Wednesday 8 February 2017

A House or a Home

     After the shooting at a Mosque in Quebec City the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild put out the call for  House blocks. They are making quilts to donate to the families of the victims in the shooting. You can read more about this project here.  The Toronto Modern Guild is putting together a quilt and I made the block below to add to that quilt.



     The shooting in Quebec City has really shaken many Canadians.  We are a pretty peaceful place for the most part.  Many of us are thinking about our roles going forward in making sure that our Country supports all Canadians no matter what our origins or religion.

     I am a first generation Canadian.  My parents immigrated here from England after World War Two.  I have never felt unwelcome here.  Canada has always felt like home.  I have been reading articles where people have been talking about their experiences here, which are quite different from mine.   Yesterday I read an article in the Toronto Star where a first generation Canadian whose parents immigrated from Pakistan  said Canada was perhaps not a home for her but just a house.  The intention of the Montreal Modern Quilt Guild in making the quilts is that Muslims in Quebec City will be able to feel like Canada is their home.  I hope that this is the case and that all of us  can move towards making all people feel more welcome.  

      Today at work we received a box from one of our suppliers.  Someone in the warehouse had used a red marker to draw several hearts on the box and had written the message "True love is not an emotion it is an action".  This is something worth remembering.
     

          House blocks are also a theme at my local guild.  Last year Martina posted a tutorial in Stash Bee for making stack and wack improv houses.  I had a lot of fun making them and got permission to share the tutorial with my guild for a block lotto.  The block lotto is a fun way to get more blocks for the community outreach committee of the guild.  We get some of the blocks and someone wins the rest.  I kept my blocks untrimmed so the lucky winner can trim them as they like.  It should be a fun quilt or quilts as these little blocks are pretty adorable.  

     I'm also working on my Stash Bee block for this month.


     Here's my progress so far.  Check back next week to see what this turns into.  I'm linking up with Lorna at Let's Bee Social.  Have you been doing any social sewing this week?
   

8 comments:

Chantal said...

Great projects going on. Thanks for the link to the Montreal Guild. I will make a house or two for them. It was a real shock to hear that such an attack happened so close to home. You did some lovely little homes. Love the blue fabric in the improv houses. Good luck with the draw on those. ;^)

Preeti said...

A lovely block for a worthy cause. Thank you, Lisa for sharing that link. I will be sending a couple of blocks too. We are in this together.
Hugs,
Preeti.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I know that in uncertain times and moments having something to focus on like making a home block for a quilt for those in need has really grounded me. I love that the supplier took the time to write such a lovely note on the box that came to your store. <3

Raewyn said...

I like your blocks Lisa... the house quilt project is a very worthwhile cause...I'll check out the 'send-in-by' date to see if it's possible for one from NZ as well :-) The wonky houses will be a fun quilt!

Diana @ Red Delicious Life said...

The shooting in Quebec City was just heartbreaking. I'm hoping to make a few blocks as well and bring them with me to QuiltCon. We (the Orlando Guild) found someone from the Montreal guild that will be there and we'll be giving ours to them as a group.

Little Black Cat Quilting said...

When disaster strikes, the quilting community is always there. We may not know what to do, but as one quilty friend said, we stitch love into what we make in hopes of making a difference. Loving your house blocks, they definitely look like homes. 😊

the zen quilter said...

That's really nice. It's so sad to have all these negative reasons to make blocks for others. Kind of makes me want to make blocks or quilts for people for no reason -just because, you know! Looks like you are really busy on lots of different projects. I'm just getting back into sewing after shoulder surgery (slowly - way to slowly if you ask me, but ...) Anyway, I am jealous of those of you who are super productive. Kind of feel like I've lost my creative mojo right now. Hope it comes back soon.

Sandra Walker said...

I love that message, True love is not an emotion it's an action. Going to write that down, maybe make it into a quilt. I know what you mean about feeling shocked that something that heinous could happen here in our multicultural country. I am JUST about done reading a terrific book that I'll talk about on my blog, "Laughing All the Way to the Mosque" by Zarqa Nawas. She created "Little Mosque on the Prairie" a show my husband and I really enjoyed.