Jem Olsen

In early December 2024, footage emerged of a Palestinian woman cradling her baby boy, who had been killed during an Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) airstrike. In the video, she is heard saying that she had needed 580 injections of heparin to have her son.

In the lead-up to Christmas that year, I found myself unable to stop thinking about this mother and the pain and grief she must be carrying every day. On Boxing Day, I began embroidering a heart onto a scrap piece of fabric as a way of channelling my grief for her and her beautiful baby boy. From there, the idea developed into creating a quilt of 580 hearts, each one representing the 580 needles this mother had endured to bring her baby son into the world—her only child.

Within a few months, I had received more hearts than were required, contributed by friends, fellow textile artists, and women who wanted the opportunity to take part. Over the next two years, the front of the quilt was pieced together in blocks of 16 hearts, while the reverse side was created from scrap pieces of donated fabric during a series of workshops held at the Ballarat Library. The quilt was completed on 18 December 2025 with the assistance of my friend and quilt designer, Tara Glastonbury.


Seeking to gift this quilt to the Palestinian mother who inspired its creation has been deeply challenging, given the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the continued escalation of conflict in the Middle East. Attempts to contact the journalist who shared the original footage have also proven difficult. Her last Instagram post was on 13 May 2025. Her name: Doaa Albaz.

A big thank-you to all who helped contribute to the making of this quilt:
Ailish ~ Amelie ~ Ann ~ Anna ~ Anne ~ Annemaree ~ Ariel ~
Barbara ~ Bernadette ~ Bobbi ~ Brenda ~ Carla ~ Charlotte ~ Chloe ~ Christine ~ Claire ~ Deb L ~ Deb W ~ Diana ~ Fiona ~ FLK ~ Genevre ~ Gina ~ Helen ~ Ilka ~ Jan A ~ Jan L ~ Janet ~ Janette ~ Jem ~ Jemima ~ Jenny ~ Julia ~ Katherine ~ Kathy ~ Katie ~ Lauren ~ Libby ~ Lisa ~ Marg ~ Marie ~ Maryann ~ Narelle ~ Rachel ~ Renee ~ Robin ~ Sallie ~ Sharon ~ Stephanie ~ Susan ~
Tara ~ Virginia ~ Wendy