"Hearts for Christchurch"

I never know what I'll find when I check my email in the morning. Today, there was a post that immediately caught my eye. Evie Harris, a quilter and artist who is a member of one of my Internet art groups, lives in Napier, New Zealand, just a short distance from the quake. She has put out a call to her friends on the Internet to make "Hearts for Christchurch", to share some visible love to the people in Christchurch (New Zealand) who have been affected by the devastating earthquake that struck that city on February 22nd. She asked for her message and request to be passed along. Please read, and participate if you can. This project is perfect for church groups, schools and youth groups, guilds and any communities where you may have connections. If you can't make any hearts, please send this message to others.
Thank you!
Cindy Peck

PS: If you DO choose to participate, will you please let me know? I would like to track this on my blog!

Evie writes:

“I am gathering hearts for Christchurch. Not heart blocks in the quilting sense but `hanging' hearts.

Please make two heart shapes sewn together, stuffed or not, embellished, embroidered, CQ'd, quilted, plain or fancy, felt or fabric or anything goes. Add a loop at the top.

However many inches high that you care to make. For ease of postage, envelope size is a good measurement. These could even be ATC size!

Also for ease of postage you can send them flat, leave an opening and add a note "Please stuff me". I have a couple of non sewers on stuffing.

You can choose to sign them on the back and add a message. It would be nice to have at least the area they come from.

This is just a small measure of something nice to give in this terrible time. A heart is a symbol of caring and I know we all feel an overpowering desire to do something.

Where will they all go? It is intended the hearts will be displayed all together in Christchurch so people can see and feel the outpouring of caring. A venue for that will need to be finalized, given the destruction in the city, the timing of taking them to Christchurch and the number of hearts. After that each one will be given away to those affected by the quake.

If you aren't in a position to donate a heart or two send a little bit of fabric. I have heart makers at the ready. Or simply pass this on message with my address (please do that anyway).

Address for hearts:

Hearts for Christchurch
C/- Evie Harris
523 Main North Road
Bay View
Napier 4104
New Zealand

Spread the word to any and all who you think will send a little of their heart.
Thank you.

Regards
Evie”

TV pictures of the aftermath of the February 22nd earthquake disaster in New Zealand showed scores of collapsed buildings in the South Island city of nearly 400,000 people. Shocked survivors could be seen wandering the rubble-strewn streets, which cracked open as the ground beneath was liquefied by the tremor.

New Zealand experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which only around 20 have a magnitude in excess of 5.0. The last fatal earthquake was in 1968, when a 7.1-magnitude tremor killed three people on the South Island's western coast. The February 22nd quake was the country's worst natural disaster since a 1931 quake in the North Island city of Napier killed 256 people.

New Zealand lies on the notorious Ring of Fire, the line of frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions that circles virtually the entire Pacific rim. The country straddles the boundary between two tectonic plates: the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates.