Invitation, the Quilt of Belonging
CQA/ACC, Spring 2004

This continues the story of Invitation, the quilt of belonging as told on pages 60-62 of the winter issue.

We are pleased to announce that you will be able to enjoy the quilt of belonging in Winnipeg at Quilt Canada 2004.

CAMEROON
Surrounded by her collection of old sewing machines and mountains of fabric of every description, Blandine Ghaho reminisces about her life in the land of her birth, Cameroon. Her broad smile and welcoming face show the great love she still nurtures for this country often nicknamed "Africa in miniature." The country is home to some 200 ethnic groups, a true cross-section of races, nations, and African tribes, from Arab to Fulani, Bantu to Pygmy.

Each region and tribe is known for its own special craft. One such craft is the ancient art of batik - intricate designs created by painting fabric with wax, vegetable paste or, sometimes, even aged mud, to resist sequential immersions in dyes. Each stage in the design requires removal of the first resist, and then careful reapplications to the areas not to be affected by the subsequent colours. The hand-dyed cotton in Blandine's block is an example of just such a fabric, typically used by women for their daily dress and for wrapping their distinctive headdresses. The cowrie shell, once used as the country's currency, now forms part of the decoration on clothing and is often used as jewellery. The use of gold fabric and thread have a special significance, because Cameroons believe that wearing gold surrounds an individual with protection, followed by good fortune and, as a practicality, provides insurance in case of hard times.

In Cameroon, Blandine's job was to train future teachers. She had to be knowledgeable in all subjects, including those that concerned trades and agriculture, particularly the operation of coffee and cocoa plantations, and the tailoring of clothes. Since her arrival in Montréal, Blandine has relied on her dressmaking skills to earn a living.

Known in the Montréal-African community as Maman Blandine, she continues teaching, cooking for large gatherings, sewing African-style clothing, and mentoring. One of the more rewarding aspects of her new life, Maman Blandine confides happily, occurs quietly in her small, overcrowded shop where people share their personal stories as she stitches, and she dispenses advice and wisdom born of the years.

BULGARIA
Marina Fedchenko was named after her paternal grandmother, a Bulgarian woman that she never met, yet with whom she developed a sense of kinship and a connectedness over the years. Marina would receive gifts of embroidery by mail from her grandmother and inherited her passion for colour, design and life as expressed in thread and linens. Marina feels she is carrying on the female lineage, because the things she loves most have come from her grandmothers. Two themes, both Bulgarian passions, recur consistently: embroidery and roses.

Roses are central to Bulgarian culture and industry. The "Valley of Roses" in the Balkan foothills produces most of the world's supply of attar of roses (rose oil), an essential ingredient in most perfumes. The rose is also the national flower and is often presented to guests as a sign of friendship. Marina collects objects with roses, so it is natural for the rose to be a favourite design in her stitching, as well as the focal point of her block.

Each district, village and household in Bulgaria can be identified by its embroidery style. To represent her heritage, Marina has created a sampler of Bulgarian patterns, finishing the block with a red and white tassel. These tassels are traditionally worn during March to mark Bulgarian Independence Day and to signal the end of winter. They are said to bring luck, health and fertility. Every spring, the family would receive a card containing a silk or cotton red and white tassel from grandmother Marina.

Marina has carefully collected the tassels, the embroidery, letters, photos and stories that form the threads connecting her to a grandmother whom she resembles in so many ways - and to someone she would dearly have loved to have known in person.

IRELAND
Irish eyes and an Irish name, a gift for music and skilful hands that love to stitch the delicate needlework she learned from her mother are legacies of Loralyn Reilly Gazdik's heritage.

Loralyn chose the Celtic cross as an appropriate symbol for her block because she feels Ireland is an inherently religious place. The circle and cross, worked in the Irish stitch, are done as one piece using a few rich colours and an abundance of gold thread. The circle represents eternity, while the three swirls, symbols that were prominent in Celtic history even before Christianity, have come to represent the Trinity. The shamrock at the centre is, of course, synonymous with Ireland.

Irish linen is famous the world over for its superior quality, so Loralyn used Cashel linen from southern Ireland as her base. Whenever he was homesick, her grandfather often talked about the fields of flax, from which linen is made, abloom with bluish-purple flowers. Loralyn thinks of linen as a contradiction: It is so very fine and delicate and yet the Irish are known as workers of the land. They were "working class," but their linen was found in the most elegant homes.

The crocheted border surrounding the cross is an example of Irish lace, often called "poor man's lace." Women copied the designs of expensive Venetian and French laces, using very fine crochet. They created beautiful, intricate patterns with fine picots, leaves, and flowers to make bedspreads, doilies, tablecloths and edgings for clothing. When the Irish came to Canada, they brought with them their treasured laces, linens and patterns. Loralyn's grandmother brought hers with her, and Loralyn is learning to replicate one of her Irish lace shawls as a way of maintaining a connection with her grandmother.

The Reillys emigrated from County Armagh for both economic and political reasons. The mammoth scale of Irish immigration to this land over the last two centuries had an enormous influence on Canada. At the time of Confederation, Canadians of Irish descent formed the largest ethnic group in the country. Like the fine threads of their linen and lace, they are intricately woven into all areas of our Canadian fabric.

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