Katerina

This is a little story about connections. When I was very young, my mother became unwell and left our family to go and live in Athens, Greece. She had taken a weaving course there and felt a kinship with the people and the place, so that is where she went for solace and healing. While there, she became close friends with Katerina, who ran the original weaving workshop and when Mum returned to Australia many years later, she shared many lovely stories of their bond.

Decades later, Katerina came across 1000 Hearts on Facebook and loved what she saw. When she enquired about making hearts in Greece, I wrote to her and mentioned that I was delighted to think of my project reaching Greece, as my mother lived there for many years. Seeing my surname, Katerina put things together and realised she had accidentally connected with the daughter of her old friend.

She requested Mum’s address, which she had lost in the drift of time and distance and so, they reconnected. Katerina also decided to make some hearts and get some people together to sew them in Greece – so exciting for me to think of my idea spreading to my Mum’s old home in this way. Katerina contacted me recently to let me know that she had been unable to get a group together, as she is quite isolated in a small village on the island of Chios, but she is making hearts on her own and will continue to do so. I also do the vast majority of my heart-making on my own, though I love the fact that heart-sewing groups exist in many places around the world. Even when I’m sewing in solitude, I feel part of a community and know that I am not the only one stitching and hoping for a better, kinder world.

You can read the full story from Katerina’s perspective in her blog here: https://toultouline.com/2019/04/14/tapestry-weaving-jewellery-and-hearts/