During the Second World War, women produced thousands of quilts for the Canadian Red Cross. These blankets were sent to the front lines and hospitals to provide comfort to soldiers and victims. EMERGENCY QUILTS is a series of thermal blankets (designed to reflect body heat) with designs inspired by traditional quilts. Today, this project is an act of solidarity with the growing number of people living in uncertainty.
This “Rail Fence” quilt pattern was the first of the series started in Halifax, Nova Scotia (where the number of homeless people doubled in 2021), as the initial phase of a larger community project. The prototype was offered for the auction of the local Organization Wonder’neath Art Society, which shared the profit with Shelter Nova Scotia in 2023.
More pieces were produced for exhibitions in Québec (2024), Nova Scotia (2026) and New Brunswick (2027) with profits donated to local shelters.
Acknowledgment: The production of this project is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.