ScrapHappy March

I'm a little late for the actual Scraphappy Day...15th of the month.....but had some depressing and gut wrenching news at the end of the week that left me feeling too upset to think about much at all, and definitely not blogging. I'm not ill, but it's something that affects my home and lifestyle, and I might post about it eventually, but now it's even hard to talk about, so maybe one day......

Anyway, on to scraps, which are far more cheery to talk about and make me happy.  We have 2 wonderful op shops (thrift stores) in town run by volunteers, and all proceeds go to the local Wedgetail Retreat Palliative Care Hospice. They're not out to make huge profits, so the shops are treasure troves of minutely- priced bargains. I've made a couple of quilts I've donated as fundraisers, and so Edna, who manages the shops, often puts odds and ends away for me that she thinks I might be able to use.
So when I went in last week looking for a sleeping bag for an old man I found sleeping cold in the unused railways station, Edna had a surprise for me tucked under the counter.....

 ....a lovely handful of fabric bundles, little scraps and left-overs from other people's sewing, all lovely soft cottons in dainty prints and so perfect for a project I've had in mind.....making tiny gowns for prem babies. I have the patterns for 3 sizes - 10 com (4") 14cm (5.5" and 20com (8")

So tiny they don't take long to sew up

Finished size 10cm (4")

A few of the tiny ones ready for sewing

and a pile of my own small freshly washed and ironed pieces ready for cutting.

These will be going off to Adelaide, to Walk with Wings, an organisation that offers not only support to parents during their journey through NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) but also distributes premmie support packs to hospitals around South Australia, to present to families suddenly faced with a premature baby. It's an exciting time for parents when they're told they can dress their baby, who, being so small and delicate, need simple gowns in fabrics that are soft and gentle, and styles that are ok to to use with these little ones, who usually have tubes and monitors attached. 

 

A support package for the parents of a tiny premmie baby - credit Walk with Wings website

Joining with Kate and Gun who kindly host ScrapHappy Day every month, where we can show off our scrappy projects....whether fabric, yarn, wood, paper...whatever can be turned into something useful or decorative. There's some interesting posts this month, go check them out....

they weren't late!

It's been raining steadily here for a couple of days, the ground's damp and soft and it's cool(er) out, so a perfect time to head out and do some much-needed weeding.

So, till next time...............

I Dream of a World..........

I popped down to Sydney on the weekend for the opening of this powerful exhibit by my friend and amazing artist Mo.  I only started following Mo in January 20I7, after her vision for this artwork was already launched, so I'd had no idea where it all began. I read back through Mo's blog posts today because having seen the culmination at the opening, I wanted to to put it into some sort of context.

It seems to have begun with a number of to and fro conversations back in 2016 on a blog post about Rebecca Solnik's book Hope in the Dark where Mo made a comment about "looking after our beautiful broken world with kindness "  This phrase pops up a few times in subsequent posts, and then the gift of an old wedding dress, Mo's growing concern for our broken world, and a sign on a building in Newtown NSW, where she lives, birthed the idea for a powerful and important message of hope and healing. Mo decided to cut the wedding dress into pieces, and put the call out for anyone interested to put their hands up to make a pennant, making their mark in some way with their hopes and dreams to heal our world. For those, like me, who were a bit slow putting their hand up, Mo called for small talismans to be made to be attached to the installation., which I'll show later.

Photo credit Mo Orkiszewski

 If you're interested, you can read more about her vision, the planning and process and how she pulled it all together here,  along with posts which celebrate the arrival of the pennants and talismans. 

And so it all came together, and on Sunday we gathered to celebrate this wonderful installation that saw hands, hearts and threads joined across the world.

44 pennants from all over the world - threads and stitch connecting people and making powerful healing energy

(Photo credit Fiona and Bruce Dempster)

awe and wonder 

choosing a favourite

talismans

And speaking of talismans.........that's mine in the middle.  And below are close ups of it, front and back.

Talisman - 1.5 cm ( .5 inch) square, handmade felt. It's a little pouch, and inside on two pieces of  handmade paper I wrote .... I dream of a world..... and a Sanskrit prayer. 

 A shisha mirror for protection and reflection of the good we do. A tiny green heart is nestled in the soft wool fringing.

On the back I embroidered an Aboriginal symbol for meeting place.....for Mo's blog and this project have been  a meeting of hearts, minds and intention......and the colours of purple and green symbolise the power of women joining together to help heal our world.

I can't begin to describe the wonderful feeling of seeing all the pennants, talismans and the structure to hold it all that Mo dreamed into being and created to display and anchor them to the veil and train of the old wedding dress. It was possible to stand underneath it, and feel the energy and harmony created by the thoughts and prayers stitched into the work, and feel contained and held by the soft light filtering through the fabric.

As someone else said today describing it .......what a buzz!

Congratulations to Mo.....for bringing us all along on this wonderful journey of love.

If you'd like to see more of the pennants and talismans and their maker's stories, go here to see the amazingly beautiful catalogue.

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