Residents from around the province are learning their history was not just written with a pen and paper, but also with a needle and thread.
People came from across Westlock County showed off their family quilts at the Pioneer Museum July 16 as part of a province-wide research project by the Royal Alberta Museum.
“This is my sixth year working on this project and my third year traveling and doing documentation projects,” said Royal Alberta Museum curator of Western Canadian history Lucie Heins. “I partner with local museums and we provide one opportunity for the public to come in and have their quilts documented.”
Heins investigates quilts either specifically made in Alberta, or made by people who immigrated to Alberta. She had initially expected to examine 24 quilts, but said that a lot more people dropped in.
“We documented 11 or 12 quilts yesterday,” said Heins, who stopped in at the museum a day earlier to get a head start. “We’re trying to accommodate the drop-ins as we can.”
Most people who brought in their quilts said it was a curiosity of the history and how they fit into the larger Alberta quilting scene that piqued their interest.
“This is an excellent piece of Alberta’s history and it needs to be preserved,” said Maureen Kubinec, who brought in four quilts she had just recently received from a cousin dating back as far as 1935.
“These are artists who have done this.”
There is a huge variety in the styles of quilts that were made in Alberta over the last two centuries — neatly stacked around the museum were quilts made of glossy fabrics, some made out of old furs and others from fabrics collected over generations. One Heins documented was made out of a widow’s dress.
“One quilt in particular had what we call morning fabrics. It’s a black fabric with little white motifs.”
Heins explained that historically a widow was expected to wear black, but around the 1860s it became acceptable for widows to have a little bit of colour in their clothing.
Heins added that if she is unable to date the quilt, she is still able to date the fabrics it was made from.
“We’ve seen some quilts where the fabrics date to the 1800s,” said Heins, “That doesn’t mean the quilts were made at that time though. It was common for women to collect fabrics and that’s what they would use to made quilts.”
Heins added that documenting quilts is needed because the older one are slowly disappearing.
“My sister wanted to throw it out,” said Elaine Carol-Lawton, referring to a red and white quilt made by her grandmother for her wedding. “I don’t know when it was made, but my grandmother was 18 in 1904.”
One quilt tradition that has fallen by the wayside was the wedding quilt —where a bride would make a commemorative quilt for her wedding.
“Often what would happen is that the ladies in the community would make about 11 or 12 quilts,” said Heins. “The bride would also make her own quilt.”
The bride would then have a good collection of quilts for her home which was an essential for homesteading in the cold Alberta winters.
“They were for keeping warm,” said Carol-Lawton.
Another, described as a ‘yo-yo’ style quilt, was made out of dozens of neatly designed squares, with folds of fabric creating a colourful cushion.
“I had one quilt at the lake and I wanted to see how old it was,” said Diana Shimenosky, who brought in the yo-yo quilt. “My mom made it for me.”
Shimenosky said it was made out of “memories and family history.”
“It’s made of outfits from my own children when they were three and four years old,” said Shimenosky.
“Also from my outfits, as well as my mother’s outfits. It encompasses everybody in the family. It’s a nice keepsake from my mom that took hours and hours to make —it’s all hand done.”
Many of these quilts aren’t for keeping warm, or sleeping under, however.
“It’s nice and warm,” said Shimenosky. “But it doesn’t stay on the bed at night. It’s a daytime piece of art for people to admire. It’s a lost tradition.”
“I don’t think the quilt was ever used as a piece of bedding, it was more a piece of art,” said Kubinec referring to one quilt she brought in that dated to 1965.
“It’s precious. She was my God-mother and she always treated me very special.”
Heins said that people who missed the showing are still able to get their quilt documented if they want.
“From time to time I’ve had individuals who ended up missing the documentation and asked if they can bring their quilt to the museum,” said Heins, referring to the Royal Alberta museum in Edmonton. “They can do that, but they have to make an appointment.”
Heins said she has two more years of research and then she is hoping to release a book on the history of the province’s quilts.
