. Now, with this thread, there is at least one student who has embraced this philosophy. Be patient, please. You are in the forefront of a growing change needed in this world. Being inclusive is so much more positive. Good luck with your project. Thank you.