on assistance and helping [Australia On Fire]

There's been a lovely upswelling of assistance from crafters (from everyone, really) as the Australian Fires of 2020 continue burning.

However, a few hard truths.

1. Any 'practical supplies' that you make are taking people away from the fire frontage to deal with the excess.

Multiple organisations have already indicated that they're running out of space to deal with all this stuff, and a lot of it isn't practical anyway. It's frequently not helping if they haven't specifically asked for it.

2. What people are providing is not necessarily what is needed.

Apparently, well-meaning knitters have crafted thousands of woollen paw-gloves...which aren't able to be used by the cute and cuddly koalas, partly because the fibre they're made from is not always suitable to put on raw wounds of paws, but also because koalas actually need their claws to be able to climb trees. So far too many of the gloves are going to landfill, having only satisfied the well-meaning people who made them.

3. Even Donating to the RFS could be shorting them in future years.

Basically, the RFS is an Australian Government department. As such, it's supported by the Australian taxpayers through their income, land, and sales taxes. Donating to the RFS, while letting people feel good about what they've given, actually allows the government to renege on their budgetary allocations.

Say that the RFS is allocated $100m a year for their budget. But through the generosity of the public due to Fire Season, they are given $20m in donations. They don't end up with $120m in budget; they end up with $80m from the government and $20m in donations.

And then in the 2021 budgets, the government says, "well, you did okay with $80m budget last year, so we're not going to increase that, you'll just have to get the rest from donations again."

so what do you do?

The RFS has asked for donations to Red Cross. (For the record, the Red Cross has been handing out $5K packages to families in Byron Bay whose buildings/properties are burned down, to keep them afloat; and that's going to be just the start of it.)

The Animal Rescue Craft Guild has today asked people to stop sewing while they take stock.

Various crafting groups have said that if you want to help, go about crafting what you usually craft, making what you usually do, and when you're done, sell it and donate the money. There are quilting groups that are not just donating their quilts but raffling them, and donating the money raffled to the relevant charity for the fires.

(One of the groups is my quilting group - the Sydney Mod Squad. We have five quilts that are up for raffle, from the last five years of entering quilts at the show. If you're interested in joining the raffle, then keep an eye on the @SydModSquad instagram account. I'm not sure if there's options for international shipping, but definitely in Australia.)

Yes, money is such a filthy, terrible, impersonal thing to give when what you want to think is that the mitten you personally knitted is sitting snugly on the paw of a poor burned koala, or the wrap you made is curled around a baby possum whose mother died in the fire. It makes you feel good, right?

And yet charity is not for us. I mean, it is. It broadens our minds, broadens our hearts, makes us look beyond our immediate circle of 'self and family and friends' to the possibilities that might yet strike at us: there but for the grace of God go I.

But the effects of charity - the people/organisations who we want to help - are sometimes best served by giving money, and, moreover, giving it somewhere that may not feel 'right' but which is nevertheless the better option than the one that does.

WIP Wednesday: the one with hexies

Back from Vietnam - it was a wonderful holiday. I even got a bit of handsewing done for the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild charity quilt!

Starting with on the plane:

At my dad's house in Vietnam - the red hexies:

And the red-purples:

And the green-blues - handsewing on the train going in to work this week:

I'm pretty sure I did the yellows and the oranges while in Vietnam, but I can't seem to find them anywhere. *grumble*

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quilting projects 2013

It's going to have to be a productive first half of the year, because the second half is going to be quite seriously disrupted by a trip to the US and Italy for six weeks.

Woodland by Natalie Lyman

I'm going to do something small and sweet with these charms squares of 'Woodland' by Natalie Lyman:

Probably a very simple rail-fence-like design.

Round The World

It feels like nearly everyone's doing the Round The World right now - it is a lovely, simple quilt to make - and great for scraps.

Not that these Kona strips are 'scraps' exactly. I cut them out while slicing strips from which to cut the Eternity Quilt triangles - I figured since I had it all out, I might as well make some strips for a project of unknown specifications. :)

We'll see how it turns out. I may regret using these strips for a RTW which looks like it would work best scrappy, but I guess we'll find out!

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Going to the US 2013

I need to make quite a few quilts this year - I'm planning to head over to the US and while there, I'll offload a bunch of quilts for friends with whom I've stayed through the years, and take back a HEAPLOAD of fabric. :)

I also would like to make some clothing for cosplays since I intend on attending at least one fannish media convention in 2013 while in the US. Think the Victorian-style dress I put together for Halloween, only based around a specific character.

Only perhaps more complex.

These are some lovely dress designs based on the characters in the Avengers movie and designed by Kelsey Michele.

I particularly like Thor, Maria Hill, and Hulk, although I suspect that, based on my figure, the Captain America dress is a better choice than the Thor one.

(I have broad shoulders, and a nearly non-existent hip-to-waist ratio, which means I need something that really nips in at the waist and flares out at the hips.The Thor dress would look best on an hourglass, or a girl with good hips.)

Over-ambitious, I think. Still. *sighs*

Anyway, a slightly scattered first WIP Wednesday for 2013! What have you been working on?