Healing Star quilt, for Vanesa at Quilts for Survivors

I am just about done with painting my sewing space.  My room is currently an obstacle coarse with all the furniture scattered throughout the room, away from the walls.  I don't have access to my machine to do much sewing.....  That is tough for me, but it will be short lived.  In the meantime I dream of quilts.

I've had to dug deep in the archives of pictures to write this post.  This quilt started out as a way to say thank you to Vanesa, who established Quilts for Survivors.  She has a heart of gold and gathers quilts for those who were affected by what happened in the residencies. 

When I first heard of what she was doing, I offered to help.  When I met Vanesa, she was going to Mel Lastman Square, with completed quilts, as part of a presentation/ceremony.  I took a box of tops from her, that she had collected from various sources along the way from her home to Toronto.  Most of which had backings and Vanesa gave me the batting.  I admire everything that she does for those who need a quilt, as a form of a hug, letting them know that there are people out their that do care.

I wanted to do something for Vanesa.  She gives so much, and I wanted to give her something to let her know that what she is doing is special.

I drafted this quilt Jan 14/2023, from something that I saw somewhere (I didn't design the star).  I can't tell you much about the design, as it was some time ago that I saw it.  A star, has meaning to the indigenous people, which is why I chose to use it.  I then chose the colours red, yellow, black and white, as those are the healing colours, in the indigenous culture.

It has taken me some time to get this done, due to many distractions and life situations.  I finally finished this quilt on Dec 10/2024.  I changed it up a bit when I got to the border, and went with a string of bricks along the perimeter lengthwise.  When I took this picture, it had just come off the longarm, so you see the batting and marking tape.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a final picture with the black binding to finish it off, before it got shipped to Vanesa.

She loved it!!  I am so glad she did.  She deserves it for all the work she does.  She contacted me to thank me and asked if I had a pattern.  There were many others that liked it and wanted to make one for themselves.  It's not a difficult pattern, as this quilt is assembled in HST block form.  You just have to pay attention to the colour placement.

Take care everyone.