Uprooted

­­Uprooted

The Canadian Red Cross Hallville Quilt was made by women in Hallville, Ontario, and given to a family in England who had  been bombed out of their home during the second world war. A quilt signifies warmth, comfort, and security, and the Red Cross quilts also remind us of the  kindness of strangers.

Here we are 80 years later and people continue to need help from strangers because they have been displaced from their homes.

Uprooted (2025) Mary Whitehouse Festival of Quilts 2025

This distressed quilt has been made to raise awareness of the plight of refugees who are still being uprooted by war, famine, and oppression. The UNHCR works in 136 countries to protect people who have been forced to flee their homes. Very few of these conflicts make it into our newspapers and even fewer hit the front pages.

In 2025 this quilt was displayed at Festival of Quilts on the outside of the Quilt Collection Gallery, where the original Canadian Red Cross Hallville Quilt was being displayed.

My work supports the work of Refugee Action York, who work to challenge misconceptions about refugees and asylum seekers and provide support to those seeking sanctuary.

 Recycled cotton printed with a photograph of the Canadian Red Cross Hallville Quilt (Quilters’ Guild Collection), newsprint, cotton backing.

Quilted with cotton thread on a Handi Quilter Moxie longarm machine.