sunshine on a cloudy day

this is the only vaguely crafty thing i've been up to doing for months now:  suncatchers for some of my family in christchurch.   

 they have had a horrendous six months since the february 22 earthquake which claimed 181 lives:  the CBD remains closed, there have been thousands of aftershocks to contend with, some people are still without functioning sewerage to their houses, so many are traumatised and living with constant anxiety.  roads remain damaged.  'liquefaction', has gone from a foreign word to one every child seems to know.   even though i follow what is happening in 'my' beloved city i find it hard to comprehend what the daily reality must be like.

i wanted to send something (anything) that might bring the tiniest bit of sunshine into their lives, and to let them know that they are never far from my thoughts.

kia kaha chirstchurch.  stay strong.  

can't get you out of my head

ever since my friend naomi at the long and short of it blogged about her recent bunting adventures i keep thinking back to my first encounter with it last year...the serendipity of finding two floral doona covers at st vinnies, locating an old damaged tablecloth that tied in with the covers and then selecting some fresh yellow and white polkadot material to brighten it up a bit.

then the start of the seemingly endless cutting which was at once tedious and also verging on a form of meditation; the visual appeal of the production line; the fun of creating new projects with offcuts (a little tablecloth for the kiddie table and decorations for the 'fort') ; the time spent with my sister winding 35 metres of twine onto our arms; the family effort of carrying it all downstairs and the joy of finally seeing it all come together at last after so so many hours of work.


(i've decided that these doona covers are a bit like the magic pudding - they never seem to run out. after all the bunting-related bits there was enough remaining for jax's dress...

and still a little left!)