Sunday, November 14, 2010

Peace and Quiet-- A Felt Board Story

Why has it taken me so long to acquire a copy of Judy Sierra's The Flannel Board Storytelling Book? Her stories are easy to tell and the felt-board pattern pieces are distinct. After borrowing the library's copy, I ordered a used copy for my own collection.

I recently used patterns for a Eastern European Yiddish folktale called "Peace and Quiet," which follows the same plot-line as Margot Zecmach's It Could Always Be Worse. In "Peace and Quiet," the rabbi's role is played by a wise woman, and the harried protagonist is a farmer who lives alone but cannot get any sleep due to the creakiness of his house. I simplified the pattern pieces, used thread instead of glue, and opted for imagination instead of cutting out a felt house. I acknowlege that goats generally are not green and cows are not pink.

Here's what I came up with:


The farmer consults the wise woman


The harried farmer tries to get some sleep

I try to use craft felt as much as possible because pure wool felt is expensive and I need to save it for my dolls. Craft felt can be found at many hobby stores as well as textile shops.

5 comments:

Lone Star Ma said...

Lovely. I am coming up on a big felt shopping trip soon for materials I need to make for some First Day School Faith-n-Play-style lessons.

Jules at 7-Imp said...

I've got this book! I've got this book! I just figured out you're talking about the same one I have. It's great.

tanita✿davis said...

That looks fun.
Felt things always remind me of stories told at church - I never ever saw them used elsewhere, but am glad that people do.

Anonymous said...

Most of the flannel board stories I've made are from this book. It has been too long since I've made a flannel board story--I should take a relook at it.

SoulSpace said...

stumbled on yr blog ...love it!