Helping make a flag
I think it was back around the end of my 100 day project when my pal Libby from Oh My Golly Embroidery tagged me in an instagram post. It was a post that Sherrell from Sew The Seeds had created and it was all about the efforts the current US administration was making to roll back protections on the Endangered Species Act.
Sherrell's flag quilt concept - image taken by Sherrell
Sherrell's flag quilt concept - image taken by Sherrell
Sherrell wanted to highlight the endangered species in the US for whom survival was relying on the protections that the ESA gave. She wanted to create a giant quilt made in the style of the American flag, with every star representing an animal/flora or fauna from every US state that was endangered.
Obviously I jumped on board! Having just finished off my 100 day project and highlighting all the suffering that animals are going through. As WWF have been saying recently, we are the first generation to know the extent of the damage we're causing the planet and the first to do something about it.
Designing my star patch
Sherrell created a list of animals/flora and fauna - one for every single state - and popped it up on her instagram for people to claim whichever they wanted. I got in pretty quickly and managed to snag the Wyoming animal, a grizzly bear for myself to stitch up! I was really excited and had lots of ideas.
A hyperlapse of me stitching up my design
The wonderful thing about being passionate about a project is you really get it done quickly! I think it was only a couple weeks later that I had my star patch designed, drawn out, stitched and ready to send! I loaded the patch with a lot of symbolism and it's now safely with Sherrell, waiting to be part of the assembly process!
My finished patch
For my patch I chose to outline the shape of the star with red thread in a running stitch - an homage to the maps of the USA where they outline the individual states. The state flower of Wyoming is the Indian Paintbrush which I stitched around the bears. I chose to stitch a mother and baby bear duo but only stitched the baby bear in my signature geometric style. I deliberately chose to leave the mother bear as just an outline as if bears are allowed to be hunted again it could be a case of bear cubs being separated from their mothers and their populations going down again.
I believe Sherrell is still looking for a couple people to stitch up some last remaining stars so if you're interested in getting involved in this wonderful craftivism project then head on over to her instagram and check out this post!
Obviously I jumped on board! Having just finished off my 100 day project and highlighting all the suffering that animals are going through. As WWF have been saying recently, we are the first generation to know the extent of the damage we're causing the planet and the first to do something about it.
Designing my star patch
Sherrell created a list of animals/flora and fauna - one for every single state - and popped it up on her instagram for people to claim whichever they wanted. I got in pretty quickly and managed to snag the Wyoming animal, a grizzly bear for myself to stitch up! I was really excited and had lots of ideas.
A hyperlapse of me stitching up my design
The wonderful thing about being passionate about a project is you really get it done quickly! I think it was only a couple weeks later that I had my star patch designed, drawn out, stitched and ready to send! I loaded the patch with a lot of symbolism and it's now safely with Sherrell, waiting to be part of the assembly process!
My finished patch
For my patch I chose to outline the shape of the star with red thread in a running stitch - an homage to the maps of the USA where they outline the individual states. The state flower of Wyoming is the Indian Paintbrush which I stitched around the bears. I chose to stitch a mother and baby bear duo but only stitched the baby bear in my signature geometric style. I deliberately chose to leave the mother bear as just an outline as if bears are allowed to be hunted again it could be a case of bear cubs being separated from their mothers and their populations going down again.
I believe Sherrell is still looking for a couple people to stitch up some last remaining stars so if you're interested in getting involved in this wonderful craftivism project then head on over to her instagram and check out this post!