The Poppy Project is taking root in the Royal City.
Last fall, a group of local knitters spearheaded a community art project that involves knitting or crocheting poppies to create a large blanket that could be displayed in New West for Remembrance Day.
“We have got 550 poppies already, so we have achieved our goal for this year,” said Reena Meijer-Drees, who helped spearhead the project. “That means we have enough to make a blanket that will cover an army cot.”
The Museum of the Royal Westminster Regiment has agreed to provide the group with a cot, bits of uniform and a footlocker for its display. It will be displayed in the River Market from Monday, Nov 5 until Friday, Nov. 10 (food court area) and at Royal City Centre from Saturday, Nov. 11 until Monday, Nov. 13.
“We will be continuing to collect poppies from now until whenever and make the blanket bigger. Maybe next year we will have enough for two blankets. The whole thing will just grow – that’s the idea,” Meijer-Drees said. “But we have enough now to make a beautiful display.”
Some local knitters came up with the idea of making poppies for a blanket after learning about a similar project in Australia, where knitters made a carpet comprised of hundreds of thousands of handmade poppies.
Launched last fall in New Westminster, the Poppy Project has garnered support from folks around the Lower Mainland.
“It’s slowly catching on. We are now getting quite a bit of interest. We have shopped it around the Lower Mainland with various knitting groups and people are sending stuff in,” said Meijer-Drees. “It is catching on. Once it gets displayed then it will catch on more and will become more and more popular.”
For 2017, the project will result in a blanket that’s big enough to cover an army cot, but its purpose and size can change over time.
“The idea is to grow it and let it be a living piece that people add to,” said Meijer-Drees. “What we are hoping as well is when people donate the poppies they can go to a website and type in a dedication to whatever they are making. We collect those dedications and publish them somewhere, either on a website or in a book or something.”
Organizers of the Poppy Project have organized a wet-felting workshop on Saturday, Oct 21 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cosy Yarns in River Market. Community members of all ages are welcome to drop by and make wool poppies that will be part of the blanket.
“We will have material there for people to use,” said Meijer-Drees, noting knitting skills aren’t required. “It’s suitable for kids. It’s an easy activity but it does require some parental supervision.”
Later this month, a few volunteers will attach the handmade poppies onto the blanket in preparation for the Remembrance Day display.
For more information or instructions on how to make poppies, visit www.thepoppyproject.ca.
