The Empire Life/Sir John A. Macdonald Quilt was conceived in 1995 by the Macdonald Heritage Committee of Kingston Ontario as a project to help increase awareness of Canada's first Prime Minister and to stress the need to strengthen Canadian unity.

The original concept of this commemorative quilt was designed by artist Kathy Huse of Toronto. Her sketch has been interpreted into "pictorial appliqué" by several members of the Kingston Heirloom Quilters (KHQ). The fabric used is 100% cotton, some having been hand dyed for special effect. The reverse appliqué technique used for the likeness of Sir John A. Macdonald has been rendered in graded pointillist fabric.

Four icons represent his life and work in Kingston, Ottawa, and across Canada.
• The Canadian Flag / Union Jack,
• The Parliament Buildings and Peace Tower of Ottawa, ON,
• The Canadian Pacific Railway,
• Victoria (Shoal) Tower, one of the Martello Towers located at the entrance of Kingston Harbour.

The centre panel of this work was unveiled by the Honorable Hal Jackman, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario at the Canadian Friendship Festival, Fort Henry, Kingston, Ontario, on Sunday July 2, 1995.

The finished quilt was shown at Kingston Heirloom Quilters' Festival of Quilts IV held at the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, Kingston ON, in May 1997.

The Empire Life/ Sir John A. Macdonald Quilts is now on permanent display at Bellevue House, the restored home of Canada's first Prime Minister.

Dates of Interest:

Spring 1995: Commissioned by the Macdonald Heritage Committee of Kingston, as a centre panel for a national quilt project that would heighten awareness of Canada's first Prime Minister.

July 1995: Centre panel was unveiled (unquilted) with great ceremony by the Honorable Hal Jackman, Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario at the Canadian Friendship Festival, Fort Henry, Kingston.

1996: Quilted to stabilize the fragile reverse appliqué seams while on temporary display at Bellevue House, Sir John A's restored Kingston Home.

1997: Shown at Kingston Heirloom Quilters' Festival of Quilts IV.

1999: Taken out of limbo, finished as a wall Quilt and featured at KHQ's 20 Anniversary Retrospective Show.

2000: Juried in CAQ/ACC 2000 National Quilt Show held at York University, Toronto.

Credits:

Project initiated by the Macdonald Heritage Committee of Kingston, ON.

Design by artist Kathy Huse, Toronto

Patterns redrafted for accuracy and made suitable for appliqué by KHQ member Beatrice Walroth.

Assembly coordinated by Claire Upton and Beatrice Walroth for KHQ.

Icons representing Sir John's life and work were rendered by hand in pictorial appliqué by:

• Joyce Grenville - Victoria (Shoal) Tower, at entrance to Kingston Harbour
• Margaret Henshaw - Locomotive representing Canadian Pacific Railway
• Claire Upton - Parliament Building and Peace Tower
• Beatrice Walroth - The Canadian Flag, the Union Jack, and the likeness of Sir John A Macdonald. (The likeness of Sir John A. was undertaken with great trepidation. Thanks go to Claire Upton who came up with the gray, graded pointillist fabric and found, in Quilters Newsletter Magazine April '95, an article by Charlotte War Anderson on the required technique: multi level reverse pictorial appliqué.)
• Claire Upton did the piecework by machine and the lettering in reverse hand appliqué.
• Sally Hutson assisted with the hand appliqué.
• Several other members of KHQ assisted with the quilting.

For a more detailed picture, click on quilt.

Send questions and comments to: khq at quiltskingston.org
Last modified by dhh: April 16, 2015