Altar Cloth for our Cedar City Temple

For the past year, I have been crocheting a temple altar cloth while our temple here in Cedar City has been being built.  I began work on the cloth as soon as the first renderings of the temple were released.  I used those renderings to study the architecture of the temple as I researched various patterns that I hoped would be appropriate for our temple.  This is our new Cedar City Temple.  Isn't it beautiful?!

Photo from LDSLiving.com

I did not have access to any of the interior design details, and the temple department does not give you a pattern to follow, only basic guidelines and general dimensions.  So, I spent several months crocheting samples of various patterns so I could see them and hold them in my hands and pray over which pattern would match the aesthetic of the temple and be most pleasing to the Lord.  I settled on a cathedral window design that seemed both appropriate to the historic feel of the temple as well as used various design details that I felt would represent many of the symbols found within the temple.  Here are some pictures of the completed altar cloth:

With the temple being built just up the street from our home, my family and I had the opportunity to walk up to the temple site every week as the temple was constructed and ponder the symbolism of each stage of the building process.  We took a picture in front of the temple each week as it was constructed.  It was a wonderful experience for our family.  This is our final picture, when the temple was finally complete.

When the stain glass windows were installed, I was thrilled to discover that the circular flower detail matched the pattern I used for the altar cloth.

Photo from LDSLiving.com

Photo from LDSLiving.com

Photo from LDSLiving.com

 And, when we had the opportunity to tour the inside of the temple ourselves, I was in tears as I noticed a reoccurring design theme throughout the temple to which this altar cloth perfectly adhered.  Truly the Lord does answer prayers and guide us in our decisions.  Notice the pattern in the carpet.

Photo from LDSLiving.com

Photo from LDSLiving.com

Photo from LDSLiving.com

Even the grates in the endowment room matched the altar cloth.  These rooms contain the smaller ordinance altars for which I made the cloth.  Here is a picture of the altar that the cloth may be used on.

Photo from LDSLiving.com

Before the temple was begun, we had the opportunity to put our names on rocks that were placed within the temple foundation.  I have conceived two more children since that time and am comforted by the fact that, while these two children did not get their names in the temple foundation, they are still a part of the sacrifice made to build our temple in that I crocheted the altar cloth during both of these pregnancies.  They have also been documented throughout their pregnancies as we have taken our weekly pictures at the temple.

My hope is that as patrons come to serve in the temple, the symbols found throughout the temple and in the altar cloth itself will remind them of the sacred covenants they have made.  I am so very grateful for the opportunity I have had to contribute to this holy work and for the lessons I have learned as I have pondered the mysteries of God while offering my own labor of love to the temple.  How blessed we are to have a temple we can walk to as often as we like.