Creative Nudge – Sakura Dreams

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Luana

Sakura7_550 
Sophie and I just got home from Washington DC, where we went to visit my brother, the Smithsonian Museums, Mount Vernon, the Pandas in the zoo, and especially to see the Cherry Blossom Festival.

I've uploaded several photos from the trip, so you can see the beautiful cherry blossoms too. It was an especially poignant trip, knowing that many of the Sakura (cherry blossom) festivals in Japan have been canceled this year due to the earthquake and tsunami, and ongoing nuclear crisis.

As you go through this slideshow of Sakura photos, my hope is that you will feel as though you are walking under the blossom-laden branches with me, feeling the peaceful beauty that exists under these old trees that bend to wards the water and whisper in the wind….shedding showers of petals over the dreamers who stroll beneath.

***********************
There is a lot of textile-related art and history to see in Washington DC, not including the textile museum!

Currently the Hyperbolic Crocheted Reef is at the Natural History Museum in the Smithsonian. I did a video review of this project 2 years ago in Harrogate, and you may enjoy this video by Margaret Wertheim on how she and her sister came to create the first crochet coral reef.

Several gowns have been added to the First Lady Inaugural Gown exhibit since I last saw it 30 years ago! From the most recent installment of Michelle Obama's white gown, to Martha Washington's dress, it is quite a trip through the history of fashion.

It was interesting to note that Lincoln's coat which he wore the night of his assassination, and the Star-Spangled Banner, have both been victims of souvenir-snippers in the past. (large chunks of the fabric are gone after being cut off for mementos by souvenir hounds)

Several of the pop-culture items on display at the American History Museum are textile related – Jim Hensen's original fabric puppets, the two tapestry chairs from All in the Family, and costumes worn by Olympic gold-medal skaters…

There is also a nice display about the first sewing machines, which describes the huge impact this invention made on women's lives. I was surprised to see Isaac Singer's oil painting portrait in the National Portrait Gallery. But then again…why not?

And of course, there are historic quilts sprinkled throughout all the museums, many of them simple patterns using clothing scraps…recycled to create a quilt for warmth and beauty. How far we have come, with this beloved art and craft, that allows us to work with an amazing variety of art & design on cotton fabric.

***********************
eQuilter *1000 QUILTS for JAPAN*

eQuilter is partnering with Mission of Love to deliver one or more shipments of disaster relief supplies (medical, educational, and basic needs) and donated comfort quilts, to the people of Japan.

IMPORTANT: Please carefully read all of the project page information about deadlines, shipping, sizes, and FAQs… and if your question is not answered, you can contact eQuilter Customer Service at [email protected]

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Taking Time to Smell the Cherry Blossoms

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Luana

My original plan for spring break (late March) this year was to go to Japan to see the Sakura festivals. ( the cherry blossom festivals) Instead I stayed home because I had to help support someone after a surgery. So I went to Japan in January instead… to the Tokyo Quilt Festival.

I would have had to cancel my spring break trip, because the earthquake occurred 1 week before I would have flown there. My friend Evie at Kaufman flew home from Japan just a few days before the quake. So we are both feeling fortunate that we weren't caught in the disaster, but we also feel closer to those affected by the devastation, because of our recent trips there.

Today is our daughter Sophie's "Gotcha Day" – which means 8 years ago today she was placed into my arms for the very first time. So many of our customers and friends followed our travel diary while we were on that trip, in fact we received about 3000 emails from those following our adoption journey. This even included teachers who were reading our daily diary to their classes!

In later years I visited orphanages in China, and have been inspired to help children who are left behind to grow up in institutions. Many of the organizations who receive charity dollars from eQuilter, are helping these children: Altrusa, Mission of Love, Engineers Without Borders and Doctors Without Borders.

So today, as we are celebrating and photographing the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, Sophie and I are grateful for so many things. Grateful that I didn't plan to go to Japan for spring break, grateful that we can come to Washington DC for the festival, grateful that fate brought her to our family 8 years ago, and grateful that we have a business that allows us to help other children growing up in orphanages.

As we visit the museums and memorials in the nation's capital, we are grateful to have the opportunities that this country gives to us. As we walked through the WWII memorial, we honored Paul's dad who bravely fought in and survived that war in Europe. As we traced the names on the Vietnam Memorial, climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and listened to the Park Ranger retell the story of Lincoln's assassination at Ford Theater…. we are grateful for the stories that inspire us to do great things.

My brother works as an architect here, and he just got back from installing a huge fiber art sculpture in the new wing of the San Francisco Airport. His company has worked on some big famous projects here such as designing the Spy Museum, Hilton headquarters, Natl Geographic TV studios, embassies and government buildings. I am so proud of him! He works a few blocks from the White House so it is convenient to stay in this area so we can walk to the sights, and visit with him nearby. Sophie and I visited his office yesterday, and met an enthusiastic quilter among the staff. We even ran into quilters as we strolled around the Tidal Basin viewing the blossoms yesterday! Quilters are everywhere. It is just amazing.

So I'll be posting photos of this trip over the next several days, and then I leave April 12-22 to Bali.

Our * 1000 Quilts for Japan* project is rolling – see the latest updates on the project page.

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Elizabeth Gilbert

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Luana

Today I had lunch with a friend of the family, to celebrate her 95th birthday. She gave me stock tips, ordered a carafe of wine for our table, and thoroughly enjoyed the slice of chocolate birthday cake brought by the waiter. She reminisced about being one of the few female students at CU Boulder in the 30’s, and said if she had arrived a generation later, she would have been a businesswoman instead of an attorney’s wife and the head of the education board.

If I make it to 95, I hope to be as fiesty and sassy! In the meantime, I was so proud to tell her about our incredible friends and customers, and even strangers, who are sending quilts for our relief effort in Japan. She marveled at the generosity of the quilt donors, and the passion with which you’ve responded to our call to help.

I spent time with another remarkable woman this last weekend – Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love) came to speak at the big campus auditorium here in Boulder, and I just loved hearing her talk about her creative process, her travel experiences, and how it felt to have Javier Bardem play the part of her husband. (lots of giggling from the audience)

Because I am leaving for Bali in 2 weeks, I hoped to gain some insight into her experience there. Sam came with me, and as soon as we got home he wanted to watch the movie. After hearing her speak, and then watching the movie, we “got it” …picking up on a lot of things about her journey that weren’t apparent the first time we saw the film.

I guess what I admired the most about Liz was that she has a fierce work ethic, but she is very humble at the same time. She doesn’t hesitate in her writing or in person, to point out her own imperfections. I think this is what endeared her to us – that she could bare her own fears and weaknesses so naturally that we didn’t cringe and turn away – but rather we followed her deeper into the story to see what happened next.

What I got out of our lunch with the 95 year old birthday girl was – Wisdom with Age means the older you get, the more you realize that you DON”T know! (As opposed to people who get more bossy and Smarty-Pants with age.)

Now here’s the punchline. We dropped off our matriarch friend at a hearing aid office for an appointment after lunch, and it was in a retail space where we used to have a local quilt shop. What is the world coming to? Quilt shops replaced with hearing aids?!? Where are these young quilters going to learn to sew?!

Over the years I’ve met a few bossy older quilters who loved to tell the newbies and younger quilters that they were breaking the rules, doing it wrong, and didn’t know what they were doing. I took my first Hawaiian quilting class 20 years ago (when I was 32) and the teacher just about bit my head off when I wanted to ‘break the rules’ and use batiks on a hand-dyed background, instead of the traditional solid-on-solid applique. Nevermind my original applique pattern or neat needleturned edges.

But hey, you know what? Breaking the Rules – that’s called Creativity. It’s called Evolution of an art form. It’s Revolution, it’s Chaos, and it’s very exciting to those who are just bursting with ideas and creative expression. There were riots the first time Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” was performed. Today it is considered a masterwork of genius. He had to learn the rules in order to break them so spectacularly, but his genius was in his musical coloring outside the traditional classical lines.

What’s YOUR Rite of Spring, in this vernal season?

***********************

eQuilter *1000 QUILTS for JAPAN*

http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/quiltsforjapan.html

eQuilter is partnering with Mission of Love to deliver one or more shipments of disaster relief supplies (medical, educational, and basic needs) and donated comfort quilts, to the people of Japan.

IMPORTANT: Please carefully read all of the project page information about deadlines, shipping, sizes, and FAQs… and if your question is not answered, you can contact eQuilter Customer Service at [email protected]

I’ll be writing to you from a famous festival, in a famous city, in the weekend newsletter. The first person to guess the city AND festival (exactly) on our eQuilter Facebook page will get a $25 gift certificate from me! Go on! Take a wild guess!

http://www.facebook.com/equilter

BrandywineBlossom1_W

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Christchurch NZ – Hearts Project

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Luana

Here is a follow up letter from one of the organizers for the Christchurch hearts project. As you can see, they are receiving many hearts, which I consider as fiber art greeting cards to give support and encouragement.

*************

Hello Luana,

Thank you for putting my letter about the earthquake in Christchurch ,New
Zealand, on your blog. It was very much appreciated. All the hanging
hearts we have received from around the world are wonderful and much
appreciated.

So far we have over 1000 hanging hearts on hand which is just marvelous! I
know that there are still more to come! Plans are in hand for the hanging
of the hearts in Christchurch. It will be awesome to see them all displayed
in one place and available for people to take.
www.heartsforchristchurch.blogspot.com will take to a display of the hearts
so far received.

Many people who have businesses in the CBD (and in other areas) cannot go
there as there is still a lot of danger from falling masonry etc. A lot of
homes are not habitable and the infrastructure of the city has been
seriously compromised. Many Heritage buildings have been lost. It is going
to take a long time to get back to where things were before the ‘quakes.

Again, many thanks to everyone who has given. We can still take more
hearts!
Dorothy Smith
PO Box 357
Stratford 4352
New Zealand.
[email protected]

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Quilts for Japan – Update

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Luana

Looking for an update on our *Quilts for Japan* project?

Please read all the details on our project page, which can also be found in the lower left corner of our home page. “Quilts for Japan”

http://www.equilter.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/quiltsforjapan.html

thanks!

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Creative Nudge – eQuilter’s *Quilts for Japan* Project

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Luana

If you've been watching my blog, you've seen the updates I've posted from our friend Shizuko in Japan. Even though events in North Africa have taken over the news this week, you and I know that help is still needed in Japan, and the recovery will go on for a long time.

As I wrote in my Saturday night newsletter, our eQuilter project "Quilts for Japan" is off and running…. in fact we've already received quilts here in Boulder in our office, and also at Mission of Love in Youngstown Ohio.

To all of you who have written to say that this project is your Creative Nudge to get going on a quilt – thanks for sharing your inspiration with us!

We're putting up a project page this week, with all the details. You'll be able to access it from the bottom left corner of our home page. It will also be included at the bottom of all our newsletters.

In the meantime here are the guidelines for our community project for Japan:

eQuilter *QUILTS for JAPAN*

eQuilter is partnering with Mission of Love to deliver one or more shipments of disaster relief supplies (medical, educational, and basic needs) and donated comfort quilts, to the people of Japan.

Through MOL's participation in the Denton Program, we have a commitment from the commander of an Air Force base in California, to ship the supplies and quilts from California to Japan.

QUILT SIZE:
I'd like to suggest that you make small personal-sized quilts for a child or small adult. That could be from 46" x 60" for a child's cot quilt, to 60" x 68" for a lap quilt, or 65" x 85" for a small twin size. We'd like to request full/double size quilt as the maximum size. See our project page later this week for more ideas.

DEADLINES:
You can drop off the quilts IN PERSON during business hours Monday through Friday at eQuilter in Boulder Colorado by Friday April 23,
OR
you can ship the quilts DIRECTLY to Mission of Love to arrive by Friday May 7th. (Do NOT ship to eQuilter, as this will delay the process.)

SHIP QUILTS TO:

Mission of Love Foundation
2054 Hemlock Court
Youngstown, Ohio 44515 U.S.A

IMPORTANT: If you wish a confirmation of delivery, then you will need to ship with a tracking number.

Mission of Love does NOT have an office staff to handle delivery confirmations, email or telephone queries. Please contact eQuilter, NOT Mission of Love, with any project queries.

They are a grassroots organization and their resources will be focused on receiving, unpacking, and then repacking and shipping the quilts to California along with the disaster relief supplies.

SUPPORT:
If you wish to support this project but cannot donate a quilt, please consider donating money to Mission of Love to help with their costs, and also to increase the amount of medical supplies we can include with this shipment. You can donate with Paypal or a credit card on their site. This will add to the money that eQuilter will give for additional supplies, and shipping from Ohio to California.

Also, when you make a purchase at eQuilter, you can indicate that your 2% for charity will go to Mission of Love.

IMPORTANT: Please read all of this information carefully and if your question is not answered, you can contact eQuilter Customer Service at [email protected]

We will post an FAQ on our project page this week, and try to cover all questions possible on that page!

And now, as a reward for making it to the bottom of this page, I've posted more photos from the Tokyo Quilt Festival as a THANK YOU to all of the individuals and guilds that have responded to our call for help.

GreenHeart3_W 

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Reconstruction in Japan

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Luana

Another update from our friend Shizuko:

Dear Luana,

I hope you and your family are keeping well.

Slowly but surely, reconstruction of devastated areas has started to move.
Gasoline and heating oil started to arrive and gas stations will be able to open business tomorrow morning, even though it is still
in the limited areas. There are already a long queue tonight. When a reporter asked some of them what they would like to do first.
A man said he would go to find missinhg families and friends. Another said he would go to confirm a body of his relatives.
According to a funeral director in Kesennuma City of Miyagi, an area most badly hit, there are still 500 bodies and it may take till the
middle of April to carry through the cremation. Some people in the isolated areas cannot come to receive the bodies.

Children at Evacuation Centers:
Like everybody else, even children are finding what they can do.
– A group of small primary school children are offering a massage to elderly;
– A group of older children are visiting homes of elderly asking what they need badly;
– Another group are delivering to elderly, who cannot walk, their meals.

The removal of wreckage including cars started.

Radioactive substance has been found in green leafy vegetables like spinich and milk in Fukushima prefecture where the nuclear-power
generated plants locate. Whole matters have been very heavy in your heart and mind.

I must stop now.
A bientot,
Shizuko

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A Letter from Sendai

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Luana

Thanks to our customer Carole, who passed on this inspiring letter from a woman named Anne in Sendai.

*****

 

A letter from Sendai , Japan – from Anne

                        Anne
                        writes:

                        "Things here in Sendai have been rather 
                         surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends
                        who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more
                        worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's
                        home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene
                        heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by
                        candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and
                        beautiful.

                        During the
                        day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes.

                        People sit in their cars, looking at news on their
                        navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water
                        when a source is open. If someone has water running in
                        their home, they put out a sign so people can come to
                        fill up their jugs and
                        buckets.

                        It's utterly
                        amazingly that where I am there has been no looting, no
                        pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as
                        it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep
                        saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days
                        when everyone helped one
                        another."

                        Quakes keep coming. Last night
                        they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant
                        and helicopters pass overhead
                        often.

                        We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and
                        now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this
                        afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is
                        by area. Some people have these things, others do not.

                        No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but
                        there are so much more important concerns than that for
                        us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials.
                        Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of
                        caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me,
                        but of the entire
                        group.

                        There are
                        strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in
                        some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out
                        drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food,
                        and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All
                        happening at the same
                        time.

                        Other unexpected touches of
                        beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one
                        out on the streets. And the heavens at night are
                        scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but
                        now the whole sky is filled. The mountains are Sendai are solid and
                      with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against
                        the sky magnificently.

                        And the
                        Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my
                        shack to check on it each day, now to send this email
                        since the electricity is on, and I find food and water
                        left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it
                        is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door
                        checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to
                        complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no
                        signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic,
                        no.

                        They tell us
                        we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes
                        for another month or more. And we are getting constant
                        tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that
                        I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit
                        elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far
                        this area is better off than others. Last night my
                        friend's husband came in from the country, bringing food
                        and water. Blessed
                        again.

                        Somehow at this time I realize
                        from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous
                        Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the

                        world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience
                        the events happening now in  Japan , I can
                        feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if
                        I felt so small because of all that is happening. I
                        don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening
                        that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing
                        (worldwide) is hard, and yet
                        magnificent.

                        Thank you again for your care
                        and Love of me,

                        With Love in return, to you all,
                       

                        Anne
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A Community of Quilters

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Luana

You guys are awesome!

In the last week since we announced our plans to send comfort quilts and disaster relief supplies to Japan, in partnership with Mission of Love, we've been flooded with emails, phone calls, and Facebook queries about the project.

Yes, it is happening. Thank you so much for letting us know that you are on board for this HUGE project!

We've heard from individuals and guilds, and at the same time I've been hearing from friends in Japan and posting news updates on my blog.

I am going to ask you to carefully read the information we have to share, and then sit tight for the next newsletter with further information. We've been flooded with so many queries that we have not been able to respond to all of them.

We will put up a page for the project in the next few days, with all the pertinent details, so you can share the link and info with others if you wish. Watch for this in our Tuesday night/Weds morning "Creative Nudge" newsletter.

* If you have quilts ready to ship, go ahead and send them to MOL at:

Mission of Love Foundation
2054 Hemlock Court
Youngstown, Ohio 44515
U.S.A
.
Please understand that for a grassroots organizations to run a project of this size, there is no person who is going to send you a confirmation of receipt. If you wish to confirm receipt, then you must send the quilt(s) with a tracking number for yourself.

* DO NOT SHIP QUILTS TO eQUILTER –

Ship quilts DIRECTLY to Mission of Love so they are not delayed by multiple shipping.

If you drop off quilts *IN PERSON* at eQuilter in Boulder Colorado, we will be happy to ship them to Mission of Love in Youngstown Ohio.

We don't know yet when the shipment will go, but right now we are looking at shipping out of Youngstown in about one month. (This is only a current estimate!) It will go to an Air Force base on the west coast, then will be flown on a military cargo plane to Japan. We are still working out the details of distribution, and it depends on when the radiation subsides and it is safe to distribute, etc.

If you have questions, PLEASE do not contact Mission of Love because they are working with a small hearty staff of volunteers in their warehouse on a military base, but they are not set up to respond to a flood of email queries.

If you have questions that are not answered in my newsletters, on my blog, or on the project page that will go up in the next week, contact eQuilter Customer Service via email at:
[email protected]

Now I would like to share a letter that I received today from Kathy at MOL, inviting us all to join with her to send a shipment of disaster relief supplies and quilts:

March 19, 2011

Dearest Luana,

Here I am again asking of your help to share our compassion and love to those of Japan. There are no words that we can convey to the great loss that the country of Japan has endured last week. This loss will continue for decades and we all ask just how we can help. In the past, we have partnered with eQuilter.com to hand deliver 3000 quilts to the survivors of 911 in New York. We hand delivered quilts to the survivors of Katrina, in which the recipients literally fell in my arms after receiving them. Our Haitian orphans now have a quilt to call there own, because of you and your friends of eQuilter.com. Why not have your friends make quilts for our friends of Japan? My Native American friends taught me that to give a quilt is to show the utmost respect, honor and admiration to a person.

Luana, I intend to send an airlift of medical, educational, and basic needs to the people of Japan. I would like to add quilts with this airlift that will be thru the Denton Program. Mission of Love is the largest user of the Denton Program in the country. Check out our web site, www.missionoflove.org and view some of our work that has been done by all volunteers for the past twenty two years. Know that this is not only my Mission of Love but it is everyone's mission in life to have compassion and love in their hearts for our fellowmen. What a great opportunity to make a difference in such a loving way.

You have continued throughout the years to support our Mission of Love via eQuilter.com. Know that because of you, our work of love has continued, with no grants or government funding. We, together have helped the people who really need our hand. Thank you so much! Know that this is not my job, but my life to continue being a facilitator on just how one can be of service.

Please consider this worthy mission of love to help heal the children and people of Japan.

Sincerely,

Kathleen M. Price
Mission of Love Founder/Director
[email protected]

*********

Yes Kathy, on behalf of our customers and friends who wish to help the people of Japan, we accept this challenge and will join you on this relief project.

The commander of a west coast Air Force base has agreed to help us ship the relief supplies and quilts to Japan, but there are still many expenses related to this project. eQuilter will invest in much of the expenses, but it will still not be enough if we want to add more crucial medical supplies to the shipment.

If you cannot send a quilt but would like to help, please go to www.missionoflove.org and make a donation so we can add the most urgently needed medical supplies.

If you live outside of the US and wish to donate a quilt, you are welcome to participate, but please send your quilts immediately, or look for a local relief project that may get your donations there even faster. Donating funds to MOL online is another way to support this effort.

Remember also that when you place an order, if your 2% contribution goes to Mission of Love, it will help to fund this project.

I express my most humble gratitude for all of you who wish to go on this journey together. Thank you for joining us to send our love and support to the victims of this devastating event in Japan.

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$87 million for Japan

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Luana

Seven days after the 9.0 quake off Japan, donations to nonprofit organizations have reached about $87 million, according to a tally by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a newspaper covering nonprofits. In comparison, one week after the earthquake in Haiti, donations totaled about $275 million. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, it was over $522 million, CNNMoney reports.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/18/japan-quake-live-blog-nissan-monitoring-car-exports-for-radiation/?hpt=T2

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