Earth Day tribute

A local business park, Roosevelt Collection, commissioned me to make some panels for benches to celebrate Earth Day - I made some panels for each bench to celebrate a different aspect of conservation, and with Dave's wonderful help, I put a QR code on each one to direct people to charities doing wonderful work in each area.

Crafts + action!

Flowers + bees

Luckily my sister in yarn Ann came out to help me install, and she also helped me pair pieces together by theme and color. The flowers and bees went together because of the obvious pollinating connection. The bees are my favorite!

Sea turtles + recycling

The sea turtles are a crowd favorite, and we paired with recycling as a less busy panel but also the connection with taking trash out of the ocean to stop harming wildlife.

Earth + ocean reefs

The earth and ocean reef displays went together not just because most of the earth is covered with oceans, but also the reef panel was one of the busiest, and the earth is (surprisingly) one of the simplest.

Great Lakes + polar bears

The Great Lakes panel and polar bear don't have a lot to do with each other except for the blue connection, but I feel like both are hardy and northern!

Butterflies + trees

The butterflies and trees go together because of how important trees can be as a habitat for butterflies. The nice green color was also present in each one.

I made the panels over a period of about a week and a half, and they were a mix of freehanded designs and patterns from books, especially the natural designs by Lesley Stanfield. 

Roosevelt Collections is paying me a fee, which I will donate directly to Southside Blooms, a charity in Chicago that takes over vacant lots on the south and west sides and employs at-risk youth to plant and harvest the flowers, make them into bouquets, and deliver them around Chicago. I was a monthly member last year and have renewed this year.

This was a fun, creative exercise for me - I definitely want to make more coral reefs if nothing else!

I have some big projects coming up this year, including leading a big yarn bomb project on Chicago's Bloomingdale Trail (a.k.a. "the 606"). If you live in Logan Square, Humboldt Park, or Wicker Park, click here to learn more and sign up to be involved!