Hearts and Hands for Sendai

Another great meeting last night! Thanks to the "Women of the Cloth" for a great program. More on that later- with photos! It seemed very timely that our program involved the Japanese arts of Sashiko and Origami. We all reflected on the terrible tragedy in Japan, and I promised info on Hearts and Hands for Sendai.
This is a project being sponsored by the Crazy Quilt International Yahoo Group, to benefit those affected by the earthquake/tsunami disaster. Hideko Isheda, a member of Crazy Quilt International and a fellow blogger, lives in Sendai, and is the inspiration for this effort. Hideko has a wonderful blog which I read often, called Wind from the East - click here to see her recent post of photos of the devastation in her area - you'll want to read further and check out her beautiful handwork as well. She is thankful to be alive but the devastation is heartbreaking. And today March 16th is her birthday....
If you think you might like to join in on this project, here are the particulars as I know them at present: to participate they are asking for a small monetary donation ($10.US per block, although I'm sure they'd be happy with more if you were so inclined) and an 8" finished quilt block, made either with crazy quilting or traditional quilting techniques. The color palette is jewel tones and the blocks will be assembled into quilts which will be exhibited in Japan, raising funds by an admission fee for viewing. It is thought that the quilts will later be auctioned, but I'm not sure that is a definite at this point.
You can see all the details for participating here at Crazy Quilt International, or on Leslie's blog here at Pinyon Creek Stitchin' - Leslie is the co-ordinator for this project. I emailed her yesterday to count me in... I think I'll throw a little challenge out to all my Guild members, and as well all my CQ buddies- c'mon girls- let's all get involved. Blocks are to be mailed to Leslie no later than June 30th (so you can finish your Show entries first, before starting this new project...) I will add more details here on the blog, as they are available.