Illuminations of Guelph: A Stained Glass Quilt made in celebration of Guelph’s 175th Anniversary.

The Story of the "Glass Quilt

In September, 2001, the Glass Guild of Guelph held its first meeting for the year. During the executive meeting, it was pointed out that the city of Guelph would be celebrating its 175^th anniversary. Different people had heard that other groups and organizations were planning to participate through various activities. The idea of creating a Glass project of some sort was discussed. One idea put forward was creating a At the October meeting, the majority of the members felt that this was a great idea. Members were asked to brainstorm ideas about how to make this a reality. The actual planning was put on hold until the December meeting, as we had a special slide show held in November."Quilt" with each of the "Quilt Blocks" being an individual creation in Stained Glass. The general membership was asked for their input on this idea, and requested to think about it and bring ideas to the next monthly meeting.

During the December meeting, we really began to sink out teeth into the project. A set of criteria was developed, being as follows:

• Each panel would be 8 ½" wide by 11" tall.
• Each participating member would pay a nominal fee to help offset expenses related to the quilt.
• Each participating member would create their own design, based on themes of Guelph including history, flowers/nature, architecture, rivers, bridges, royalty, people etc.
• Technical details of soldering etc was determined.
• The "theme" or "title" of the finished work would be Illuminations of Guelph: in celebration of Guelph’s 175th Anniversary.
• Because the 175th logo incorporated the colors of purple and pink in its design, it was decided that we would also incorporate the Royal Purple in our quilt. Each panel was to have a piece of a specified purple glass in it, and each panel would then be framed in the same purple.

Katrin Wolters, president of the Glass Guild, very generously opened her home during January for members to work together on patterns and share ideas, and help over coffee. It was hoped that members would have their designs ready for the January 2002 meeting. Twenty-Four members decided that they wanted to participate in this great project.

Mike Cathcart, our vice president, became the project co-ordinator/manager of this large undertaking. Working with other members of the guild, Mike developed a system of suspension and assembly, which would allow our quilt to be free standing, and also developed a method of back lighting for the quilt, for those places that natural lighting was not available. Mike is to be applauded for his outstanding Herculean effort on this project! In January we also started looking at places and ideas for display of the quilt.

The individual panels were to be completed by our February 2002 meeting and given to Mike and the assembly team. During February, and March, the finishing touches were put on each panel, and the purple glass borders were made. At our March meeting, 21 of the 24 panels were ready to show the members and be assembled. Mike developed a temporary wood system to use to help us decide the order that each panel would appear in the quilt. Members were asked to write a brief description of their panel, and why they chose to create what they did. We wanted to know what each panel meant to its creator, when he or she thought of Guelph. The descriptions have been developed into this booklet, which will accompany the quilt wherever it goes on display.  The quilt is now on permanent display in the Old Quebec Street Mall in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

We are very proud of our Glass Quilt. It represents a group project for our very young, but vibrant guild. During workshops and discussions around the quilt, many new friendships have developed among the members, and listening to each other’s story behind their quilt has given all of us a richer and deeper appreciation for our City, its past and its future. We hope that when people view this work of art, they too will find a greater appreciation for Guelph, the Royal City.