THE MÉTIS WAY

Quilting on the Wheel of Life

This article will give you some insight into the rich quilting heritage within the aboriginal community. My name is Rev. Kathryn Gorman-Lovelady. In my Métis community, I am known as "Kateri Sapphire Moon". I am a quilt artisan, elder, teacher and alternative healer. With my husband Brian (who is also Métis), we run a community clinic specializing in aboriginal healing techniques, and teach the cultural, textile and spiritual traditions of the Métis Nation. We live in Southern Ontario, with 5 cats, 4 dogs, 11 llamas, one horse, and one miniature donkey. As professional artisans, we have studio space in our home for the creation of quilts, jewellery and diverse things like leather work, bead craft and drum making. Professionally, we have both worked extensively in social services, prior to opening our clinic. We are graduates of the University of Guelph - Brian with a degree in sociology, and I with a degree in psychology. I studied the "midewiwin" or sacred shamanic medicine traditions for 9 years. After university, I became a minister (now retired) and Therapeutic Touch practitioner. I taught quilting and 16 other textile related programs in the local community college for 8 years, but we prefer to teach from our space.
Teaching quilting and textile techniques within the Métis community is wonderfully rewarding. The lessons have results which go beyond technique - I am reacquainting people with their heritage. Aboriginal quilters are most readily known for beautiful designs incorporating Bethlehem or Texas Stars, but our traditions include other quilted objects. In future columns I will write about The Medicine Blanket", quilted clothing, embellishment and many other things. Some insight into the background of Métis life and history will help to show how we get the subject matter for our designs.

Our Spiritual Identity
As an elder, minister and educator, I am often asked to help individuals find that spark of belonging, that spiritual "thing" which resonates within the soul, a marker that says "I am Métis". We awaken to that connection, and begin to own it, when we understand something of the history of these people. On the surface, that statement seems obvious, but understanding Métis identity is a complex subject. Originally, it was employees of companies like Hudson’s Bay, searching for fur in the heartlands, which introduced French, Scot, Irish, Scandinavian, western and eastern European peoples to Canada. These cultures, and others, intermarried with Cree, Ojibwa, Iroquois, Ottawa, Mohawk, Algonquin and many other tribal groups, producing a wide range of rich heritages to draw on. Our non-aboriginal ancestries were varied as much as the Indian and Innu cultures. This has produced a colourful tapestry of variables which have evolved into who we are today.
So what is the commonality? We are "aboriginal plus." In 1982 Métis were identified by the Constitution Act as being one of three distinct aboriginal races in Canada, along with Indian and Inuit people. Although there are many different nations that comprise our aboriginal component, we are fortunate to understand today that many First Nations traditions are the same, although the tribal groups differ. This is the component I refer to as cosmology, a collective consciousness that supersedes specific tribal orientation. It is the circle, The Wheel of Life.

Sydney Quilt Shops

Sydney Patchwork Quilt Shops

In-Vogue Fabric and Craft has been in Camden for around 28 years with Heather and Denise running the store for 18 years, and Kay has owned the store since May 2009. Kay has kept the shop very much the same while bringing in new product ranges and styles for the next generation of sewers.

When you walk in you have the feeling you’ve stepped back in time into one of those adorable drapery stores our Mum’s used to take us to, yet with an up to date range of supplies, including and fantastic collection of lace, braids. ribbon and pom poms. Patchwork Quilting fabrics are spreading their way through the shop (as usually happens), along with haby, buttons dressmaking fabrics, and pretty much anything else you could possibly need for your sewing habit.

Quilting Magic

Machine Quilting Style And Categories.

There are many different styles of Long Arm Machine Quilting Patterns, here is a sample of just a few Long Arm Machine Quilting Patterns…

Edge to Edge - This is a repeating pattern of your own choice that starts at the top of the quilt and goes in rows to the bottom.Â We place the rows as closely as possible to get the best effect.

Custom - When you need the quilting patterns to fit specific areas like the blocks and borders, this calls for customising the designs to enhance the quilt to it’s fullest potential including using stencils, paper patterns, stitch in the ditch and cross hatching.

In The Ditch – This puts the stitching as closely as possilbe into the seams of the quilt blocks.Â It is the slowest type of stitching – especially when the blocks or pattern have diagonal seam lines.

Circles - Are placed over blocks going from small to large at regular intervals.Â Very pleasing on many types of quilts.

Baptist Fans - Are made of concentric arcs placed from the bottom to the top of the quilt in an even fashion. This is an old fashioned design that goes especially well over all types of quilts.