Coming Full Circle With The Thread Project

I am trying to get some things ready for my trip next week. For the Thread Project events they asked that we bring pictures and newspaper clippings and so forth. So I dug out my file and then came across the stories. As I read some of them I traveled back to the time when I met some of the people who participated. I recalled how this was what made it all worthwhile.

Since I have new readers now perhaps I should tell you a little about the Thread Project itself. It was started by a woman named Terry Helwig. She felt lost and isolated after 9/11 and wanted to do something. She felt the world was hanging by a thread, then she realized maybe a thread was all we needed. She came up with this ideas to collect threads from all over the world and have them woven in cloth to celebrate our diversity as well as out one ness. There are seven cloths and each has 7 panels in it. I wove one of the panels for the cloth called "Weaving Reconciliation". This is a picture of my panel. The other panels are called.

Hope Materializing - Purple
Threaded harmony - Red
Ariadne Prayers - Indigo
Dawn Looming - Orange
Lienzo Luminoso (Cloth of Light) Yellow
Sophia's Mantle - Blue

Although the cloths were displayed at St. Paul's Cathedral in New York City last September, the real official unveiling is this year in Charleston, South Carolina. There will be two events at a gallery in Charleston. One is a night to meet the weavers and the other is the official opening. Not all the weavers are coming unfortunately. They are from all over the world, I believe the ones from Canada and the US will represent the whole. It is bound to be an exciting adventure. My friend Pam lives there so I will stay with her and she get the opportunity to attend these events too.

If you find the whole idea interesting you can read more at the Thread Project website

Let me end with a excerpt from Sue Monk Kidd entry in "Following the Thread" on the website. It was reading her article in a newsletter she sends out that got me involved in the first place.

"When you stand in the presence of these cloths it is like stepping into the epicenter of hope. The cloths inspire a sense of how potent and majestic a symbol can be when it erupts from the great heart of the people of the earth. It is very possible that these cloths are the most diverse tapestries ever woven. Aesthetically they are intricate and beautiful to look at, genuine works of grassroots art. But most of all, they are contemporary parables that speak powerfully about unity amidst diversity, about tolerance and hope and compassionate community". - Sue Monk Kidd