Truth is the first casualty of war, they say. Central to the Christian theory of a Just War is the truth that non-combatants should never be targeted. Yet, in armed conflict today a legitimate military target is whatever your side declares it to be. The Germans bombed London in WW2 and civilians died. Our state then bombed German cities and civilians died. The Israeli government responds to attacks from those taking up arms to establish a Palestinian state by insisting the state of Israel only attacks military targets in retaliation – and non-combatants die.

A piece of red cloth, blown by the wind, a relic of a life that had once been lived in a house now reduced to rubble – that became my trigger, the symbol of how fragile our lives are. How quickly the hand of fate strikes, and families are forced to flee their broken homes in search of safety in the hope that they will meet with the kindness of strangers.
This work was shown at the annual Festival of Quilts at the NEC in 2015.