Ideas Wanted!! Please brainstorm with me!

I am working with an organization that uses a program for treatment of juvenile offenders (specifically teenage girls). I would like to make a wall quilt to hang on a door. Right now an ugly old dusty wreath is on the door... blah!

I'm trying to come up with a visual that will be easily read as "Sanctuary." I'm not even afraid to applique Sanctuary right onto it. These girls come from hard backgrounds, emotional, physical abuse, and worse. I don't want it to read too child-like nor too adult. Gotta be "cool" or whatever it is these days to be hip and "in the now."
I'm thinking an umbrella might look to child-like.
A full tree with 7 branches to represent the 7 commitments?

I would LOVE your ideas. I've been googling images and pondering on my own and I'm just not coming up with anything I like. I would love a brainstorming session.

Here are some blurbs from the website - so you can get an idea of the program philosphy:
The Seven Sanctuary Commitments represent the guiding principles for implementation of the Sanctuary Model – the basic structural elements of the Sanctuary “operating system” - and each support trauma-related goals for clients and for staff:

A Commitment to Nonviolence – helping to build safety skills and a commitment to higher purpose
A Commitment to Emotional Intelligence – helping to teach emotional management skills
A Commitment to Social Learning – helping to build cognitive skills
A Commitment to Open Communication – helping to overcoming barriers to healthy communication, learn conflict management, reduce acting-out, enhance self-protective and self-correcting skills, teach healthy boundaries
A Commitment to Democracy – helping to create civic skills of self-control, self-discipline, and administration of healthy authority
A Commitment to Social Responsibility – helping to rebuild social connection skills, establish healthy attachment relationships, establish sense of fair play and justice
Commitment to Growth and Change – helping to work through loss and prepare for the future

Also they commonly refer to S.E.L.F. - Recovery from trauma
The four key domains of healing: Safety (attaining safety in self, relationships, and environment); Emotional management (identifying levels of various emotions and modulating emotion in response to memories, persons, events); Loss (feeling grief and dealing with personal losses and recognizing that all change involves loss), and Future (trying out new roles, ways of relating and behaving as a “survivor” to ensure personal safety and help others).

I'm seeing a wall hanging with very large letters appliqued - S E L F using popular teen colors and fabrics.

If you do google images for "hope" and/or "new beginnings" there are some good images. I am not sure what fits how you feel. It is a wonderful work you are doing, the world needs more people like you.

I'm liking the idea of the umbrella. Maybe you could mature it up a little by using "cool" teen colors and maybe you could put their 7 commitments into raindrops some way. You could applique SELF on the umbrella. Hope we can at least get your imagination and creativity going! :)

I could see a door panel: a main Tree with Owls or cute Tweet birdies holding up signs of the Seven Commitment phrases done in brown with the cool bright colors that are in. It can be appliqued, embroidered, quilted, a combination of all types of needle work.

It sounds like wonderful work that you do!

Good luck and be sure to keep us posted on what you end up making. :)

I see a tree of some type with the words on the branches. Trees to me always mean new life, new beginnings, a chance to start over.

I wasn't a teenager that long ago and I found your list a bit overwhelming, S E L F is really good and what it stands for but also because I think the road to recovering from any trauma is self-respect and self-esteem. I could also really see SELF in bug letters going down the door.

I would go for nice bold colours like on the picture above, hot pink and white or ruby red and baby blue, baby blue is always popular with girls, dolphins seem to be popular as well

Sound like a fantastic project and I can't wait to see pictures

I think you have answered it yourself, I would be inclined to jump on the same bandwagon as Tortuga and do a tree. I like that idea.

I like the tree. Could you do 2 trees? One as you walk in that looks sad and stressed with twisted branches and no leaves, and another on the other side of the door as you walk out that is lush and green with rays of light...

I like Tina's idea.

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Originally Posted by tortugaquilter

I see a tree of some type with the words on the branches. Trees to me always mean new life, new beginnings, a chance to start over.

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I agree---I love trees and you can do so much for it. Nature is always cool and most people can identify with it. Sounds like a wonderful thing that you want to do. Good luck with it,

I like sticking with the SELF idea. I deal with young adults in the prisons, and anything too busy or overwhelming seems to put them on edge, especially ones who have had drug or alcohol problems. I would stick with bright, but calming cool colors.

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Originally Posted by Monique

I like Tina's idea.

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Ooooooo, I like Tina's idea too!

I wouldn't make the first image of the tree so severe, that's just too depressing. Lonely's place is suppose to be a place of Hope, not a place an evil forest gnome. ;)

I do like the Two Trees though - SELF on the Front - To not overwhelm the teenagers as AJS pointed out. Nice and Bright with Rays of Light

Then on the office side a Seven Commitments Tree. You can even get a used ornate frame, spray paint it in a nice bright color to match, put a chalk board in it, hang it next to the door. Then the girls can write their names on it as they progress through the program/commitments/etc.

So many possibilities to be creative.

Almost like the Tree of Life that can be done in so many different ways, yet still remain the same.

i love the tree idea, with perhaps the letter hanging from it in wonderful mixed prints and colors.... if you make them small enough they could be in the shape of each letter... S E L F or the letters each cute from fabric or color and print... in a different shape for each (or font).... the leaves for the flowers could resemble smiles of a sort.... perhaps curly hair, spiked hair, smooth hair. briaded hair... sorry i get carried away... make it fun and be sure to post it... good luck and bless you for doing this...
i have a son in "rehab" right this minute and thank GOD for people like you....

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO,,, great ideas.... you've peaked my "juices" as well.....:)

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Originally Posted by HandsOffItsMine

I wouldn't make the first image of the tree so severe, that's just too depressing. Lonely's place is suppose to be a place of Hope, not a place an evil forest gnome. ;)

I do like the Two Trees though - SELF on the Front - To not overwhelm the teenagers as AJS pointed out. Nice and Bright with Rays of Light

Then on the office side a Seven Commitments Tree. You can even get a used ornate frame, spray paint it in a nice bright color to match, put a chalk board in it, hang it next to the door. Then the girls can write their names on it as they progress through the program/commitments/etc.

So many possibilities to be creative.

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The trees are a nice idea. Another idea I had was maybe appliques a dove and branches. A dove represents peace and you want them to learn to be peaceful and feel this is a peaceful place to be??

Please let us know what you decide - can't wait to see it.

When I think of Sanctuary I think of a safe place. So I suggest an appliqued building/house/cottage/ with a door and windows and each commitment embroidered/appliqued onto the door and windows. To me that represents that those commitments are a part of the place, Sanctuary. You can have a tree, flowers, birds, etc in the background. You could even put The Sanctuary on the door and the 7 commitments on the windows.

Thank you all! I really love a lot of your ideas. I'm going to have to sleep on it/do some sketching,etc. I'm in agreement with the tree. It really does represent growth after all.

Also thank you for the thought on "bright/cool" colors. That's exactly what will be needed. They are pretty overwhelmed as it is. No need to make it too busy, either.

I agree with the tree idea as well. I would keep it simple. Less wording brings more attention and stirs the imagination. The tree represents life and like a tree we grow stronger as we mature. What you are doing is inspiring to me. I am new to quilting and can't wait to contribute a quilt to a charity. I am sure the quilt will look beautiful.