We all hope #11 & # 12 Prayer Flags found good homes

Here's another group photo riding home from Rosary Sunday on the Light Rail. They were excited to hear about Tim's project.

Rosary Sunday - going home on the Light Rail

I left the other flag on top of a newspaper stand downtown. There were people around me and I was really hoping I would see them take it, but I didn't. Tim, that makes 12 drops now!

Rosary Sunday

A group of us from St. Theresa rode the Light Rail down to the Phoenix Convention Center for Rosary Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009. I took along two of Tim's flags. He didn't come this year because he wanted to be with his brother before he went back to base in California. I left the first flag on the bench at Washington and 40th Street.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit Prayer Banner

Prayer Flags 6 & 7 went to Tucson today! Tim asked Tori if she would take two flags with her and she happily agreed. Tori brought her camera with her and told Tim she would try to remember to take photos of the drops to share with him. Boy, is he excited! Prayer Flags 8, 9 and 10 are bagged and ready for a drop. Tim wants to ride bikes, so there's no telling where they'll end up.

Our 5th and final drop of the day

Tim's last request was very special. He wanted to take a prayer flag to a man in our neighborhood who is dying of cancer. He did not want me to take a photo this time, so I am leaving you with this special photo of Tim and his brother, John, taken the day he arrived home from Iraq.

4th Prayer Flag Drop

St. Francis Cemetery is one of our favorite places to go and skate, ride our bikes and visit. Tim and I have seen a coyote that "lives" there, and Tim found the skeleton to a cat it had for dinner! Aside from visiting those we don't know, we also have friends buried there. So of course Tim wanted to leave a prayer flag there. He wanted to leave it for Bear Coover (a friend of Johns) but we decided to leave it at the front doors of the mausoleum.

Third Prayer Flag Drop

Tim took Tori over to the greenbelt near Thomas and 48th Street for his next drop. There, he found a bench and decided to leave it for the next person to happen by.

Second Prayer Flag Drop

Tims second stop was at 24th Street and Campbell. He found a bench next to a very nice fountain. We didn't hide to see if anyone would pick it up because he was already thinking about his next drop.

Tim Makes His First Prayer Flag Drop!

Tim picked a bus stop at 16th Street and Highland because we were getting drinks at the QT. It wasn't an especially busy stop, but he was hopeful someone going to work or school in the morning would find it.

Prayer Flags Ready for Delivery

Tim put together five prayer flags. We decided to put them into a gallon ziplock bag. Each one contained one prayer flag with 4 panels, and a note from Tim that reads: "Hi, my name is Tim. This is a Thinking of You (t.o.y.) prayer flag! I picked this project because I think people who find them will be very happy and joyful!
Congratulations! You have found a special prayer flag made just for you. Hang it up and let the wind take your prayers to heaven. God Bless You!" We took what he wrote on his first blog post and shortened it, and added how to use the prayer flag. Tim did not want to mention his school or anything else, in case a "bad" person found it. I told him we would not put anything on the note, except for his first name. He's adorable.

Stringing a Prayer Flag

All we needed to help Tim string his flags was a big safety pin. It worked brilliantly- just tie the yarn to the end and work the pin through the top of each flag. It was important to make sure each flag had excess string at both ends so it could be hung up.

Sewing Buttons

I have to hand it to Tim, he really wanted to do his best to sew on the buttons. After he sewed several on, his sister, Tori, and I decided we would help, too. Here's his first prayer flag getting ready to be strung- with all their buttons on!

Prayer Flag Preparation Continues...

Tim has been anticipating his first "drop." However, he still needed to do some more prints. Saturday was spent making five completed prayer flags. We were suppose to go out and make the drops, but his brother was home and he wanted to spend it with him.

Tim begins printing with the peace sign stamp

Tim was able to do several stamps on the fabric today. He picked the peace sign and the color red to start out with, and they came out really nice. That's as far as he got because he was going to the Diamondback's game with Pilar and Kevin. :)

All four stamps and their fabric squares

Here are the stamps with their small piles of fabric ready for the next step.

Here's three of the four stamps

Tim used styrofoam and a dull pencil to carve his designs. He did this same process during Vacation Bible School when he carved his image of St. Paul and made prints. It's fun to do!

Tim designs his stamps for the prayer flag

Tim decided to make a cross, heart and peace sign for his stamps. After he finished those three, he decided to add a smiley face!

Cutting out the muslin that will be stamped

To avoid too much sewing, Tim and I decided pinking shears would make a nice border. This photo shows us using the template to cut the fabric.

The Process Begins...

Tim wanted to know why he was starting his confirmation project in the summer! I told him because it would take all year to do, and by the looks of these photos, you'll see what I mean! We needed a template for the prayer flag. The brown paper will be the colorful background fabric, it's roughtly 5 1/2 x7 inches. The pink paper will be the muslin fabric with the stamp on it. That's about 4x6 inches.

Testing out the sewing machine

We got out my sewing machine that my mother bought me back in 1977. That little yellow JC Penney machine has seen me through a lot of bear patterns and quilts. It has been a while since it has had a tune up, so I wanted Tim to try it out. He made one fine looking straight stitch. Perfect for prayer flags!

Welcome to Tim's 3rd grade Confirmation Project Page

Hi, my name is Tim! For my confirmation project at STCS, I am going to make prayer flags and drop them off randomly every Friday. You can start looking for them when school starts! I picked this project because I wanted to do a helpful confirmation project, and I think people who find them will be very happy and joyful!