We are at war. People are angry and sad and heartbroken. The place where I work best is with my students. Sharing feelings, talking, creating and trying to work through the horror and uncertainty.
We are creating products, practical products, using combat colors. Pouches and key rings.
When I asked them what our combat colors are, most of them said olive green and beige. There are more, I know, because in the early stages of my sewing career in Israel I provided a mending service and had many soldiers from all the different battalions come to my sewing studio.
I remembered many of the colors but did some research for the students and found this here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces_insignia
As is my system, over the years I kept the remnants from uniforms that I mended and I found the bag last week. It is actually quite a large bag with many different sized pieces in all the different colors.
I spoke with an artist friend this week and told her of the project of combat colors that I am doing with the children and about my huge bag of remnants and that I have begun to create miniature art quilts in combat colors. She asked me why miniatures? Why not larger pieces, as my way, to work through these times, and then exhibit them.
I thought about it while sorting through the remnants pile and came up with at least 6 different artistic designs.
This morning, I sorted through my fabric boxes and took out all of the combat colors that I could find and came up with a relatively large selection of pieces and colors
I found strips of fabric
and many yoyos in different colors that I have sewn over the years
I found t shirt remnants from shirts that I had mended
It is as though there was a reason that I had kept all of these remnants.