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Articles
A Stitch in Time There is something very comforting about wrapping oneself up in a cozy quilt on a cold winter's day. The quilt - a collage of fabrics made from worn linens, dresses and even coats - is a labour of love and often tells a story of a family or a community. It was for this reason that artist Esther Bryan, from Williamstown, Ont., chose the comforting quilt to spin her tale. It's the canvas on which she binds together the patchwork of humanity in the book Quilt of Belonging: The Invitation Project (Boston Mills Press). "The face of humanity has been recorded in textiles, tracing the global family tree since the beginning of time. The quilt's design visually reveals the kind of society we want in the future," Bryan writes in her introduction. Like a quilt, the book is a textural history of the world, its people and their culture. Bryan was inspired by a trip she and her father made to his birthplace in Slovakia after the Iron Curtain fell. Throughout the visit, friends and relatives presented her with embroidered utilitarian items, such as bedding or pockets for combs, that symbolized who they were and who they are today. She was profoundly moved by the experience and explored how a simple piece of cloth could convey so much about a community and an individual. Thus, she began a personal journey to connect Canada, her adopted homeland, with the rest of the world using textiles. The quilt itself is 36 metres long and 3 metres high and contains a square from all the main aboriginal groups and world nationalities. It was a labour of love for the hundreds of volunteers, everyone from children and seniors to immigrants and ambassadors. It's making its way across Canada and is now in Newfoundland. The book, however, is available through Invitationproject.ca and is a piece of textile history. Here's a sampling of some of the blocks from the book: VIETNAM: "I feel safe and secure in Canada," says Oanh Attfield, who now lives in Greensville, Ont. Attfield was 16 when her family emigrated to Canada. She quickly learned English and went on to earn an engineering degree from the University of Waterloo. Attfield's block is embroidered in Vietnam's classic style, showing a young lady in a traditional tunic. SCOTLAND: Nancy Woollven's clan emigrated from Scotland in the late 1700s and now lives in Glengarry County in Ontario. She is an award-winning quilter and creates quilts that will stand the test of time: "They have to be the sort where the dogs could get on the bed and the whole world wouldn't come to an end." COSTA RICA: Ana Miranda's home in Ottawa is decorated with needlepoints representing her 14 years in Canada as the wife of the Costa Rica ambassador. The centre of Miranda's block is a medallion, which is a predominate feature in Costa Rica's folk art and is surrounded by Miranda's jewel-tone work. She is justifiably proud of her native land which has received acclaim for its eco-tourism industry and was delighted to share "a little piece of my country" with the world.
TSIMSHIAN: Melodie Johnson's people settled the northwest coast of British Columbia. She believes "a person's roots are the key to identity," and chose a "very simple, old-style" design from the button blanket to represent her aboriginal heritage.
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