Peace by Piece

April 2015 update:

I just finished piecing peace crane number 91 at the Guild retreat this year. 

It was made for a fellow quilter and beautiful woman named Melody out of her Pizza Box fabrics. She had all her Pizza Box blocks there and they were all so beautiful. I was so flattered that she asked me to make her one special. Another dear quilter also asked so I'm working on that one for sure. I told myself that I would reserve the right to not commit to 1000 cranes before I hit 100 so I better know soon!. Each one becomes so special depending on what it get made for and with what. So little fabric is needed so it is great to make out of scraps of clothing that are sentimental etc. 

I have started quilting the No Nukes Memorial Quilt for my husband. He has met a lot of Hibakusha. We actually both have. They are the living survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs dropped there in the 40's were created here in New Mexico at the Los Alamos National Laboratory which is across the Valley(s) from my home, I can see it as I type. www.hibakushastories.org is a nice disarmament website. There are many others. I'll work on adding more. Nuclear weapons should never be used. We cause deep lasting pain and suffering to many many people and all living things by dropping those two bombs on Japan and we should never do that again. No one should.The whole process of creating, using and disposing of nuclear weapons and their products are deeply harmful to all living things on Earth. And they are only used for escalating violence in an already intolerably violent world.

Today I had lunch with a fellow quilter and disarmament advocate who works on issues related to the uranium mines on the Navajo Reservation. There's a lot to learn about a lot of industries and how they are poisoning our remaining clean water and leaving trails of sickness and economic and spiritual devastation in many communities. For all this I believe 1000 Peace Cranes is a good prayer.

2013

I made my first Peace Crane out of scraps for my husband! He actually suggested it. Such the quilter's husband he is. This one was #60. As of this week I have sewn 87 Peace Cranes. I found a site called  A Thousand Quilted Cranes where a quilter is on 200 Cranes so far. She does them one a day for a person she loves. So cool.

The No Nukes piece is for my husband's scrappy Peace crane pillow. The rest are going on a twin size together. Excited to finally be creating my first Peace Crane bed-size quilt.

Kaleia's Peace Crane #50. This block was made for a group quilt for baby Kaleia by a dear friend and mama of Cosmo (his star quilt is posted too). I just helped her piece the crane and do the curved seam. She designed the block to use some prayer flags that she had brought with her to my sewing room when she came to make it. I think its gorgeous and special. Nice work!

Joaquin's peace Carne (48)

This is one of the pizza box blocks that I am doing with the Northern New Mexico Quilt Guild. So far I have done 4 peace cranes for the pizza boxes.

Jessica's Peace Crane

2012

So after my post this morning I decided to start my own Peace Crane project. I guess I will always be an activist for peace. Even in my sewing room...

The block I'm sewing is from a pattern I bought years ago from my local quilt store. It was one of those patterns that went in the someday space. The block pattern was created by Margaret Rolfe and makes up a bed blanket with over 100 peace crane blocks. This winter I finally decided to make one. I knew that I was going to make 1000 as soon as a started on it. The story of Sadako is one I grew up with. A story my spirit has always known.

Our community is located next to the Los Alamos National Laboratory which is the location where the bombs were built that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I personally have believed in a world free of nuclear weapons and have worked hard to express myself about it over the years. Now I have a way to lay down my prayer for peace and a nuclear -free world for our children and grandchildren no matter how long it takes me.

I hope that over the course of making these 1000 cranes that some of you might join me and contribute some cranes to the project.  So we'll see how this plays out but in the meantime, I'll keep sewing cranes.

Collecting links to other peace cranes projects:
A Thousand Quilted Cranes
Linda Drawing Time

Blogs that mentions Peace Cranes:
Quilt Inspiration

Peace Crane patterns:
Happier Than a Bird Quilts

As of April 10th I have made 43 Peace Cranes. Here are some of them:

Cosmo's Peace Crane

At Breath of My Heart

Raven's Birthday pillow

Paper piecing the cranes: