Quilts: Reflection of a Woman's Life, Friday October 31, 2003

The plan was to include genealogical information alongside each quilt to be displayed. But the records around one particular quilt offered not a hint of its history.

Taking the textile from its storage space, the folds of the quilt opened. A bold, appliquéd pattern was revealed, red trees filling the off-white background. More became apparent. Letters and numbers intertwined with the pattern of the borders. Tracing around the edges they read, 'The Pine Grove Harriet Morgen 1852'. The quilter herself shared the information we wanted to know. It was a profound moment.

In ancient times in Europe and Asia, women created warmth and strength in bed clothing by quilting, the sewing together of two layers of cloth with a filling between. Through the centuries quilting continued as women's work, enjoyed as one of the few art forms available in the restricted world of the female. Immigrant women coming to Canada brought with them the customs of their home countries. The art of quilt making, especially patchwork quilts, took on new life with the cold climate and different lifestyle.

Quilts often reflected the changing moods and different stages of the woman's life. Innumerable patterns were inspired by politics, religion, nature, geography and daily life, each holding intriguing imagery. The red centre of the traditional Log Cabin pattern symbolized the hearth at the centre of the family home. Diamonds represented fertility. Signature quilts commemorated events in more direct ways.

Ruth McKendry writes 'One of the first quilts taught a young girl was the Irish Chain. Almost every girl who quilted at some time made a single, double or triple chain quilt, with the lines meeting, crossing and moving on endlessly representing the chain of life. Young girls made many quilts, but they were carefully guided and consistently taught by older women who were conscious of passing on the thread of life, as well as traditions beliefs and mores.' A young woman was expected to have ready for her marriage twelve everyday quilts which she began making when quite young. Once engaged a special one was sewn, usually appliquéd, as the wedding quilt.

Often 'tops' were pieced during the fall and winter. In the early spring, a quilting bee would be held to quilt the lot. The quilters, often accompanied by children, began work early in the afternoon. After the chores, husbands and young men arrived for supper, followed by a social time sometimes with fiddle music and dancing. Young people enjoyed games, those involving kissing being quite popular. It was custom for the girls to throw the finished quilt over one of the young men with everyone enjoying great laughter as he extricated himself.

Crazy quilts became an engrossing fad during the late Victorian era. Collages of irregularly shaped patches in silks, velvets and satins, they were used as parlour throws. The sewer often used as many embroidery stitches as she knew to embellish the carefully chosen colours and textures.

Ontario is fortunate to have a good selection of early quilts, one reason being simply that Ontario had a large population. Our early settlers and their descendants tended to remain on their original homesteads and keep heirlooms within the family. The Dundas Museum is fortunate in the beauty, quality and diversity of its quilt collection. Pieced, appliquéd, embroidered. Patterns of Irish Chain, Crazy, Log Cabin and more. One signature quilt was sent overseas in 1944. It returned to Dundas. The fabric in another came from a mother's wedding dress. Another was stitched by Harriet Morgen.

A selection from the collection will be displayed from the afternoon of Sunday November 9, part of Arts Dundas. Come, celebrate the artistry, the skill and the stories of our community's past.

website updated June 23, 2010
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