This year, we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada. Queen Victoria gave her assent to the British North America Act (BNA Act) on March 29, 1867, saying that on July 1, 1867 the provinces of “Canada” (which then split into Quebec and Ontario), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick would unite and become the Dominion of Canada. Gradually, over time, Canada has grown to include ten provinces and three territories.
Each region has an official flower. In honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary, my friend Gladys has begun a quilted wall hanging to commemorate this special celebration. The wall hanging will feature the flower of each of the provinces and territories of Canada.
At the quilting retreat, Gladys worked on appliquéing the flowers onto a dark background. She has quilted the areas around the flowers in various patterns that she feels will enhance the subject.
The photo below shows a tentative placement of the flowers as a beginning look at some of the design possibilities, but there is much more to come in the design of the finished quilt.
Going from top to bottom and left to right, the flowers represented on the photo above are as follows:
wild rose – Alberta
western red lily – Saskatchewan
prairie crocus – Manitoba
fireweed – Yukon
mountain avens – Northwest Territories
purple saxifrage – Nunavut
white trillium – Ontario
blue flag iris – Quebec
purple violet – New Brunswick
Mayflower – Nova Scotia
lady’s slipper – Prince Edward Island
British Columbia’s Pacific dogwood and Newfoundland’s purple pitcher plant are still to be made.
Below are close-ups of some of the flowers. Notice the fine stitching around the edges of all the flowers and leaves. Then take a look at the quilting around the flower shapes, sometimes echoing the shape, sometimes offering beautiful designs of its own. By the way, for the non-quilters who are looking at this post, the yellow dots you see at the top of each flower patch – those are the bright yellow heads of the (temporary) pins used to put the flowers on the board. They are not meant to be the sun shining on the flowers! 😉
White trillium of Ontario
Fireweed of the Yukon Territory
Mountain avens of the Northwest Territories
Gladys will put binding on these flower shapes and add some interesting designs to the wall hanging. I know that when it is finished it will be a work of art. I will do another post when she has it finished, hopefully before July 1, 2017, the big 150th birthday.
PS In case any of you are readers, please check out my other blog, Anneli’s Place, and say hello to today’s guest writer, Lori Virelli. https://annelisplace.wordpress.com/2017/03/03/ever-been-at-your-wits-end/
Wow! Gladys does beautiful work. I love all of the flowers, but the Mountain avens really caught my eye. Thanks so much for sharing, Anneli.
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Gladys is a real expert. She’ll be upset that I’m showing her unfinished work, but I’ll do my best to show the finished product. She’s a real artist, and this is only the beginning of the prep for the wall hanging. She did the sunflower quilt in this post: https://wordsfromanneli.com/2016/08/29/quilt-show-in-comox/
Of course she’s done many others, but you can see how talented she is in that sunflower quilt on the quilt show in Comox blogpost.
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I remember that post! 🙂
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That’s quite an inspiring project! Hope you’ll show us the final results, Anneli. It will be beautiful!
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I’ll do my best to get a picture of it when it’s finished and post it then.
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Nice work, nice flowers!
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Thanks, Bente. Gladys has done some beautiful quilts and this will be another one, I’m sure.
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I admire people who are able to do such beautiful works of art! I am looking forward to see the finished quilt! Thanks for sharing.
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I’m interested in seeing how it turns out too. I know it will be great.
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Beautiful job, Gladys. Amazing photos, Anneli!!! I will be excited to see the finished product!
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She’s an amazing quilter. I hope I can get a picture of the finished quilt and post it.
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Great art work there, and happy birthday Canada!! I would gladly stand on guard for thee. ❤️🇨🇦
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Thank you, John. There are a lot of projects being worked on to help celebrate 150 years. It seems like a long time in people years, but for a country, it’s very young!
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Wow! Beautiful work. It must take hours and hours and so much patience.
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It does and it can be hard on the neck and back. But it’s an addiction and quilters always persevere.
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What a tremendous project and such beautifully done work. Very nicely photographed.
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It really is a big project and a lot of work. Thanks, Belinda.
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Those are exceptionally well done!
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She’s especially talented. Her quilts are beautiful.
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Stunning 🙂
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Thanks, Hans. Gladys really is an artist with the sewing machine.
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beautiful and intricate!! happy birthday Canada 🙂
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Thanks, Debi.
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you’re welcome, have a great weekend!
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What a stunning quilt. My favourite is the white trillium. Beautiful.😊🤗🤗🤗
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Thank you. Gladys is a great quilter. I like the trillium too, but I have a hard time saying which I like best.
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Really beautiful work – it’s interesting how the flowers vary by the different climates around Canada!
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Yes, I think each province tried to take a flower that is prolific in their region and that grows well there.
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This is a lovely project and so cool to fill us in on the different provinces and territories of Canada. I liked the lilies in orange and the brightly colored multiple blossomed fireweed examples. All are beautiful and such a lovely display!
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