The FBR (First Big Rumble) Anniversary, 4th September 2011

  

I like celebrations. Any reason is good enough for me. Especially in earthquake country, more laughter, more food and more fun is always welcome.

                               

But how do you celebrate an earthquake? It took only a few seconds to come up with the tried and true idea of 'more stitching'. It felt right to shift on from the hearts, healing and powerful as they were in the weeks after the Febuary earthquake. 

                                                              

We all have moved on, we are in a different state of heart and soul than we were in Febuary. So we decided to stitch wooly medals, to celebrate that we are still here, to celebrate our community, to celebrate life.

                                                                                 

The obvious spot for that was the Petanque Club, situated on the old 'Ground Delicatessen' site in Lyttelton.

So on Sunday, dozens of people turned up at lunchtime. We stitched and ate and made music and listened to music. We talked and laughed. Played petanque.

                                                                              

I usually like to waffle on, use language and words to make sense of the world around me and through this share my impressions with others.

But I can't say a lot about this Sunday. We were there. People, strangers, friends. Breathing together. Picking up pink, blue, green felt, a gold button, a ribbon and creating symbols of love and survival. All our hearts beating in unison.

                                                                                 

How can words express all of that?

written by Bettina Evans

lyttel stitches and a giveaway

The latest edition of extra-curricular is out with an article on the heart stitching that happened here in Lyttelton after the February earthquake. This issue has a stitching focus so the lyttel hearts project and sharing the goodness that happens when people gather together and create is a perfect fit for the "crafting for good" section of this little mag.

A tutorial on making a gorgeous foraging bag by Melissa of tinyhappy is also in the issue.

Perfect for the Spring treasure gathering that is about to begin.

I have a mag to giveaway so leave a comment here and I will draw a winner at the end of the weekend.

This has now closed.

And by the way, Sunday 4th September lyttel stitches will be down at the Petanque club stitching up a whole heap of "hero medals," commemorating the first earthquake that shook these parts a year ago, thinking of those we have lost and celebrating our resilience and shear stickibility.

Have a good weekend people.

Posted by Jacinda, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com

celebrating anyway

After Monday's further major shakes, there is a lot of brokenness here in Lyttelton as you can see here and here.

There is sadness and loss.

There is also a continuation of trying to imagine a future with such unstable ground.

One thing that isn't broken though is our community spirit and with Matariki and Winter Solstice upon us and the Festival of Lights postponed, a good local crowd decided to gather and celebrate anyway.

Friends had already bought ingredients for a warming chai tea and had organised a yurt to put up on the old Ground site. Music folk from The Harbour Union played and everyone rejoiced to see a bunch of us stitching hearts and came and joined in.

These two young women held down the fort serving up warming chai and love. 

The lovely Paige, local belly-dancing goddess brought delicious cakes to share with families. She confessed it had been a personal therapy to get through these shaky times; an ancient way for women dealing with crisis.

We all encouraged her to continue this particular therapy and share the results.

Community therapy through baking and eating

Music, chai and community togetherness was served up into the evening.

With much of every new day uncertain at the moment, living in a loving, creative and resilient community is the certainty I stand firm upon right now.

Written by Jacinda, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

lyttel stitches

In an environment heavy with destruction and grief there are always those things that will blossom and nurture new life.
Here in Lyttelton, the "heart project" has been one of those things  over this last month.

A circle of people gathered together and a simple project; an old woolen blanket cut into the shape of a heart, buttons and wool stitched on with love, a safety pin to attach and given away freely to whomever may pass our way.

Mainly sitting vigil outside the library at what has become "the coffee corner," we sit and do our bit at stitching the community's heart back together. 

People come and go all day. Some appreciate the chance to sit and chat, others stitch their own heart. All of us able to take a breath together, enjoy the chance to focus on a simple project and remember that we do not need to face uncertainty alone.

This is no small thing.

And as we sat among the rubble of our beloved buildings - the places that were integral to our lives here - we discovered a small way to grieve a little for what we had lost. We wanted to make those fences our own somehow and stitch a little beauty where there was lose and collapse and so hearts began to appear on the barricades.

And when the news came that the local schools were to reopen it seemed an obvious place to take the heart project. Creativity heals; it allows one to be alone and yet together with others. It allows the body to relax and the mind to focus on a single thing rather than worry about what is to come.







Families had moved away and children would be without their usual friends. The children  needed their own heart and needed to be part of the larger story of Lyttelton stitching their community back together again

All through this project we have been deeply grateful for those people who brought supplies to us or sent them from other parts of the country. With these gifts we sat each day and stitched and as we gave these gifts to others we reminded ourselves and each other that the perfect way forward is with an open heart. 


by Jacinda, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com