Sunday, April 27, 2014

Gratitude


Flags from Patti Schaffer.

"Each flag was dedicated to one of the 3 doctors or 2 medical centers I credit with saving my life. I thought good wishes or thanks which each stitch. The squares are silk. You can't tell but there is silver metallic thread with the white on the gold pieces.

Thanks for the blog."

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Prayer Flag Blog Hop

Deborah O'Hare Prayer Flag

Are you aware that there is a little Prayer Flag Blog Hop going on at the moment?

Prayer Flag Fiber Art

To further the Prayer Flag movement, Vivika and her team over at Quilting Arts have put together an eBook and Prayer Flag Pack

Vivika first blogged and shared her flags over on the Quilting Daily blog
and here are all the other blogs to visit.

April 14:               Jane LaFazio
April 15:               Meg Cox
April 16:               Deborah O’Hare: That's Me!
April 17:               Jamie Fingal
                               Susan Brubaker Knapp
April 18:               Carrie Bloomston

Each blog shares details of how each of us has decorated our Prayer Flag Banner.
I hope you have the time to take a look and be inspired.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Gratitude



Michele Bilyeu shares her Gratitude  today by posting:

I am feeling so very grateful for the beauty of Spring flowers, the sound of early morning bird song, the playful antics of dozens of little squirrels as they perform their high wire acts from limb to limb. I am grateful for the budding of new leaves on trees, the buzzing of bees, and the sweet sound of humming birds as they flit back and forth from our many feeders to fresh blooms in the yard.

Grateful that my youngest sister-in-law, Shelley, with advanced Stage 4 lung cancer is holding her own, after her 7th chemotherapy treatment. She and my brother fly from Juneau to Seattle every three weeks for another round of treatment, so while it might seem discouraging that they she is now on 'maintenance' levels, that is actually a good thing. She is holding her own and still striving to live until her second grandchild is born in May.

Grateful that my brother in Eagle River who battles one round of pneumonia, and one medically induced coma after another, is now feeling well enough to have some physical therapy to get his strength back. And his wife, with end-stage kidney disease, is now back to holding her own against the increasing odds of finally "being sick enough" to make her way up on the kidney transplant list.

Life if filled with so many challenges, but we focus on the good, the daily gratitudes of health, happiness, and the ability to bear whatever pains we might feel that day.....
read more at:

With Heart and Hands with Michele Bilyeu


Thursday, April 10, 2014


Sad news from Maryly Matthewman.

I first posted on this blog March 17 2014. It is with heartfelt saddness that I have to say  our Prayer/ Wish Flag Project in Gilford, NH for John Bradley Thompson, age 6 has come to an end.  John went to Heaven yesterday as a result of a rare brain inoperable brain tumor, DIPG. Only 150 children in the US per yr develop this tumor.  His family struggled for 10 months.  There is no doubt that the Prayer/ Wish Flags helped John, his wonderful family, his little friends and the community deal with this difficult time.  In a few days friends and family will walk from a church to the community cemetary.   But the wind will be filled with wishes from hundreds of flags which will line the path.  Prayer Flags are a comfort and way to express wishes and hope.  They brought a community together to pray for strength and courage for a family and a wonderful little innocent boy, John Bradley Thompson.  Thank you, Maryly Matthewman, Meredith, NH.  Please check out John's Blog at thinkjohnbradley.

May your family share laughter, 
Your songs always play, 
May your Wishes come true, 
Even those left unprayed."

UPDATE
"A few days ago I posted and stated that our Prayer  Flag Project for John Bradley Thompson of Gilford, NH had come to an end. I was very wrong in this statement. This afternoon, his family, along with well  over 1,000 friends, NH State Police, gathered for the funeral of this remarkable 6 year old.  We all walked a half mile from the church service to the cemetery. The route was posted with hundreds of Wish/ Prayer Flags done earlier in John's illness to wish him health, strength, courage, and HOPE. During the service the minister talked to us about how we will carry on John's memory.  We saw first hand the power of Prayer Flags to all involved.  It absolutely united a community and gave strength and hope to a struggling family.  I hope to promote Prayer/Wish Flags whenever I can in the memory of John Bradley Thompson, Fly, Fly, Little Wing" Maryly Matthewman.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

from Helsinki

The Prayer Flag project


Greetings from Helsinki, Finland!

My name is Annika Lund, and for two years I've been teaching embroidery to a group of wonderful, creative, fun and wise women at a centre for adult education in Helsinki, Finland. When it was suggested that the group put together an exhibition of their work, I asked the ladies whether they would like to join the prayer flag movement and include a line of prayer flags in the exhibition.

In order to encourage as many as possible to participate, I suggested that the 'prayers' could remain private for everyone, and that nobody needed to share their personal thoughts unless they wanted to. And as for 'prayers', every embroidered piece is a map of the embroiderer's life and thoughts in any case, as it is such slow work that you have the time to have many thoughts while you're working. Often you remember long afterwards what you were thinking, or where you were, when you worked on a particular piece.

Ten flags were subsequently made and displayed in the exhibition, and the fact is that they were such a success that they made it into the education centre’s newsletter. One of the flags even graced the cover of the newsletter!

And now it is time for the flags to join The Prayer Flag Project. Here’s an image of all the flags together, and if you want to see each of the flags in detail, please head over to my blog at www.salundannika.blogspot.fi.

Thank you to The Prayer Flag Project for the initiative to spread good will and inspiration all around the world!

Annika Lund

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Grace


Aloha, Sonja here. I have finished another Grace prayer flag recently and given it away. 
Thank you for this project. They give new life for old chopsticks and fabrics!
They make me smile too.
Sonja