A couple of things have got me thinking recently about how craft, all elements of it, can be quite moving. Yes, moving.
I spent some time with my parents in their home 
town of Belfast (Northern Ireland, not north of Christchurch) and we stumbled across a quilt on display in a shopping mall. It hung, without any pomp or ceremony, in the midst of the busy thoroughfare. It was made up of hundreds of squares, each made by the family of someone lost in that city's long and bloody conflict. Most incorporated a photo with words and symbolism of some sort.
As my parents searched for people they knew, people killed as teenagers, the parents of childhood friends, the girl next door or the father of a cousin's husband, I found myself blinking back hot, heavy tears at the sadness of it all even decades after most of them died.
I knew none of these people but each square had been lovingly, delicately and probably tearfully created and they were a tangible testament to the pain felt by each family and friend. It was a silent reminder to all, silent but so poignant.
It brought me right back to Christchurch, to the days, weeks and months following the quakes, when I felt that same sense of loss. So much had changed forever and everyone I know was hurting in some way.
Just as my parents moved from Belfast for safer shores, we too have moved from Christchurch, though it is our heartfelt hope that we will return to rejoin the friends, family and community we have left behind for now.
But before we made the decision to move, one of the things that touched me and made me realise that the rest of the country and plenty of people overseas were thinking of us was Hearts for Christchurch. Oh how I cried when I first found out about it. For me, the idea that hundreds and then thousands of people from around the country and the world had taken the trouble to make something with their hands for my broken hometown and its people was so touching. It still is. Thank you Evie Harris, thank you. Just check out this photo of Te Papa staff sorting through them for an exhibition. Amazing.
I can't forget the yarn bombers either. It really lifted my spirits to see the fencing or road cones around a demolition zone tarted up with a jaunty little knitted item. Thank you to those people too. I blinked back many tears when coming across new additions on my drive to work.
So you can see why I have been thinking about how handmade items can touch us in a way that is harder for a shop-bought item to achieve. However thoughtful a shop-bought item is and no matter how much affection it was given with, I can't help but feel that making something from scratch imbues it with even more love. Just like the cross-stitch blanket my mum made for my babies. It's a treasure and will forever remind me of good times with her.
Do you agree? Maybe I feel this way because I personally enjoy making things, but perhaps those who don't would feel differently? Was anyone else as touched as me by Hearts for Christchurch? I hope so. Am I just overly sentimental, or has someone made something for you that has made tears well up?
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I think a piece of craftwork 'works' when the recipient or observer wells up inside. Isn't that what doing crafts is all about?
So true! My fave quilt was one I saw in a craft magazine. It was done by these Australian crafters raising money for cancer sufferers. The quilt was auctioned off in a raffle. It was pretty cool as it held meaning in each patch and it was visually really amazing,also. I really love your blog and I read every post. Keep up the great work!
@cupotea that's exactly what im talking about, your sister is going to love it. so thoughtful! it's funny how we can invest emotion in fabric don't you think? my mother (a granny herself) still has a pinny that once belonged to her mother and I have some beads taken from another piece of her clothing even though she lived in the opposite hemisphere.
@LKS, got to love a little collective crafting for a good cause. definitely warm fuzzies all round.
A friend of mine lost her one and only daughter not long after she was born, Tracey would have been 8 this year so for her birthday I made her parents a bear and thought I would tell them that I was making it and Tracey's Mum asked me to put one of Tracey's outfits that had been made by her Great Grandma inside the bear. Tracey Bear is lovely and wears a little bracelet with her name on it and takes pride of place in her parents lounge. RIP little Tracey xxx
Craft can most definitely be full of emotion. After being diagnosed with terminal throat cancer our nana started on a quilt which had a square with each person in our family. I don't know how she finished it given she was so sick but she did and she wasn't with us much longer after that. I guess she wanted to say what she could no longer say with words. It's now our most treasured heirloom. We'll fight about who gets it later :-) or maybe we'll draw lots. Thanks Nana, we still remember you.
Hi Elsie #6 You won't fight because you will remember Nana loved ALL of you. May I suggest when you pass it on (by roster,eg semiannually or annually) you enclose a letter to your relatives to keep the contact going. It's so hard to keep contact with cousins once the 'Nana's house gatherings' stop.
When my son was little we did a therapy programme with him, with volunteers who came in and helped each day. They grew to love our little man and one of them made him a beautiful quilt, with pictures on it depicting the things that were important to him. On the back two quilted hands and "God works through human hands"...he's nearly 19 now but that quilt brings back that time in our lives so strongly, and makes me feel the love that brought so much hope into our lives.
I certainly enjoy making things to give as gifts - quilts, baby onesies that I stitch on, blankets, cards, etc. But I do often wonder if the people who receive them appreciate the effort that went into making these items, or if they wish I'd just bought something that was 'perfect', without any of the little errors (mismatched corners, slightly crooked seams, not quite straight lines)? It makes me wonder more when people don't even bother saying thank you or sending a card??
When when my favorite Great Aunty was in hospital, dying, the nursing staff bought out a gorgeous quit made with beautifu foral fabrics, it look like she had a garden spread over her. The nurses use those quits for the people who are in hospital to die, it was wonderful because it gave us something to focus on other than Aunty's struggle for one more breath, when we were camped out in that plain little room. My parents and I own a small Rest Home and my mother has become obsessed with having a lovely quilt for when we know a resident is going to be leaving us. None of us quilt but she's enlisted her sister-in-law to put one together for us
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Totally agree with you on the Hearts for Chch and the decorate road cones etc, made me well up too! Am currently making a bear for my sister out of fabric that our late mother was making a quilt out of. While i am not as practised as mum was at handicrafts, i'm hoping that my sister receives it in the spirit that i am making it for her! She has an important presentation next month and making a bear for special occassions is what mum did. Am even making a heart on the bear out of fabric from mum's favourite dress.