Imagine World Peace: Symbolism in Cloth

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish.  Origami cranes became a symbol of world peace through the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who was living in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped; Sadako attempted to make 1000 paper cranes before her death in 1955.  In 2011 we featured an origami crane quilt designed by Margaret Rolfe; here are five origami cranes in a lovely wall hanging.

Five Origami Cranes by Carol Smith at the 2012 River City Quilters' Guild show

Here we see four smaller pieced cranes surrounding a large center medallion; we love the color scheme, and the way in which Carol Smith connected the blocks with flying geese.  She writes: "A paper piecing class with Jerry Fujimoto at the Flying Needles Quilt Guild (Woodland, California) provided the opportunity for me to finally learn this technique." The detail of the crane block is shown below.

Close-up, Five Origami Cranes by Carol Smith

The quilt was machine pieced and machine quilted on an Innova longarm machine. To complement the theme, Carol quilted large and small cranes in the open areas between the blocks.

Close-up, Five Origami Cranes by Carol Smith

Peoples of all cultures continue to hope and pray for peace.  Creating symbols of peace in fabric, such as cranes, is a creative way to express this universal wish. 

Image credits:  Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.