A stitch in time: Signature quilt is piece of Freetown heritage
Cody MacKay | CBC News | Posted: November 4, 2017 7:32 PM | Last Updated: November 5, 2017
Signature quilt owner hopes people stop by the Freetown United Church to see family members' names
A little piece of Prince Edward Island history will be on display this weekend at the Freetown United Church, in the form of a nearly 90-year-old pearl-white quilt with the names of more than 200 locals carefully sewn into its fabric.
The signature quilt was created in 1928 as a way to raise funds for the Willing Workers Mission Band — a mission group associated with the church.
People paid 10 cents to have their names sewn into the fabric.
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This is an artifact. I shouldn't be having it on the bed and I shouldn't be washing it in the washing machine. —Katherine Dewar
Katherine Dewar, the quilt's owner, said it has been in her family for "as long as she can remember" and that her grandmother bought it around 1932.
"There's three generations of us that have slept under it — my parents, me, my children — It's sort of a family treasure but it's at a time where it needs to be preserved somewhere," she said.
Many names still in Freetown
After many years, Dewar realized that the hand-me-down she was holding was something truly special.
"This is an artifact," she recalled saying. "I shouldn't be having it on the bed and I shouldn't be washing it in the washing machine."
She plans on donating it to a local museum, but first she wants it to go back home so members of the Freetown community can meet up and see their family member names across the fabric.
"Many of the names that are on the quilt are still in Freetown, so the people that are still going to that church would be the grandchildren, or grand nieces or nephews of the peoples names that are embroidered on the quilt," she said.
Hopes people spots familiar names
The quilt will be on display on Sunday at the Freetown United Church.
Dewar hopes many people will drop by to take a look and spot the names of their ancestors and maybe even share a story or two.
"People there might really like to look and say 'oh there's my grandmother's name' or 'this is my great uncles name' and start to think about them."
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