The Municipality of Alleyn-et-Cawood hosted another 150th anniversary event over the weekend, this time celebrating the community milestone with a display of locally made quilts and the unveiling of a special 150th quilt made specifically for the occasion.
The event saw over 30 quilts put on display at the Danford Lake Community Centre on Saturday and Sunday, some older family quilts and others more modern pieces. Also on display were sewing machines from different eras, from an antique machine right up to a modern quilting machine.
“The reason we chose quilting as part of our 150th anniversary celebrations really comes back to the history of Alleyn-et-Cawood and the people who built these small rural communities,” explained Sheila Emon, special projects coordinator with the municipality.
“For earlier generations, quilting wasn’t simply a hobby or an art form. It was born out of necessity. Families used what they had, saved pieces of fabric and worn clothing, and turned them into something useful that would keep their families warm through our winters.”
She noted how over time, what began as a response to necessity evolved to allow space for artistic expression and creativity.
“There is something very fitting about celebrating 150 years of our municipality through an art that quite literally involves taking many individual pieces and stitching them together to create something lasting,” she said.
“Some [quilts] were made for warmth, some to mark a marriage or the birth of a child, some from scraps that were simply too valuable to waste, and others purely for the love of quilting. Together, they tell a small part of the story of the families and women who helped shape our community over the generations.”
It was in this same spirit that the municipality organized for a 150th quilt to be fashioned, which was a team effort thanks to the quilting committee that formed to take on this project, first dreamt up by Denise Renaud.
“The quilting committee is extremely thankful to all the volunteers who put this project together and those that came out to support them,” Emon said.
The quilt is being raffled off, and the proceeds from the raffle will be used to fund future 150th anniversary celebrations.
