Sacred Threads

Sacred Threads Quilt Exhibition asked visitors to the exhibit to create a flag.  

Here are the beautiful results.

Thank you to Lisa Ellis for the use of her photos!

They come in threes

Three friends have lost loved ones in the past week. Today I made 3 flags using hand dyed gauze, reclaimed quilt fabrics, book pages, and embroidery in honor of my friends and their beloveds. Join me in wishing Jen, Meg, and Susan the peace that passes all understanding during their difficult times.

Star Spangled Shibori Prayer Flags

"In the spirit of prayer flags, as I folded, clamped, dyed and stitched, I thought of blessings for our Country, prayed words of hope and gratitude for our Veterans, and meditated on Freedom and Peace worldwide."

Cindy Lohbeck has created a tutorial on how to create your own version of these lovely flags on her new blog "Diary of a Dyehard".

Prayer Flags

My flags are usually created in an intuitive way and whatever happens in the process is the result, it sort of develops on the way.

These last flags I created were for a specific reason.  A new mother-to-be in our family celebrated this coming event not with a baby shower but a blessingway ‘party’ and the woman in our family created a prayerflag for this spiritual event.

-Caroline Hofstede-

Prayers for a Friend

 I made beads from gelliprinted scraps hung on glittery thread for a bit of sparkle like hope. In both flags I added bits of Tyvek ironed to get a great decorative effect. I added organza in one flag that I wrinkled by use of a heatgun.

I pray for her to have the courage to undergo surgery for reconstruction. 

I free motion machine stitched shell like patterns.

-Anja Kieboom-

Fruits of the Spirit

Gal. 5:22-23 - My inspiration for this project, 1st of allies the Bible verse. Secondly, whenever I am faced with a challenge, or am on a mission trip, I pray these verses daily. I believe that if each one of us focused on these Fruits of the Spirit, our world would be a much better place!

My technique: I'm not much of a planner, so I just sort of design as I go. (I don't recommend that, it often times gets me in trouble!) I used loosely woven white fabric for each flag. I painted them with diluted paints after spraying them with water.  This way the fabric still has a soft feel. I stamped different designs on them and did some sun printing on one. I added torn strips of fabrics, some lace and left all threads uncut. Each flag is backed with silk fabric I purchased in Cambodia. I was privileged with a mission trip to teach young ladies how to sew in an orphanage there, Shelter of Love. 

-lynn baker-

Respiration

This year my husband is very ill with cancer.

I have seen a flag with a tree like lungs. 

Very many green for the respiration and the blue of the sky. In french, the rays in the sky are called "God 's fingers. I hope that God protects my husband; the flag is in my garden (with flowers, protective charms).

Kind regards and thanks for this project. Sewing has opened a window for me, and a protection for my family!

http://www.artisanne-textile.fr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/artisanne_textile/

Flag Friday - Embroidery

Incorporating hand stitching into a prayer flag helps me to pray
and ponder over the person(s) I am creating the flag for.
Hand embroidery can be used to create text, as Sue Rideout did in her flag, or. . .

. . .to emphasize shapes, as Jamie Fingal did in this flag, or. . .

 . . .to create images, as Annika Lund and her embroidery students did in these lovely flags.

There are a plethora of stitches that can be used on prayer flags. Many more than just a straight stitch and french knot (even though those are both great stitches).  Rather than rewrite the book on embroidery tutorials here on the Prayer Flag Project, we are sharing some links to some top notch hand embroidery tutorials.

Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Stitch Video Tutorials - Over 70 easy to follow videos!

Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials - Picture Dictionary with links to Tutorials

The Purl Bee Embroidery Basics - Tutorials of basic stitches

The Purl Bee, Two-Color Techniques

I hope they will inspire you to incorporate a new stitch or two into your prayer flags, and then fly your flags by sharing them on the blog.  If you know of a tutorial not listed, please feel free to leave a link in a comment.

Flag Friday - Crocheted Flags

Lisa asked me to explain how I use crochet in my prayer flags after seeing these pictures:

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

The joke is that I used a different method in each one.

Picture 1: I begin with a length of chain stitch before simply crocheting along the hanging edge with half crochet stitch. If its a single flag I then do more chain stitch before turning and crocheting back along it.
If it's too difficult to pass the hook through the fabric you can make a hole with an awl first such as in the following picture

Picture 2:   I stitched a row of blanket stitch across the hanging edge and then crochet a line of chain stitch before crocheting into the blanket stitches and again doing a chain stitch, before turning and crocheting back across it.
As in this pic you can see the blanket st in red thread and the crochet in yellow thread.
You can also see the first amount of chain st.

Picture 3: I used an old piece of pre-existing crochet and stitched it to the flags by hand but a zigzag machine stitch would work just as well.I have used a strip of lace edging in the past as well.

Here you can see I left gaps between the flags and decorated the gaps with buttons.This one hangs in my studio.

Q&A:
Crochet stitches used?  Any stitch you are comfortable with.
Number of rows crocheted?   Any number you want and it can be solid or lacy style crocheting.
Do you join a few together or make then singularly?  I make what is needed, be that one flag or a number of flags.
Do I need to be a crochet master? I like to use crochet because it fast and easy to use, and you don’t need to be a crochet master to do it. As long as you can make a chain and do one type of crochet stitch, anyone can do it.
The whole point of making prayer flags is to send love and positive thoughts out there to the universe and you can’t do that when you are stressing about your work……well I can’t.

I do hope that helps and will answer any questions, but I will say it now after years of following patterns I make things up now as I go.
Happy flag making!
 Cheers, Faye

Flag Friday

For this weeks Flag Friday we wanted to share a couple of links to stories about Prayer Flags being made for Nepal that we thought might be inspirational.

SAYING A PRAYER: Little Hallingbury Church of England Primary School pupils Oliver Engehan, 8, and Amelia Lellow, 9, with their prayer flags for Nepal - from the Herts and Essex Observer

Read more: http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/Prayers-sent-struck-earthquake/story-26410590-detail/story.html#ixzz3Zcj3JDXy 
Follow us: @HertsEssexObser on Twitter

Children in Chichester UK make flags for Nepal victims

Prayer Flags Serve As Tribute To The Fallen

If you have seen something of interest, please share it in the comments!  If you have made a prayer flag you would like to fly on the internet, please email us at prayerflagproject@gmail.com

Prayer Flags for Nepal

Hello!

My name is Sue and I live in Maine.  I am an old friend of Vivika Hansen’s.  She shared your idea and I had to sit down and make a prayer flag for Nepal.  There were so many things that the people there need and I couldn’t decide on just one to focus on.  So I decided to make a prayer flag full of many prayer flags!  I chose the gray background to represent the ash in their sky.  I chose bright colors for the mini flags to emphasize the goodwill that is coming their way from around the world.  What a wonderful way to show the people of Nepal that we care.

Flag Friday

Creating prayer flags is not about making a perfect piece of art, or finding the perfect words and images.  It is about putting our hopes, feelings and prayers into the world and having the faith that they will be heard and answered.  There have been many terrible and great things happening in the world this week and we are hoping you will find uplifting words to share with the world and create a flag (or two or three) to put into the wind, whether that wind is outside or across the internet.  Below are a couple of word clouds we hope might inspire you.  

 If you can think of other resources for words or sayings, please feel free to share them in the comments.

And as always please feel free to email us at prayerflagproject@gmail.com to share your flags on the blog.

Grade 3 Prayer Flags for Nepal

- Brian Andrews

Prayer Flags

Kim

Prayer Flags for Nepal

Nepal was hit with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake this past Saturday.  The death toll is 3,000 and rising. Sometimes I feel so helpless when these great tragedies happen.  I can't pick up and run there to physically help.  I can make a monetary donation through one of the many reputable organizations which will help the people of Nepal pick up and move on with their lives.  And just as importantly, I can pray for healing, comfort and peace for the people of Nepal.  I hope you will join me in putting your own prayers onto a prayer flag or two and flying them in your area.  I hope that together our prayers will spread across the world to provide healing and love to the children, women and men of Nepal.  Posting your flags on to the blog is another way of putting your flags into the wind to share the love and comfort you wish to share.  Please email photo's to prayerflagproject@gmail.com if you would like to fly your flags across the world wide web.

Prayer Flag Tutorial by Jamie Fingal

I have been making prayer flags for about 3 years, first primarily for my own healing.  I felt it was way easier to make a small project, than to struggle with a large one.  I've made these for myself that hang in my studio, in my backyard and gifts for friends. I have made 5x7, 6x8 and now 4-1/2 x 8-1/2 #658113.  I used a Sizzix Fabi die cutting machine (same as the Big Shot) and the die cuts a perfect rectangle 4-1/2" x 8-1/2"  This photo is of 3 pieces of wool blended felt (National Nonwovens TOY002), that were cut on the machine.

This text fabric is from my line 'Heart and Soul Sisters,' by Hoffman Fabrics - all about being brave, strong and bold girls who dream big.  So there are great words to use on flags  The fabric is pre-fused with Mistyfuse, so I can cut out the things that I want, and iron them onto my composition.

These are words of encouragement for a dear friend who needs some good cheer

and some little drawings are part of the collection with birds, flowers, do-dads and houses, which make the perfect accent piece

I begin by laying out the words onto the wool blended felt, and not ironing them down yet.

I added some background, placing it under the words, so there is an overlap.  Some colors at the top and bottoms to make the flags more colorful.  When I am happy with the placement, I press them with a hot dry iron on the cotton setting

Flip them over, and cut the excess fabric from the back, using the felt as a guide with some sharp scissors

Here is a drawing of the flower dies that I used from Sizzix

I had made dozens of these flowers for another project - all with Sizzix die cuts in the Fabi machine (Big Shot).  I admit that I do have a sort of addiction with Sizzix flower dies. They can be used so many ways.  They are all pre-fused with Mistyfuse, to make it easier to put them together, and then on another project. I think they are totally fun!

I selected three flowers that would work for the flags.  I hand cut the stems and leaves out of a darker color of green so they would stand out on the lime green background.  I placed the stems under the flower petals.  Press into place, using a hot dry iron.  Note:  fabrics can be repositioned if they are fabric to fabric.  Fabric to felt sticks remarkably well, so you cannot reposition your artwork.

Using one piece of hot pink wool blended felt, I placed the flags on it, making sure there was a bit of space between each one.  This is my backing, and the idea is for it to show all the way around the edges when completed.  I pinned the top to the pink and free motion machine quilted each flag to the pink.  First with an outline around the flowers, and the tops and bottoms of the text and coordinating fabrics. This is yet another way to practice free motion machine quilting.  I free motion zig zagged the edges, all the way around.

Using a rotary cutter, mat and ruler, I trimmed the edges leaving about 1/8th of an inch all the way around.

Then I pressed them all with a hot iron, because most times when you machine quilt, the piece shrinks a little from the stitching.  The iron flattens everything out.

Be true to yourself, be strong

Be authentic, be bold

Be brave

I machine sewed them to a long piece of ribbon for easy hanging.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on making prayer flags!  Feel free to visit my Twisted Sister blog for more 'How To's'  -- Jamie Fingal