129 Rail Fence, World War Quilt, handmade, 163 cm x 203 cm, MLC Research Centre Archive, Toronto Metropolitan University. Donated by Jackie Maxwell, Canadian Red Cross Quilt Research Group, UK. QuiltsWithout Labels: Threads of Mobilization Rail Fence commands attention with 198 bold rectangles intersecting like dazzle camouflage on ships. Frayed edges and softened colours tell of age and repeated handling. Purchased from an Oxfam store, its squares hum with the energy of wartime mobilization. Knitted quilts curl under the fingers; threads unravel, colours fade but remain unexpectedly bright. Each stitch carries memory, tension, and care, a trace of emotion stitched into material form. At the MLC Archive, the War Quilt Research Task Force examines these objects with careful observation. This is slow research, as textile scholar and MLC research associate Ingrid Mida defines it—studying, sketching, and documenting, retracing the work of hands long gone. Across the Atlantic, letters and thank-you notes appear in Canadian newspapers. One in The Toronto Star on 22 July 1941 reads: “The women of Britain bless you for the succor you have generously sent across the Atlantic.” Thread by thread, these quilts convey warmth, empathy, and connection, knitting distant communities together.
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