During the Easter season I noticed the poor condition of the Gold Altar frontal - it was badly water stained and the silk was starting to rot in several places. I couldn't get it out of my mind and so in September I offered to make a new one. I started at half-term which meant I had a date of the 24th December to get it completed. My parish church has been through a difficult time lately and so I wanted this to be a symbol of both the history of the Church but also of the community looking forward. I therefore decided to base it on the design of the old frontal but with a modern twist. I asked the congregation to donate scraps of red fabric - any weight or type to use for the two red inserts which I planned to make using Lisa Walton's Crystallisation technique. This also echoed some of the mosaic work in the church. In addition I carefully took the Pelican motif off the old frontal as I wanted to re-use it. This motif is known as "the Pelican in her piety" - it was a belief that the pelican fed her chicks with her blood and thus it became a symbol of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.
I also took off the red inserts from the original frontal - and as this fabric was still in good condition I carefully washed it for re-use.
The fabric was a heavyweight furnishing fabric which i was able to source from my local market.
I quilted the red panels once they were completed and wanted to quilt the bottom of the frontal as this would give it more weight and help it to hang.I quilted this with a flowing leaves design which was based again on the mosaic panels below the windows at the East end of the church of olive branches.
The most challenging aspect was the measuring and trying to press it at home due to it's size.
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