QUILT OF BELONGING ‘FED MY SOUL,’ SAYS LOYAL VOLUNTEER
Hudsonite Meredith Royds still displays enthusiasm after 17 years of involvement
This is the story of a quilt, a very large Canadian quilt. Called the Quilt of Belonging, it celebrates what its creators describe as “a richly hued portrait of the human family,” not unlike the historically priceless Bayeux Tapestry of almost 10 centuries ago. The Quilt of Belonging sets out to tell the story of Canadians, all of us, no matter our place of origin, in a gathering together of what are called ‘blocks,’ the various patches that are placed on the 120-foot-long quilt and establish its uniqueness, 263 blocks in all. Together the blocks represent “the rich cultural legacies of all the First Peoples in Canada (Indigenous, Métis and Inuit) and every nation of the world at the dawn of the new millennium.” It was a massive undertaking. I only came upon the story of the quilt recently, when chatting with Hudsonite Meredith Royds about something else entirely. She happened to mention she was off to Toronto, to accompany the quilt as a volunteer at an upcoming international event where its story will be a feature exhibit. Royds, as I was to quickly learn, has a long history with the quilt. It began when daughter Caitlyn chose the theme “Quilting as art, cohesion and expression” for an anthropology thesis at Concordia University; her search for sources led her to Williamstown, Ont., just a hop and a jump from Hudson. Her mother went along for the ride. It was there the duo met Esther Bryan, the driving force behind the quilt project, then in its infancy. Royds was so impressed with the vision and the work already accomplished she offered to become a volunteer. Driver to visitor to volunteer, all in one day! “I happened at the time to be in dark place in my personal life,” she recalled. “Without knowing it, this opportunity to become involved in such a massive, significant — and beautiful — undertaking was transformative. It brought joy back into my life: it fed my soul.” Over the years Royds has served as a quilt volunteer, First Nations coordinator and communications officer, editor of the Quilt of Belonging companion book, now in its sixth printing, and as a bilingual guide/interpreter. One of her most memorable volunteer jaunts was a trip accompanying the quilt to the Arctic. She was there in 2005 when the completed quilt was launched at the Museum of Civilization, now the Canadian Museum of History, in Hull. No one among the crush of volunteers on site knew quite what to expect — until the doors opened and the first 1,000 visitors poured in. “It was overwhelming to see it all together,” said Royds. And today, Royds still displays that same enthusiasm, that same sense of awe and wonder she first brought to the project some 17 years ago. As evidence of that fact, you should know she is in her second term as chairperson of the quilt’s board of directors. “Even after all these years the project, its beauty and its purpose, still affects me,” she said, “still takes my breath away. That will never change.” Might the quilt ever find its way to this neck of the woods? With chairperson Royds leading the way, who knows? For more about the Quilt of Belonging visit: quiltofbelonging.ca. And while there view the YouTube video that accompanies the text.