an idea begins ...

Sharing the beginnings of a new series ....

First, the germ of an idea is flushed out with the help of construction paper.

I am using the hamsa as the focal shape of this new series of quilts, small quilts (quiltlets) that will be given to three pairs of friends who have recently been married.  They are all faculty of the religious school where I teach Kindergarten.  Our theme this year is "Peace, Love and Music", hence the three shapes in yellow.  Question:  which way do the fingers of the hamsa point?  or does it matter?

          This is what I learned when looking for this answer:
The hamsa, meaning five fingers (or digits) of the hand, symbolizes luck and prosperity. The hamsa is sometimes referred to as the Hand of God and is also known as Hand of Fatima, or the Hand of Miriam.  One source stated that the hamsa hand conveys a message to the devil, so upwardly hamsa is good against the 'evil eye' and a downward hamsa is an auspicious sign of prosperity and success. However the hamsa is displayed in either direction.... I may have to look into this further.  

For my project, I have decided to place the fingers downward.  Next step is to select the backgrounds and the hamsa fabrics for three different quiltlets.

 

 

After appliqueing the hamsas onto each background, my next step was to use reverse applique to attach the Peace sign, the heart and the musical notes.

Stay tuned for further developments ....