Manji

Last April, while we visited the Port Museum in Dunkirk, we noticed a huge ship’s anchor that bore the symbol of a swastika.  We usually associate that symbol with Nazism, so we were puzzled to learn that the anchor was much too old to have anything to do with the Third Reich. On closer inspection, we noticed a small plaque that explained (in French, of course) that the symbol had once represented security and prosperity. To many Native American tribes, it was a symbol of healing. This quilt block, which is also a form of swastika, is called Card Trick in the Midwest. Susan Briscoe names it Manji, a Buddhist symbol of eternity and universal balance. It’s the simplest block I’ve made so far this year. Instead of wading through the directions, I pulled two triangles from my Marti Michel template set A. The whole block was cut, stitched and pressed in under an hour.