The International Fiber Collaborative, the folks who spearheaded a fiber-wrapped gas station last year, are kicking off a new project this year:  creating a full-sized tree.  This group, based in Huntsville, Alabama, and founded in 2007 by fiber artist Jennifer Marsh, clearly likes to think big. You can see pictures of their "Gas Station Project" here. Participants took an abandoned gas station in upstate New York and, with the permission of its owner, covered it in "crocheted, knitted, stitched, patched, or collaged three-foot-square fiber panels" that expressed concern about world dependence on oil.

The Tree Project is no less ambitious. Participants are asked to use any of a variety of fiber-related techniques — including knitting — to create five-by-seven–inch leaves for a tree. Entries should express, in an artistic way, how "societies are interdependent on the greater whole, family units, communities, and countries"; Marsh hopes to get up to 30,000 leaves from all over the world. You are required to submit an entry form with your creation, which is due March 15, 2009. Check out the IFC Web site for details, and a downloadable entry form, or e-mail Marsh at . The finished tree will be on display in April 2009 at the Big Springs International Park in Huntsville.