Last Lands Conquered

My latest quilt project is about how the world was conquered. Many of the fabrics were collected from scraps, repurposed fabrics (eg curtains), used clothing and gifts from friends. The design of the quilt top is broadly based on a pattern I found on the web (Lantern Bloom by Fons and Porter). As I was using fabric scraps, I adapted the pattern to suit by scrap sizes, and added sashing to make it bigger. 

The fabrics were chosen with a specific story in mind: the race to conquer the last lands on Earth. 

The South Pacific's colours and patterns were waiting to be discovered.

The whole world had been discovered...

... and all the oceans of the Earth had been sailed...

... in the company of the animals of the sea and the land...

... with the knowledge gained from clocks and stars, using the sun and the moon as guides on those very long journeys.

The last great land mass to be discovered - New Zealand - was finally colonised in 1840 by the British (the French would have got it if the Brits hadn't got there when they did), and it slowly began to be anglified and eventually europeanised.

Not everyone was interested in the Far East - modern Greece had just come into being and was a popular stop on young men's Grand Tour, notably Lord Byron's, who died fighting for Greece's liberation. Greece's beauty and her monuments became famous to the point that some visitors - like Thomas Bruce, aka the Earl of Elgin - set their sights on taking some with them when they left. 

And in this way, the last undisocvered lands were conquered and pillaged. 

A lot of discovering was going on in the early 1800s. And in 2016, we are still talking about what happened 200 or so years ago, and still arguing about whether it was right or wrong. Whichever it was, one thing we can say is that it was the way of the world. What had to happen did happen. Many things that are happening today continue to happen even though they are not desirable. Time and tide wait for no man.

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Quilted pouffe (Πουφ)

As Greece faces crisis afer crisis, I'm just patiently waiting for the tide to recede. There's too much happening on all fronts in this country, creating widely diverging opinions and extremism. In the interim, we have to face the facts and get on with life. Crete is getting ready to become host to many millions of people starting from this week: not refugees, as we were led to believe given the various (non-)agreements between Turkey and the EU, but tourists, as the high season kicks off with an early calendar Easter. Let's see where this will lead...

To pass away the time, I've been working on little creative sewing projects to while away the quiet hours, the calm before the storm, so to speak. I poured out a bag full of scrippy scraps of denim cuts and starting plotting them onto a sturdy piece of age-stained vintage 50s calico cotton mad in Greece, originally used as storage sacks.

In essence I had made new fabric from old fabric.

I liked the idea of not wasting anything, but I have gotten tired of small projects. I still like to keep my creative fabric art functional, meaning that a finished product must have a specific use, hence the idea for a pouffe, which I first saw on pinterest, So I became a bit more adventurous ...

... until I ran out of scraps and needed to 'create' more! The last piece of of fabric had a more traditional patchwork look.

I have plenty of mattressing remnants from my local mattreess maker (which reminds me: it's hotel preparation time - there are probably HEAPS of mattress remnants going to the recycling depot...), which I used to stuff the pouffe. I also made a 'handle' from the wasitline of an old pair of jeans to pull or carry it when moving it around the house.

 

And here is the final product, something useful that will be enjoyed by many people.

It still needs a bit more stuffing, but that can be easily solved by sewing one side seam with a zip - taken directly from an old pair of jeans!!! No fuss sewing a zip on it from scratch!

It sounds easy enough, to tear up old jeans in order to embark on a similar project, but it's not that simple. This project started with a quilt made from large denim squares from old jeans:

The resulting scraps were turned into smaller denim squares form another quilt:

The pouffe was the result of the scraps of the scraps of the scraps.

It takes a lot of creativity to be both sustainable AND functional!

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Altruism

I've always dreamt of a sewing room in my house. A workshop seems too far-fetched an idea for a home our size. My sewing machine sits in the living room, and goes as far as the kitchen table where I usually work. A recent visitor to our house saw my sewing machine sitting in its corner in the living room and asked me how much it cost. Even though I thought it was an odd question, I still gave her answer: I had paid €280 euro for my SINGER TALENT 2 years ago from a local store. She told me she had bought a sewing machine from a discount supermarket for €99 about a year ago.

"And what do you use it for?" I asked her.

"I haven't used it," she said, not showing any signs of regret. "Do you use yours?"

Another odd question, especially since the sewing machine was surrounded by fabrics and other sewing paraphernalia. Apart from five large quilts, my sewing machine has made countless other items, including many gifts and charity items. I use it at least once a week, if not more. My friend asked me to show her what I make on it. She was surprised by the quilts I had made (quilting and patchwork in the modern sense is not a Greek hobby), but she was particularly intrigued by a small pile of sewn fabric sitting in front of the machine.

"What are these for?" She was genuinely perplexed by my 'mug rugs' (or pot holders and oven mitts, if you prefer, or even wall hangings if you have a special affection for the animal pictured) with a donkey cutout sewn on the top. I explained that I had made these for the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue in Iraklion, as a way of supporting the work the charity does. a charity I support. Charity starts from the home, and for the last few years, especially since the Greek crisis, I have always supported charities based close to my locality. My last lot of rug mugs sold out very quickly; I hope the new batch does too.

I make these donkey mug rugs by hand and finish them off by machine, because when I go into the kitchen to use my sewing machine in the evenings, my family sometimes notices and asks me to come and sit with them in the living room. I take up the offer so they don't think I don't want their company.

My friend stared at me blankly. "You make them for the donkeys?" Oh-mee-gee, I thought, the difficult part has just begun. I have a lot of explaining to do. It's not easy (and not much fun) having to explain everything to people who know very little. Even when you do explain it to them, they cannot understand what you are talking about because they lack the direct 'tangible' experience needed in order to understand certain concepts. I am especially wary of how I explain the part where I mention that I spend time making things without payment for others to raise money from. They really don't get that bit. If they did, they themselves would also probably be donating something to charity (if not time, then money).

If I were asked the same question in Western society, I would be able to look shrewdly at the person and ask: "Where is your altruism?" But you can't do that with people like my friend: you have to explain the meaning of altruism to her if you want an answer. In the Greek language, that is not as easy as it sounds. In Greek, altruism is translated as αλτρουϊσμός (al-troo-is-MOS). But that is simply a transliteration of the English word - in other words, the Greek word entered the language not just as a borrowed word but as a borrowed concept. Another translation of altruism is given in Greek dictionaries: φιλλαληλία (fi-la-li-LI-a): 'true love for other people'. But that is closer in meaning to φιλανθρωπία (fi-lan-thro-PI-a), which is where English gets the word 'philanthropy' from. Wikipedia mentions that altruism can also be called selflessness which is translated into Greek as ανιδιοτέλεια (an-i-di-o-TE-li-a): 'a characteristic of someone whose final actions (τέλη) are not (αν) dictated by self (ιδιο)-interest or personal gain.' But this word does not necessarily encompass the moral sense of altruism as the word is used in English.

Respectful citizen Mr Panteli, by Panos Tzavelas, who was a devoted communist all his life. 
Respectful citizen Mr Panteli (click here for the meaning of this Greek name), you have a shop somewhere here, you sell stuff, you make lots of money, you go to church on Sunday, you have a wife, son and daughter, modern furniture, colour TV, and you eat spiritual food. Respectful citizen Mr Panteli, so what if thousands of  black, white and yellow people die of hunger on this earth, just as long as your son's OK so you can leave him your name and money... Did you know Mr Panteli that others give up their youth and life to make true the dream of a slice of bread, so you can eat too, and what did you give Mr Panteli? Full of fear, irresolute, Mr Bean, you fouled up dreams and souls, an empty skin without breath. Respectful citizens, the young generation, bury those respectful people among the grains, and those who made Mr Panteli, they're useless worms on this Earth!

Hence, to a certain extent, altruism as it is understood in English is still in its nascence in Greek. The many different varieties of crises that the country has been through in such a short period of time have not helped people in thier quest for self-actualisation - but then again, you could easily get through your life without any need to feel altruistic. Take my friend as an example: she can buy a sewing machine even though she doesn't need one, so I suppose she has met her safety, physiological and social needs. But buying a sewing machine when you don't need one shows that she hasn't fulfilled her esteem needs. She still needs to build up her confidence before she moves on to self-actualisation.

Not that altruism is not understood in Greece. Let's take a very close Greek friend of mine who related this to me recently: "We have a severely disabled child, and we love him very much. It wasn't our choice to have this child. But that's the way God made him, and we accept him as he is. But I'm not an altruist like my French friends. They have a son with the same disability as my child. They couldn't have children, so they decided to adopt a child who they could provide a better quality of life to. They chose a severely disabled child, something I would not have done myself. They are the true altruists.".

I did actually wonder why my other friend hadn't used her own sewing machine. She told me she'd always wanted to own a sewing machine and when she saw it at the supermarket, she thought it was the perfect opportunity to buy one, although she admitted that she wasn't sure what she'd do with it. "I thought I might use it to mend or alter something, but it's really quite cheap to buy what we need these days." In many ways, my friend is right. Few designers can compete with the €1 shops in terms of price. Even in a poor country like Greece which has been overrun by deflation, life is still quite cheap these days.

Bonus photo: Thanks to Demetra, Gabe and Joanie for their fabric donations, some of which I used in the donkey mug rugs. I also made this quilt from them.

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The Greek Collection: Agia Marina Donkey Rescue mug rugs

The Agia Marina Donkey Rescue is a registered Greek non-profit organisation which is run purely on donations and TLC, by the Doulyerakis family of South Crete since 2004. It is a haven in the sunshine for aged, abused and unwanted working donkeys. If you can make a donation to the donkey sanctuary, please contact Barbara through the site's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Agia-Marina-Donkey-Rescue/225542274129832

You can also check the sanctuary's webpage: http://www.agia-marina-donkeyrescue.com/new.html

In my fabric work, I don't let anything go to waste. I find a use for all my fabric scraps. Having recently tried out the log cabin patchwork design, I found myself with a bunch of log cabin blocks which I had no use for, as I had no project in mind when I started making them.

Then I came across the mug rug through a pinterest search. The mug rug is becoming increasingly popular in patchwork circles. It's a kind of nano-quilt, perfect for using as a large coaster which can also fit a biscuit, spoon or other culinary tool/comestible in its space. The mug rug could also be used as a pot holder.

My mug rugs, like practically all my creations, are made with reused, repurposed, recycled fabric and old spools of thread, which have all been upcycled. Nothing has been bought specifically for making them. Such creations are a sustainable way of reusing resources, creating something out of nothing, and ensuring that nothing goes to waste. It's not just the environmentally conscious that get satisfaction out of this. In these kinds of times that we are living in, I feel a sense of relief that I don't need to spend money that doesn't come so easily on my hobby work.

A lovely way to distribute this kind of creation is to make them for charity. I recently made some donkey purses for the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue, a charity I really believe in. Greece is full of abandoned abused donkeys, who are utterly helpless, crisis or no crisis. Thanks to the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue, some of those donkeys are being looked after, spending the remainder of their lives in loving care and comfort. I visited the donkey sanctuary last April and was overwhelmed by their presence:

"What do you do with a donkey you no longer want or need? You can give it away, or sell it, but this is difficult in our times, when the traditional use for donkeys is no longer needed. Some people set them free to roam, which sounds kind, but this is not really the case. A donkey that is set free by its owners will wander away and run into trouble. While it may find enough food to eat, it will probably not find enough water, so in the summer, it will die of thirst. They may also be run over by cars on the road: if they were used to being led by their owner, they will not sense the danger of passing vehicles. Other owners just tie them up to a pole and leave them to their own fate, which is certain death." http://www.organicallycooked.com/2015/04/agia-marina-donkey-rescue.html

In the mug rug, I have overlaid the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue emblem - a black silhouette of a donkey - on a patchwork block. The mug rugs are being sold at Agia Marina Donkey Rescue's Donk-E shop.

Our Donk-E-Shop is filling up with lot's of very colourful & exciting new stock !!...Everything sold in our shop goes to...
Posted by Agia Marina Donkey Rescue on Monday, 14 September 2015

All proceeds go to the donkey sanctuary. To buy an Agia Marina Donkey Rescue mug rug, please contact Barbara at donkeyrescue at hotmail dot com. 

Please support the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue through my charity venture and the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue Donk-E shop. You will be helping the truly helpless of Greece, animals that are unable to fend for themselves.

Please share this article so that the Agia Marina Donkey Rescue may benefit in any way. 

The Agia Marina Donkey Rescue is a registered Greek non-profit organisation which is runs purely on donations and TLC, by the Doulyerakis family of South Crete since 2004. It is a haven in the sunshine for aged, abused and unwanted working donkeys. If you can make a donation to the donkey sanctuary, please contact Barbara through the site's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Agia-Marina-Donkey-Rescue/225542274129832

You can also check the sanctuary's webpage: http://www.agia-marina-donkeyrescue.com/new.html

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

The Greek Collection: The Greek lady's wardrobe (Άρωμα Ελληνίδας)

After work one hot sunny afternoon - we call that hour μεσιμέρι (mesiMEri) - midday - in Greek, and not afternoon (that starts after 5pm in summer) - just when capital controls had been slightly relaxed and we could make weekly withdrawals of 420 euro (instead of the daily limit of 60 euro), I parked my car on the outskirts of town just above the law courts, which is how the area got its name: Δικαστήρια (dikaSTIria), so I could go to the bank to make my first withdrawal since capital controls were enforced. I had been procrastinating about this cash business, trying to convince myself that I did not need any. That theory was blown out the window when I met up with some friends for a coffee. Asking to pay a total amount of less than ten euro by plastic money at a cafe is still a cause for embarrassment in Greece, despite the greater use being made of debit/credit cards since capital controls were introduced.

I parked the car right in front of the now defunct incarceration unit where prisoners were held until their trial took place. I recall in days of old young handcuffed men being walked down the slope to the courts, flanked by police officers, The building was showing signs of its vacant state, with graffiti scrawled over various parts. But I did not see the graffiti - something else caught my eye: two fashion brand-label carrier bags that had been placed carefully, propped upright so that they did not tip over, against the wall of the former holding cells. Although there was a blue recycling bin on the pavement, the person who had left those bags on the street clearly did not have the heart to throw the contents of those bags straight into the bin. Luckily for me, she did not.

Bags full of used clothing left on the street are a relatively common sight in my town (along with toys and furniture, and other stuff associated with babies and children). I admit I used to do it too, before the second hand clothing stores owned by foreigners opened in the town. It made me feel that I was doing my bit for poverty, I have now changed tact; when my children grow out of clothes, I take them to the second hand shop where my profit is passed onto a local children's cancer charity. Whatever clothes do not end up being sold (very cheaply) in this way are passed on to other charities that look after refugees stranded in Hania, various church-related organisations that pass on clothing to the needy, and even to the local animal care centres for strays to keep warm during the winter. 

I always rifle through bags of clothing that I come across on the street, in the hope that I will find some useful fabric for my patchwork projects. My children say it feels embarrassing to do this, even though they know that the clothes I pick up are used in my fabric art. (I'm particularly fond of old jeans - they make great quilting material as well as nifty looking fashion bags.) It may seem somewhat unethical to take used clothing which was obviously destined for reuse as clothing for a poorer person, and tear it all up to use as patchwork. But I do not believe that the clothing would all have been re-used in this way had I left it. For a start, the recycling rubbish collectors would have trashed it themselves if it hadn't been picked up before their rounds, so it might not have been used after all. Hania is a rather well off town, so a lot of clothes are dumped. People are generally aware of the way they can be reused, but dumping them on the street is a sign of laziness. If they really wanted to help the needy, they'd make the effort to take them to the right place. Leaving clothes on the street is a slovenly way to help the needy. You need to seek them out to help them more appropriately.

Even so, I knew I had got lucky today. The bags contained a lot of light summer cotton and denim clothing, perfect for reusing in patchwork. There were also quite a few T-shirts which I don't re-use myself (although they can be cut up into strips and used as knitting/crochet yarn). The items were in such good condition that I decided to take the bags home and sort the items out in my peace and quiet, taking those clothes that could not be used to the second hand store to sell on behalf of charities.

The clothes

The clothes were well used. Some had yellow age stains under the armpits. They smelled musty, as if they had been sitting in a basement for a long time, and had not been aired. They had clearly not been in use for a while. The owner of the clothes was obviously well off - it isn't a coincidence that these clothes were found at Dikastiria, generally known as the inner city neighbourhood where the wealthy/upper-class live. Nearly all the clothes had branded labels; she particularly liked the Greek Bill Cost. She was a stylish woman judging by the cuts: she must have been slim and wore specific styles and colours. I was quite surprised to find so many whites: 2 white denim style skirts and 2 white jean style trousers, as well as some white T-shirts. You can only really wear white successfully if you are slim. There was also a beige pair of pinstripe trousers, which shows how old the clothes were: pinstripes are no longer in fashion. She must have been tall, judging by the trouser leg length. Her shirts were mainly in single earthy colours: cream, white, ecru, brown, brick red(compare that to Varoufakis' last - ? - appearance in the Greek Parliament), things that don't go out of fashion too quickly.  There was only one mainly blue item, a blouse with large blue spots. Blue is a difficult colour in the fashion world, and this particular Greek lady knew that well. Most of the t-shirts had some 'straz' stuck onto it. Greek women love straz. The former owner of these clothes was probably not a smoker - cigarette smoke lingers in a house, especially an apartment, affecting everything in it, and these clothes did not smell of smoke.

Straz

Because the items she was throwing away all seemed quite stylish, I believe she had problems giving them away. It must have been a difficult decision to take: the truth must have dawned on her when she realised that there was no other option but to get rid of those bags which were cluttering her apartment (most homes in the Dikastiria area are mainly apartment blocks). Maybe she had put on enough weight to know that she would never fit into these clothes again; maybe she had updated her wardrobe umpteen times and the old stuff had to go to make way for the new. There were no children's clothes in the bags, nor were there any men's clothes, suggesting perhaps that she lived alone. Therefore, she was able to afford to dress well. The clothes suggest that her income probably included inheritance as well as a well-paid position in the public service: the clothes remind me of what mature female office workers would wear.

Jeans

Some items consisted of clothing that all self-respecting fashion-conscious women would own. A pair of jeans were included in her throwaways and there were also quite a few black items - you can't do without black in Greece, it's the colour of choice for a church memorial service.  The only multi-coloured clothes were a dress in a red, green and white print, a sheer blouse in various shades of orange and yellow, and a blouse in various shades of green. There were also a couple of items that clearly did not fit in with the lady's dress style, the kinds of things we ladies would label as bad purchases, wardrobe mistakes: in her case, it was a pair of brown cotton trousers from a 'kineziko' store, which had been cut off to be used as shorts, but whose elastic band had loosened, and a satin blouse that looked as though it may have been bought at the laiki - a sign of the crisis finally hitting home, perhaps...

Burberry

The Greek lady's wardrobe, like the wardrobe of many stylish women, must also include a bit of Burberry somewhere. There was no Burberry in the throwaways, which was to be expected: if you buy Burberry as an accessory, it should last you forever. You don't wear Burberry all over, although I have seen this too: the woman who committed this crime failed miserably in her attempt to be a fashion icon, instead becoming the epitome of bad taste, pretentiousness and ostentatious elegance. (She was boarding a budget flight with me for London.) Burberry needn't be expensive, either - you can buy a scarf, or bag, or hat in the classic beige Burberry tartan for just a few euro at the laiki from the fake designer clothes sellers. (Plenty of them in Greece, too. Fake designer fashion is called 'maiMOU' in Greek, which means 'monkey'. It describes the everywhere-Burberry woman I bumped into to a tee.)

*** *** *** 

I decided to reuse the fabrics in an artistic way, which is how my project took on the name 'The Greek lady's wardrobe'. Even though there was no Burberry item included in the bags, no doubt there would be a Burberry-something in this particular Greek lady's wardrobe. I decided to add a Burberry-something to the collection of fabrics. I also needed to add some blue and some yellow-orange-red fabrics to substitute for the blue and white t-shirt, and the yellow-ish sheer blouse whose fabrics were not suitable for patchwork projects. I bought these items at the laiki (a Burberry print mini skirt - 50 cents; a blue and white mini apres-swim skirt - 1 euro; a blue satin pair of pants - 2 euro; and a summer dress in bright colours - 2 euro). The Burberry was not used much in my design - I tired to use it in the same way that a stylish woman would wear Burberry (just a dash of it, mainly as an accessory).



The chosen pattern looks quite attractive in the photos. Up close, I can see all the imperfections of my patchwork. The work is not quite finished - I have quite a few pieces to put together. To be continued...

Bonus photo: the top part of the jeans were turned into a bag which I now use. I made it during an evening when my next-door to the next-door neighbour had an outdoor party. The musicians arrived at 9pm and tested the sound system. They began playing at midnight and stopped at 5.30am. I sta outdoors, using my sewing machine on the balcony until the wee small hours, knowing that no one would notice.


UPDATE: "Economics is like coca-cola," a friend once said to me, "it goes with everything." So does denim - old jeans, upcycled together with the remaining pieces of the The Greek Lady's Wardrobe.

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The Greek Collection: Marching on

Last year, I promised to make a beach bag for a friend. Making bags for me is an easy task. But for various reasons (mainly health and work stress related), I just couldn't bring myself to finish my friend's bag. I would look at the half finished parts on my work space and feel even more stressed. So I just put them in a bag and placed it somewhere I couldn't see it. I tried to forget that I even wanted to start something like The Greek Collection. 

Eventually, as spring sprung on my island, I decided to embark on some new quilting projects. But I never let myself fall int he trap of leaving unfinished projects behind before I start new ones. That provided the impetus for finishing my friend's bag. I got it out of its hiding place, and I couldn't believe it myself when I finished the bag in just one day, allowing one more day for adding final touches. I sent the bag to my friend a while ago, and this morning, she sent me some photos. I think I've made a fashion statement, even if I say so myself!

Today is a big day for Greece. Whatever happens today, the outcome for the Greek people will be the same. We will soldier on, no matter what. We simply refuse to fall. We will never cave in to fear. Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece, detested by many in Europe because he is seen as stirring the waters of the status quo, said a lot of things in his speech last night in Parliament, but the bit that you probably WON'T get translated in the non-Greek European press is this one:

"We negotiated very harshly for Greece, but also for Europe to change paths. Today, this may not look so feasible, based on calculations. We need to admit this. But I am certain that sooner or later this seed of democracy and dignity that we let fall will also bear fruit to other Europeans." 

That's the one that we will all remember, wherever we find ourselves next week. 

Bonus photo: My daughter had a friend to stay over last night, and they insisted on using these pillows to sleep with while they were dreaming of princes and castles. They are more of my creations from The Greek Collection. 

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

Referendum (Δημοψήφισμα)

It looks like we are going to get a referendum next Sunday after all, as it was just voted on in the Βουλή. I don't think my fellow compatriots are in a position to make this kind of decision, which is of a political-economic nature, but since we have been given the chance to vote, we can either take it up and be part of the action, or deny the chance to take a pro-active approach to deciding our future. So here is my reasoning about how I will vote:

I think the whole Greek issue is one of misunderstanding. The Greek side are passionate, the non-Greek side are astute. The Greek side accuse the other side of blackmail, but any person with an Anglo-Saxon education (like myself) should be able to clearly see that the non-Greek side is simply using literal meanings and facts and figures to get their point across. One side is playing with a WORD file while the other side prefers EXCEL. (Not my metaphorical phrasing - I heard it a while back.) This is why a political level agreement was needed on the Greek problem. But who will sacrifice their politics to find a compromise that will make everyone unhappy to some extent? No one. Both sides have something to lose in this issue: one side is worried about a lack of funding, while the other side is worried about setting a precedent. I guess this is part of the compromise. We're all going to be unhappy to a certain extent.

Apparently we are going to be asked something like:

Should Greece accept the loan/bailout package as outlined by the creditors?

I think I know what a YES vote would mean to that: not much will change in my life as I know it up to now. Greece has been a bailout addict for a number of decades now. But I don't know what a NO vote will really mean, because we haven't had it explained to us. There is no Plan B (except for wait and see). We are all hypothesising about what might happen in the event of a NO vote - we don't actually have any real idea what it will mean. But I don't even want to hear of Greece taking out a new loan that will not be repayable. I don't believe in loans. I've never taken one out, and I hope the same goes for my kids, that they will never ask for a loan. More importantly, I don't want any potential grandchildren to still be paying this loan off when/if they are parents themselves. That's why I'm voting όχι.

I'm not voting NO to Europe or the eurozone - I'm just voting NO to a new loan, or bailout, package, program, memorandum, and any other way it is also known. I hope NO means that Greece gets no more money from strangers, and she can learn to live within her means, and she learns to use her resources wisely in order to ensure this. If the referendum question was:

Should Greece remain in the European Union?

I'd immediately know what I'd answer to that: ναι!

If the question was:

Should Greece remain in the eurozone?

I know the answer to that one too: ναι!

I will leave it up to Europe and the eurozone to decide if they want non-Anglo-Saxon Greece in their Anglo-Saxon club. Let's face it: while Greece is a lovely country, she can look like she is veering right off course concerning many aspects of western-world life as we know it.

The issue of filling up your petrol tank, emptying supermarket shelves and flocking to ATMs to withdraw money reeks of an urban crisis. People who live in apartment blocks in Crete don't have gardens and may not have access to their fields. If you come up to my house, you would not even suspect what was happening. 

I live on the island of Crete, where things are really "not that bad". For those that have been following my blog over the years, they will understand what that means. For those who haven't, if I were to explain this in one sentence, I'd say that we will never go hungry on this island. I don't want to kick the can don the road with a NO vote which will eventually catch up with us again: better to go bankrupt now in the summer, before the cold weather sets in - we can start to clean up our act under more favorable conditions. As I write, the ATMs are empty, people began hoarding basic items by clearing shelves in the supermarket, and petrol stations are drying up. This is the knee-jerk reaction to any major event that could cause turmoil: people panic. I watched people last night trying to withdraw money from empty ATMs: what made them decide that they needed to withdraw 800€ (I watched them as discreetly as possible as they pushed the buttons on the machine) on a Saturday night? It is sheer panic and nothing else. I have to hand it to the 10-year-old that I overheard in my loud noisy boisterous Greek neighbourhood last night:

Daddy says that if we go to an ATM now, it'll give us drachmas.

Panic brings out the worst in us.

Even if the YES vote wins, I will still be happy with that because it's all I've ever known of Greece - that she is an indebted country. Whatever happens, I think Greece is still going to be a great country, and people will always be guaranteed of having the time of their life when they visit Greece.

The Greek Collection - work in progress: "All eyes on Greece".

The outcome of the Greek referendum will have far-reaching consequences; it is not just about Greeks continuing to fool the rest of the world about their virtuousness in implementing sound fiscal policies (my opinion, of course); it is also about the rest of the greedy world who may eventually have to deal with the real possibility of other countries following suit: saying NO when they usually said ALRIGHT. Tsipras was brave to make this move; it's something that Papandreou mentioned he would do back in 2010 but decided against it after being pressurised by the EU, which in turn was worried about the stability of the euro at the time. The EU feared that the euro would fall and the EU would break apart if one of its members were 'allowed' to be bold enough to escape its noose. The EU now says that they have a stability mechanism in place so that an GREXIT will not have serious consequences on the global economy. (Yeah, right.)

I feel sorry for the Greek people because they have been aided and abetted all their lives into making bad voting choices, and now they are being forced to make a crucial political decision themselves, after having elected a government only five months ago to make important decisions like these ones. The average Greek citizen is neither knowledgeable or experienced enough to make such a decision. That's why we choose politicians to represent us in parliament. So even our politicians are useless. And who do politicians come from? The people themselves.

I think there is only ONE way out of the crisis - Greece needs to go cold turkey: stop accepting other countries' money, see where your country stands financially on its own, and then find ways to make money in your country for your country. I can only deem this solution to be the right one. It's from that 80s era that did Greece in. Before that, Greece was poor. Then Greece became a member of the EU in 1981, and suddenly, unprecedented personal wealth became the norm. Now we are seeing what this wealth entailed: bad choices that looked good only on the surface.

As a final word, I am reminded of the words of Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957), the greatest Greek writer of modern times (writer of the classic Zorba the Greek), who was born in Crete, died in Germany, and was laid to rest in the old city walls of Iraklion on the island of his birth:

I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.

UPDATE: "In the interest of transparency and for the information of the Greek people, the European Commission is publishing the latest proposals agreed among the three institutions (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund), which take into account the proposals of the Greek authorities of 8, 14, 22 and 25 June 2015 as well as the talks at political and technical level throughout the week." (click on the PDF at the bottom of the page)

©All Rights Reserved/Organically cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

The Greek Collection: Shabby chic Greek flag for Independence Day

It's an Independence Day bank holiday today for people of Greek heritage all over the world. The origins of the formation of the modern Greek state has its beginnings in March, 1821. Yanis is due to spend it in Hania. (If the parades turn into a musical feast, you might even get to dance with him.)

A funny story related to Greek Independence took place just this week at my workplace. My non-profit institute's finances are monitored by the various organisations that fund it, which includes the Greek government. Checks are performed even on our library acquisitions: we were recently asked to justify why an institute with an agronomic nature such as ours, which uses English as the main working language of the institute, bought a book about the Greek revolution of 1821, in Greek, to add to our library. I wrote the following justification to our funders:

"Greek and English language lessons are offered to students, both during the academic year, and the summer school period. The Greek-language book about the Greek Revolution of 1821 is of great value for students studying the Greek language, who wish to gain an understanding of Greek history from the Greek point of view, as most material that Greek-language learners will most likely read about Greek history is in another language, and therefore the Greek point of view may not be expressed."

HIstory is open to interpretation. Library acquisitions have wider readership than just the acquisitioning library: our acquisitions can be shared through the institute's interloan system, which is connected with other institutes in the wider region of Crete, for the needs of university students. In this way. such material has a greater audience, and the knowledge that they contain can thus be shared among more people. 

A sky full of Greek flags will be flapping in our springtime breeze today, sporting the traditional blue and white stripes. We rarely see less traditional flag designs based on the Greek flag, so I wonder what people will think of my shabby chic patchwork creations. Greeks are not really into the shabby chic design - they prefer more modern lines. 

Shabby chic: a form of interior design where furniture and furnishings are chosen for their appearance of age and signs of wear and tear or where new items are distressed to achieve the appearance of an antique. (Wikipedia)

Bonus information - The book about the Greek revolution is not the only book we had to justify:  

"The Gatekeepers of Galatas (by Brian Taafe, in English) is based on the history of the wider region of Chania. It is written by a New Zealand academic living in Australia, whose father was stationed in the region during WWII. The local history detailed in the book - the battle that took place in Galatas, Chania, in an area known by the allied soldiers at the time as Pink Hill - has had little mention in contemporary writings about WWII. The usefulness of this book as a resource to students is in its descriptive value of rural life in Chania during WWII, with which students can make direct comparisons with their own experiences of the region."

Mentioning the war - that war - is bordering on the taboo these days. But just what was village life like in Hania during WWII? The book's descriptions of Galatas, a village only 5 kilometres out of Hania, show that, despite its proximity to the main town, the village was typical of many other villages further inland: simple houses, lime-washed stone walls, earth floors, long stone ledges to serve as seats, beds covered by rough woven blankets, very few bits of furniture in the houses, consisting primarily of a dowry-type chest full of linen, a weaving loom, an oil lamp, an icon, and πύθοι (earthenware urns) for water and oil. People ate fairly frugal, yet healthy diets, made up of pulses and other vegetables, herbs and wild greens, olives, village bread, paximadi (dry hard rusk), goat cheese, snails and, on a very seldom basis, meat. This was supplemented by olive oil, honey, fruit and berries, and washed down by wine and raki. The village roads were lined with pollarded mulberry trees, whitewashed against insect attack, some flowerpots and other trees, and the houses were covered by maze-like vines that provided shade. Life was not as hard as in the mountains, but it was hard nonetheless, wrote the author. There also seemed to be a shortage of food, according to the author's father; the villagers were very generous, but there was little available to buy. 

Compare all this to the situation nowadays - we've come a long way, and there's no going back.

©All Rights Reserved/Maria Verivaki/The Greek Collection/Organically Cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.

The Greek Collection: Greek fabric designs

I've been collecting fabrics of all kinds for many years now. My special interest fabrics are those that can convey a sense of identity, especially Greek, in a similar way to the clothing, accessories and upholstery designs associated with the UK and US: namely, their iconic cities - London and New York - which, along with Paris, are the only cities to feature in international designs, and their flags - the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes - which happen to be the only flags that feature in those same international designs.

The UK/US flag is also redesigned in many ways, using fabric ideas such as patchwork, 'shabby chic' and colour alterations, among others, especially for the purposes of patchwork and applique sewing techniques, and design in general. Patchwork is a common hobby among fabric enthusiasts all over the Anglo-Saxon world, and the actual designs of these two flags lend themselves well enough to such alterations. So does the design of the Greek flag, with its cross and many lines. But the international fashion market is dominated by the UK/US flags; ξενομανία (cf. ξένος - KSE-nos = 'stranger', and μανία - ma-NI-a = 'mania') has also ruled the Greek market to a great extent. So there is no such corresponding market in Greek fabrics or Greek flag designs, showcasing Greek identity in common everyday-use objects in this way.

My grandmother's patchwork rug:
it's all hand-sewn.

Patchwork is not really a homecrafts tradition in Greece, although rags and scraps of fabric were never thrown out in pre-industrial days: they were re-used, including patchwork-style, as part of the frugal lifestyle. I still have a patchwork rug, made by my grandmother in the log cabin style: some of the fabric has worn away, but some is definitely still distinct and can be traced as vintage early 20th century fabric. The Greek kourelou tradition also uses scrap rags woven to make a rug.

While on a visit to New Zealand over a decade ago, I was intrigued to come across fabrics with designs associated with New Zealand. Such fabrics are very idiosyncratic, and would not be understood by anyone outside New Zealand without an explanation: flora such as kowhai, pohutukawa, the fern; fauna like the kiwi, the pukeko and the shell of the paua, and Maori artwork. They would not have a great appeal, apart from among New Zealand patchworkers, and perhaps the tourist trade. The fact that such fabrics exist is perhaps based on the idea of a collective national pride, things that New Zealanders, no matter their differences, share with each other. The same that I bought so many years ago are still being sold in New Zealand, and they remain particular to the country - you would only use them in a genuine Kiwi design, because they don't lend themselves well to be added elsewhere.

I have just started using these fabrics in a patchwork quilt. The quilt design I've chosen looks quite ambitious, but with a sewing machine, a rotary fabric cutter and some μεράκι, this kind of work doesn't take a long time to finish. 

Although patchwork, in the US/UK meaning, is not a tradition in Greece (I myself picked it up while living in New Zealand), there are now patchwork groups in Greece - this is not necessarily a post-crisis thing: foreigners living in Greece have introduced the locals to this fabric art. But the crisis has certainly helped make people more aware of patchwork, both as a hobby and as a way to re-use something frugally in a creative way, and there are now web-based Greek patchwork groups.

It's very hard to find Greek-based images on fabric, but I did manage to come across this gem - a Greek island motif - at the street market. 

The absence of Greek-based fabric designs is a tricky issue to interpret. I sometimes see it as a lack of interest in collective identity: Greeks tend to be τοπικιστές. The concept of nationality-based fabric designs is also an Anglo-Saxon one, extending to its colonies. Tourist shops sell clothing with Greek-based fabric designs. The meander is the most often-used design in tourist-related products, labelled 'Greek key'. But that is more closely associated with Ancient Greece, not the modern present-day country. It's also often used in American college designs with the Greek alphabet (try googling images for just the word 'Greek'). There are also many Greek fabric souvenirs (eg towels, kitchen gloves, tablecloths, etc) that bear summertime Greek motifs depicting island scenery, the sun, the olive, etc. But they also tend to have a big fat placename (eg Athens, Greece, Crete, etc) printed over them, which makes them clearly destined for the tourist market: this kind of fabric is not the same kind as that used in patchwork. The low quality fabric and its kitsch design value, as well as its mass production, hints that it is most likely all made in China.

This leads to the question of what kind of Greek iconic images would be used in the concept of Greek fabric design if (or more likely, when) they come onto the Greek market. We all have collective iconic images of Greece in the sub-conscious, but they may be different according to the individual: Tourists might mention things to do with summertime Greek island scenery and the Acropolis (google images for just the word 'Greece'). But what would a Greek person living in Greece first put in their mind? Maybe they would not have given it much thought in the first place: Greeks tend to take their surroundings for granted in this respect... Whatever these instantly recognisable iconic Greek timeless images are, they need to be separated from 'touristy Greece'.

From: http://www.123rf.com/photo_26198247_traditional-symbols-of-greece-in-the-form-of-heart-on-white-vector-illustration.html

If I could design such fabric myself, I would want to see things that remind me of the Greece I am living in now, modern Greece, not ancient Greece. Try googling the images for 'traditional Greek symbols': the icons that come up depict ancient Greece - and they are most often non-Greeks' ideas of what constitutes a Greek symbol.

©All Rights Reserved/Maria Verivaki/The Greek Collection/Organically Cooked. No part of this blog may be reproduced and/or copied by any means without prior consent from Maria Verivaki.