Back in August I posted about this project to create commemorative poppies:
https://5000poppies.wordpress.com/ There is lots of information on this
website. You can get lost in it for ages!!
I am planning to participate in honor of my paternal grandmotherâs two
brothers, who had emigrated to Australia just before WWI, and came back and
fought with the Australian troops. Thankfully both survived.
I have found out a bit more information since I first wrote, but not had time
to communicate it with all of you, despite several of you asking me to tell
you more.
Their final project for the Centenary of Anzac 2014-2018 is a very big
program. The AWM this week has formally announced that 5000 Poppies will
install 62,000 of our beautiful handcrafted poppies in the lawns of the
Memorial in and around the new Flanders Memorial Garden to commemorate the
Centenary of Armistice. 62,000, as we know, reflects the number of brave
Australian souls who were lost in World War I.
Poppies can be dropped at the AWM or sent to 5000 Poppies, P.O. Box 115,
Ashburton, Victoria 3147, Australia. They ask that none are mailed before
January 22nd.
Patterns for knitted, crocheted, felted, machine-embroidered and felted
poppies are at: https://5000poppies.wordpress.com/poppy-patterns/
I enquired about bobbin lace poppies, and got the following very positive
response: âWe had some bobbin lace poppies sent in for our last install.
We put them in our bouquets for the Royal Family ... Her Majesty to Queen, The
Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Anne. They were very special. But we would
love some for our project. How do you think they will go in the weather? We
plan to scotch guard them but I worry about them standing up to the elements
for 5 weeks.â
I, personally, think bobbin lace should hold up as well as knitted or
crocheted poppies would, as long as suitable thread is used. Janice Blair is
happy for us to use her pattern, which can be found at:
https://jblace.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/poppy.pdf Janiceâs pattern
used DMC Perle 8 cotton, which would produce petals about 3.5 cm long. They
want the final size of the poppy to be around 8-9 cm finished, so we might
need to enlarge Janiceâs pattern a little. Iâll let you know more when
Iâve made one! They are using all sorts of buttons for the centres of their
poppies, and this might work out easier than felt. They say any RED yarn is
acceptable - wool or acrylic or cotton â as long as the finished product is
tightly made âand ask that you PLEASE SEW IN ALL YOUR ENDS!
It seems to be crucial for the adding of the stems for the poppy not to have a
big hole in the centre. Also the poppy must be able to stand up and not droop
when out in the elements. I may decide to stiffen my poppies before sending
them so that they will not absorb water and should stand up to the elements.
DEADLINE for the finished stems is mid April 2018, so it is time to get
working and mailing them if you want to be part of this project!
Sue
suebabbs...@gmail.com
-
To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line:
unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to
arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
