How a craft group helped a P.E.I. man finish his mother's quilt

Stan Gordon was thrilled to see his mother's quilt finally completed, after it sat in storage for almost 60 years.

The St. Joachim's craft group in Vernon River, P.E.I., recently finished the quilt for him. 

"It's just incredible. For me, it's an emotional moment. It takes me back to my mother," Stan said. 

His mother, Bessie Gordon, suffered a massive stroke in 1962, when Stan was just 11 years old. It left her paralyzed on her right side and she was not able to sew again.

'Bessie would have really wanted it finished'

Bessie died in 1978 and Stan and Carole said time just passed — no one in the family was a quilter. 

But the couple connected with the group when they attended a quilt show last year, which was part of the Women's Institute exhibit at Old Home Week.

They were admiring a quilt that was the same kind of design as his mother's. 

That got them talking with Marie Curran, a member of the St. Joachim's craft group.

"I thought it would be nice to have it finished, and I said I would take it to the ladies and ask them if they would be interested in doing it," Curran said. 

Carole praised the group for their hard work. 

"They worked tirelessly through the winter," she said. "They are amazing, they are such a wonderful group." 

Thinking back to her mother-in-law, Carole said, she knows Bessie would have wanted the quilt done. 

"Bessie would have really wanted it finished," she said. 

Fragile work

Crafters with the group say the quilt was made of delicate material and that it was not easy work.

"Some of us were kind of afraid to work on it because it was quite fragile," said Geraldine MacDougall, a member of the group.

Members worked on it every week with some even taking pieces home with them to help complete the project.

MacDougall said Bessie was obviously a skilled seamstress judging by the intricate quilt design, which included 151 different quilted flowers, all made of different materials. 

"She would have to be pretty exact on her sewing, her hand stitching in order to do it," said MacDougall. 

She said it was a shame to see it not finished. 

'My mother lives on'

Stan said it's been an emotional journey seeing the quilt completed.

"I hope they realize how important that was to me and my family, because now my mother lives on through that quilt," he said. 

The Gordons plan to hang the quilt in their home and said it will be a treasured piece of history to be passed on for generations. 

"It was just meant to be," Stan said. 

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