It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... 🎄🎄🎄
With the arrival of boxes filled with Bible Quilt goodies hot off the presses, I've been a busy little elf packaging up the 2024 Monthly Bible Quilt Journals to send out to our BQ sisters across the states.
Although many of us in the BQ community have joined together the past few years to focus on the same topics each month, the new Monthly BQJ is formatted without particular themes or a suggested list of verses.
That means this new monthly journal is highly adaptable to whatever scripture writing plan you'd like to do next year!
Take your time to prayerfully consider which direction to take, maybe something you'd like to pursue independently for deeper study or perhaps a reading/writing plan through your church or women's group?
In the meantime, we've got a few weeks to dabble with our new journals and get them prepped for success in the new year.
Each time I begin to personalize a new journal, a sense of anticipation builds as I wonder what the Lord has in store for me in the coming months.
If you have some scriptures you'd like to memorize yourself or as a family, the Word for the Year template page is a good parking spot for those.
You can incorporate your word/phrase for the year here, too, tucking verses in around it.
- - - Adding Tabs to Our New Journals - - -
One of the first things I like to do is get the tabs colored and attached, "moving in" to the journal and gradually getting my bearings. Putting the tabs on first allows you to work around them on the pages they are attached to rather than covering up something you've already decorated on the calendar pages.
Here's a brief overview to help you get started on the tabs. (Ignore the 2021 stickers on the sample journal in the video. This is a similar set of tabs, so I inserted that videoclip.)
Oops! I just realized that the set of blank tabs got printed larger than the monthly tabs, so you can either trim them to fit exactly back-to-back or have the larger blank tabs provide an outer frame for the monthly tabs.
- - - Breaking in Our New Journals - - -
A quick "warm-up" of each calendar page is a great place to begin. Enjoy the process of adding a little color to these fresh pages with markers, stickers, and/or washi tape.
Sometimes we need a wind down in our hectic days. Doodling on these calendar pages can be just the thing to calm our spirits, recentering our thoughts with each stroke of a colored pencil.
It may not seem like much to do a bit of coloring here or there, but I can attest to making significant progress getting my Monthly BQJ prepped for the New Year just by doodling in it while I'm hanging with my guys watching basketball... or maybe even a Hallmark Christmas movie.
- - - Flip Cards - - -
Detach the six pages of flip cards from the back of the journal. I suggest tearing out one page at a time, holding one hand on the spiral while you pull the page out with the other.
Some Bible Quilters prefer to write and decorate all the verses, then cut the cards. Others prefer to cut the cards first and place on a binder ring so they're ready for verses to be added individually onto them.
You can embellish with washi tape, stickers, or use an ink pad to brighten the edges with color. Here's a sample process video from a few years ago:
Since the journal comes with only one set of flip cards, you'll likely want additional ones for the remaining months. You've got some online options of printable blank sets or several that already have verses printed on them for particular topics.
Enjoy the process of flipping through your journal, contemplating what topics you'd like to pair with each featured template. You don't have to decide all at once. Leave yourself the option of scripture writing verses out of your daily devotional or perhaps a topic stimulated by a podcast or sermon series.
Here's a summary of topics we've done the past few years. You can choose to mix and match if you haven't done these before.
I look forward to hearing from each of you how you navigate this process. I don't have mine figured out yet either...let's trust the Lord in this process, sharing our journey along the way!
In the meantime, I'm going to gradually be attaching my tabs, decorating my calendar pages, and adding my scripture reading plan using this Books of the Bible stamp set. Sometimes adding something new to your routine helps your motivation! 😊
Don't have your Monthly BQJ yet or want to have a friend join you?
It's not too late to get your BQ goodies for 2024:
Need some inspiration? Here are some links that show some previous Monthly BQJs: