Saturday 14 February 2009

How can we help?


I've been very reluctant to post these past few days because I usually try to ignore what's going on outside, in the big world, because most of it is so horrible. Sometimes, however, things happen that you can't ignore, no matter how self-absorbed or disinterested you are. This is one of those times.

I've already made a monetary donation, in keeping with the fact that we make enough money for me to feed my obsession with yarn-related products (spun or woven, I'm not fussy) and to give us a very comfortable life. But my lovely defacto step-sister-in-law (got that?) sent me a very prescient powerpoint the other day, full of comments like "isn't it amazing how we're so asset-rich but time-poor"... anyway, fitting squarely into that category means that every time I sit down at the sewing machine, I'm doing something important, because of all the other things I leave undone (like ironing, cleaning, darning ), for example. Does anybody darn anymore?.... So, making something for the Bushfire victims means that donation has a lot more worth than the money I've already given.

And, as is often the way, my mother was the source of this good idea - she belongs to a patchwork group, in a community group run by the Baptist Church, on the other side of the country. Now, Mum and I are both atheists of the completely sceptical kind, but I have a sneaking admiration for these ladies - they charge a fee to attend their group, classes, quilt show etc etc & the money raised goes to buy sewing machines for women in India who would otherwise be destitute, enabling these women to earn a living by sewing. I think that's the kind of work that anybody interested in practical help for the underprivileged would approve of.

So, these guys are putting some care packages together for the Bushfire victims, and Mum has asked me for a Toilette Bag, for her to fill with the really useful things you don't miss until you don't have them - nail file, nail clippers, little scissors, sewing thread, needles, that kind of thing. So I will be making two today, one from her & one from me, and I will be using these: