In April I received an invitation to join a fundraising art project in the USA, through Mobilia Gallery in Boston. The idea is for each invited artist to make a mask that is both functional and reflects their individual ‘signature practice’. Money from the sale of masks will go towards the Boston Emergency Relief Fund. I ended up making a series of 3 masks, each using reclaimed vintage linen and embroidery from my collection. I downloaded a free pattern from the website: www.instructibles.com/id/DIY-Cloth-Face-Mask/ and chose embroidery for each mask that would have symbolic meaning, associated with this huge humanitarian crisis the world is currently facing. I constructed one mask using large, dramatic vintage embroidered butterflies - representing rebirth and recovery. Another mask uses large poppies, which I found in Paris in 2010 - (opium poppies) representing relief from pain and; for the final mask I used an array of small red flowers combined into the motif of a Red Cross - representing care and protection. The masks are very small objects which required painstaking stitching on my inherited vintage Singer sewing machine. One is backed with breathable muslin, one with silk organza and one with huckaback towelling. I got so enthused by this project that I also made a carry bag to hold the masks on their journey to the USA. I used a beautiful vintage damask and stitched two delicate sprays of flowers embroidered in the 1940’s along with some unique, antique French silk embroidered letters (also collected in France in 2010) which spell the word C O V I D, along with roman numerals XIX. I lined the bag with ivory coloured silk organza and used a pale blue vintage ribbon for the draw string. Along with the galleries contribution I will donate my portion of any sales to the Boston Relief Fund. Below are some photos of the masks in progress, along with the finished group and the bag. Here is a link to the Mobilia Gallery Design Store where the masks are for sale.