Cause for Applause

A community program has participants ‘dreaming big dreams’

You can compare the wild flowers of the Canadian Arctic in spring and summer to the ladies and youth of the sewing program in Gameti, N.W.T.

To give you some perspective, Gameti is accessible only by small aircraft, most of the year. In winter, the ice road enables people to drive out for about six weeks a year, heading about five hours south to Yellowknife. At 64 degrees north, Gameti is a Tlicho (pronounced Klee-cho) Dene community with a population of about 275.

In 2015, I joined my husband Mike Westley here, who is the community adult educator, and wanted to share my love of sewing and quilting with the community. Thanks to funding from Dominion Diamond Corp.; Municipal and Community Affairs; Education, Culture and Employment (ECE); and support from the community senior administrative officer, Judal Dominicata, and Chief David Wedawin and his council, I was able to buy fabric and sewing machines to get started. Before I knew it, I had a full house plus a waiting list! Participants who knew how to sew already mostly used handcranked sewing machines and other retro equipment. I couldn’t wait for all the ladies to use modern sewing machines! Before long, there was a magnificent bloom of pillowcases, bags, wall hangings, table runners and other attractive projects being produced.

Sewing gifts for the elders is part of the program, too, and we had a wonderful time delivering them.

With generous support from our backers, we were able to expand the program this year. Now, we not only have classes for more ladies (ages 24 to 72), but for school youth age ten and up as well. In all, roughly 15 per cent of the community is now sewing!

This year, the ladies took on the monumental task of making their very own bed quilts— queen and king-sized! With patterns chosen and fabric selected, the sewing started in earnest with classes on days, evenings and weekends. Once the quilt tops were completed, and with the help of Air Tindi (our local airline), they were flown to Yellowknife. There, the wonderful staff at North of 60 Quilting Services were able to complete the quilts on a long-arm quilt machine, and then the quilts were flown back again. The end result was a beautiful garden of quilts in an array of colours, just like the Arctic landscape. We held an open house so the ladies could share their work with the community.

We even have a message board set up in the classroom, so participants can express how they feel. One of my favourite comments is, “I’m dreaming big dreams for my sewing.” What is truly inspiring to me is the self-confidence and raised self-esteem that comes from learning something new.

So, this coming winter, like the wild flowers under the snow, beneath the majesty and splendor of the Arctic aurora, on a cold winter’s night and with the stars twinkling way up high, we’ll all be snug and cozy under our quilts made with dedication and love. ■

Sewing instructor Lynn Turcotte would be pleased to hear from you at westley@efni.com.