Category: Charity

Christmas 2016

24/12/2016

Yet another year flies by and too many atrocities worldwide still occuring. This year one of the charities we support who help orphan children in Africa, many also suffering from AIDS and also that children in Cyprus all get at least one proper meal a day, had another fund raising event. This year I was given a handmade doll from Africa and was told I had to turn her into my own fairytale. My mind went straight to Australia...funny that !...and to The Dreaming or Dreamtime. We all need to be reminded of where we have come from ,what we are, and, where we are going. A good time to reflect is Christmas Time and hence Dreamtime Angel was born with her stocking. The 3 facets of Dreamtime on her pebbles remind those who hold them about what is important to respect in our lives.
A Merry Christmas to all...
Maro and Nonie

If anyone would like to donate or see what has been made possible, by a group of volunteers, please click on the button..

Sophia Foundation

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Sophia Foundation Quilts...

5/7/2014

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We would like to thank everyone for helping us create the Sophia Foundation quilts at our Patchaouri 2014 exhibition last February. It was loads of fun, for young and old, and was wonderful to see how much thought and care people put into placing their "patch of love" onto the design board .The look of delight on the children's faces when they realized that their fabric square would stick just by caressing it was priceless. With all the excitement we managed to finish 2 quilts. The first a classic one patch and the second we decided to create a 4 patch square from the same colour family to create a different look .

Both quilts will be used by the Sophia Foundation for Children to raise funds for their charity work in Cyprus. The quilts are to be raffled after the summer heat subsides and in time for the lucky winners to use them this Christmas. Will post all the details once the raffle is organized but for now enjoy the summer and a huge thank you to all who participated in making these quilts from start to finish and edge to edge and ...definitely brimming with love...

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Pashminas and a Happier New Year...

12/6/2014

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For everyone who was not there :

On December 21st last year another charity event was organized at Omikron gallery for The Sophia Foundation for children. This time it was not for the children for Africa but for those closer to home, in Cyprus whose families have been severely affected by the economic crisis. It has taken me a good 5 months to post about this and upload these photos as we have had to get through the Christmas madness, setting up an exhibition ....( see our Exhibition Patchaouri 2014 page for a glimpse of how we spent our opening night ) children , family and students , moving to Australia , renovations etc. which, have all demanded a lot of our time ...

Hope you enjoy the slide shows of the exhibition and pashminas that were all available for auction , and yes it was a HUGE success and managed to ensure 8 schools could be set up with kitchens, and, supply meals for their students for a year ... we hope they are all having a Happier New Year....Maro

And a few closer photos of some pashminas :

Ps : Apologies for not writing the names of all creators , memory failing and list in a drawer approx. 1400 km away !!! If you would like to see Patchaouri's contribution to the exhibition please click on the button below to see the blog post ..

PASHmina unwrapped

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Pashmina unwrapped...

21/12/2013

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Last year I was asked to participate in a charity exhibition to raise money for the Sophia Foundation's orphanage in Kenya. (see buttons at end of this blog)
This year ,due to the economic situation that has affected this island, the Foundation decided to set up a school lunch programme to ensure that children who have been hit the hardest get a cooked meal at least once a day. In order to raise money for this cause, 230 pashminas were given to people to embellish and create their own pashmina to wear.
When I got "my" pashmina in my hands I realised what a challenge this was going to be. This pashmina was the real deal...90%cashmere and 10% silk....so soft, lightweight, fine, very fluid nearing slippery.
What to do? Cottons are too stiff, sewing by machine would stiffen and would be harsh and puncture those fine weaves.
At one stage, being totally fed up with the situation and politics we are bombarded with day in day out , I thought of making it into a noose , and having lots of red and blue triangle purses spilling out and dripping onto a Cyprus flag with a sign saying WEAR IT...I got over it and thought again...
The only medium I could think of ,that was suitable, was wool, but didn't represent Patchaouri. The only fabrics left for me to use were my treasured silks...

silks...

silk tie options...

Squares , triangles or even circles? My bodgey stitching with thick cottons or,smaller stitches not to show on the reverse? Embroidery or not? Ties?

After trying out some techniques and stitches on a pashmina scarf I had which ,proved to be a waste of time ,since ,the composition of the scarf was 30 %silk ,70% wool making a huge difference in texture and how the silk sits and reacts...

Did my research on threads , stitch length and
needles I would need and decided on colours, I started "work" on a Gees Bend style with ties.

Finding that silk "sticks" and slides when in tiny pieces, instead of a third of the pashmina being covered, I managed an 8 inch strip before wanting to jump out a window!!!

rounds ,squares...

pleased with how flat I got the silk to sit..

birds eye view...

On the opposite end I used an upcycled neck tie and made a "fylacto" to incorporate this Cypriot tradition of
keeping a chid from harm...and sewed the tiniest blue bead to represent the "evil eye".

Finally signed and sealed in a bright ,mustard wool felt pocket for ,safe keeping when not in use .The pocket is lined with silk and secured with a leather "button"...

BUT, today it's unwrapped and part of this special, important event..

..Maro