Torah Cover Project

The Torah Cover Project

 Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the Jewish New Year and commemorates the anniversary of the creation of the world.  Yom Kippur begins Tuesday night. These are the 2 holiest days of the Jewish calendar. During this time the covers for the torahs are changed.  These covers or mantles are traditionally plain (ish)- white/ivory/cream colored. As with many Jewish traditions, there are many different explanations for this.

 

My project for the summer was to make 2 covers for my synagogue,

Temple Sholom in Broomall, PA. 

This is what they look like.

 

They are relatively identical except for the front panels. 

One depicts a shofar and the other the "Book of Life".  The shofar is a ram's horn that is blown and sounds like a trumpet, several times during the High Holidays.  On Rosh Hashanah, God is said to inscribe the fate of every person for the upcoming year in the Book of Life.

 

Silk dupioni was used to make the covers. 

 Each top section was quilted with pomegranates. 

Then I quilted the background and appliqued the motifs for each cover.

 

 

 

The covers were then constructed like a quilt with a final dimension of 47" Wx 27"H.

 

 

 

They are then attached to the top of the cover or shoulder like a wrap around skirt

 with the flap in the back..

 

 

In the past the cover was attached to the shoulder 

encasing the wood inbetween layers of fabric and attaching the "quilt".

 

This time I tried  a very unique approach.   I used tops that were custom made of cherry for me by a very skilled local woodworker.

 

 

Then I used Velcro (c)to attach the cover to the wooden top.

 

These covers are only used for about 3 weeks and then stored the rest of the year.  The Velcro method of attachment makes storage and cleaning so much easier.

 

I made fabric slipcovers to store the wooden tops

 

 

and provided Temple Sholom with an acid free archival box for storage.

 

As we say in Hebrew, L'Shana Tova -

May you have a sweet and happy New Year.

 

 

Wednesday's Wanderings #31 - Torah Covers

I have been spending the week working on a commission for my local synagogue, Temple Sholom.  It's for 2 torah covers for the Jewish High Holidays, that start with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur.  Traditionally these white, plainish covers are put on the torahs for these most sacred days. 

 In our synagogue they adorn the torahs for about 3 weeks.  They are put away for the rest of the year.

I often have a little chuckle because without fail this is the scenario:

1.A few weeks before the covers are needed, the synagogue search begins to find them, especially if someone new is involved in trying to find where those covers were put at the end of the High Holidays the year before.

2.Then the question is  how to clean them.  (Remember they are white and are handled more than usual  by many different people during the services.)

3. It would be so nice to have new covers because most of them have been around a long time.   They are not a high priority in terms of expenditures.  Maybe next year.

4.  The covers are put away and forgotten.

5.  See step #1.

So I am excited and honored to be a part of this tradition.  I sat with the clergy and we designed the covers together.  Even though they are predominately white, they do not have to be plain.  They loved my pomegranate themed torah cover and wanted pomegranates to be visible in the background.

 

This week I designed, auditioned and practiced the quilting for the background of the design. It's interesting that the discussion these past few blog posts have been about contrast.  My goal for the background quilting was for it to be subtle, but I still wanted it to be visible.

The fabric is dupioni silk, an elegant and rich fabric.  The thread is a variegated gold rayon.

Here is my work in progress:

My initial sketch

I used Solvy, a water soluble transparent film as my quilting guide.  I traced my drawing onto the solvy with a thin tip marker that was similar in color to my thread. The film tears off pretty easily. Silk dupioni does not like water.  It loses its sheen and lovely texture if it gets wet.  I used the clear film and the similarly colored marker so if  any of the film remained behind, it wouldn't be readily visible.

I layered my backing, low loft batting, silk and Solvey and secured them with a few pins.

And free motion quilted it.  It's a little hard to see the transparent film.

The pomegranate

Finished sample, aka Wednesday Wandering

 

Torah Cover Project - Introduction

I have been commissioned by Temple B'Nai Israel  to create 3 torah covers for their synagogue.  They are located on the Eastern shore of Maryland in the quaint historic town of Easton.  Easton has a lovely downtown filled with many quaint shops and restaurants.  The temple was founded in the 1951.  The current torah mantles are from that era and were donated by members from that time.  Although they were beautifully hand made from velvet with metallic bullion stitches and sequins, it was felt that it is time to update them. 
                                                                               

The rabbi at Temple B'Nai Israel, Rabbi Peter Hyman, was familiar with my torah covers from prior commissions.  He contacted me about working with his current congregation.  And thus this torah cover project has become.  This synagogue is lucky enough to have 3 torahs, and so my job was to design 3 covers that would compliment each other and still project an image of tradition, modernism and Judaism.  A member of the congregation, Vicki Zuckerman, along with the rabbi was integral in guiding the project.  They enlisted the help of another congregant to help make the final decision from the 6 designs I presented.

I have been creating Judaic textiles since 1999, starting with designing and selling quilt patterns as OyVey! Quilt Designs, http://cheryllynchquilts.com/portfolio_judaic.htm.  Since then I have also done commissions for torah covers and other judaic commemorative textiles.  My designs for Chanukah quilts have been published in many of the nationally known quilting magazines.

I am thrilled to be a part of this rejuvenation project.  Even though I am a fiber artist working alone in my studio, I would like to share my experience and progress.  I will be devoting the bulk of my blogging to creating these torah covers, starting with a quick tour of my studio.

My studio is located on the main floor of my house.  While raising children I found that it was important to have access to my work but to also be available.  This arrangement afforded me flexibility.

My palette is my fabric.  Quilters call it a stash.  It is an accumulation of purchases over many years.  I keep it sorted by color, but find it very difficult to keep tidy - as you can see.

I have 3 sewing machines and my brand of choice is Bernina.  This might not mean anything to non-sewers, but means a lot to those of us that sew.  These machines are work horses and very rarely let me down.

Thread is another source of color.   This is my thread collection above my desk. I use cotton, polyester, rayon and metallic thread, depending on the project.  Most times the thread is a solid color, but sometimes I use a variegated thread.  Thread is used for putting the pieces together, for appliqueing the pieces and for quilting the layers together.  Sometimes it is used for embellishing.

 A very important place in my studio is my design wall.  It runs the entire length of one wall.  Covered in grey felt, I can pin fabrics to the styrofoam underneath.   I use it to help me visualize my progress and make design decisions.

I also use it to pin notes to myself!



So I have used this post to introduce myself to those of you who are not familiar with me and to tell you a little bit about my working environment.  Please feel free to post comments and I will try and answer any questions you may have.

My next post will reveal the unanimously chosen design for the first torah cover.