Saturday 28 July 2018

Hearts for WW1


Earlier this year I read a piece in a magazine about this amazing project
and I signed up straight away.  I have found these hearts fascinating since I first saw one in the window of an antique shop here.  They are the first example of Occupational Therapy 
being used in the UK and they are stunning.
Mine blank heart arrived and was numbered 43, I obviously was very early in ordering as she has made 1,568 blank hearts, one for every day of World War 1.

I did attempt to decorate with beads and sequins, not sure what I was doing wrong but just could not get the sequin pins to stay in.  So I went back to what I know, embroidery.  The lines of back stitch are to represent the contour line of the horrendous trenches with the poppies then rising out of them.

I made the poppies by first ironing black interfacing on to some red and black shot fabric I had, then cutting out oval shapes, as I wanted them to be stylised like the poppies we buy for Remembrance Sunday.

They were then anchored in place with two sizes of black beads.
Pleased with the end result, but there really are some amazing ones being sent in which are being posted of their Facebook page.  I do hope I can get up to Scarbourgh to see the exhibition in November, I think it will be very moving indeed.

Wednesday 4 July 2018

a post war story

A post war story

Last month a German lady was in the gallery and we were having a good long chat, she had been to the gallery before and was a regular visitor to Guernsey.  So after a while I felt comfortable in asking her about the pin she was wearing (see above).  I had seen them with a Guernsey flag crossed with the Union Jack or German flag but not this one.
Well it turned out it was the flag of Biberach which is the town in southern Germany where the internment camp for Channel Islanders was during World War 2.  The island and the town now have a strong link, with visiting, choir, group and VIPs etc.

She very kindly then gave me my own pin.

We carrier on chatting, with me talking about how my father had been in Guernsey as a boy during the Occupation, and she had just visited German Naval Signals Headquarters
 and as her father had worked in the GNSH in Brest, Britany 
he had probably regularly communicated with the soldiers stationed in St Peter Port. 

What I thought was so nice was we were both catching about our fathers experiences during the war, on opposite side, yet it was relaxed and friendly. As it should be.  
After all in did all happen a life time ago.