Quilt Stories

We’re delighted to share the stories behind the squares that make up the Voice of the River quilt.

Browse the quilt squares and their stories, arranged alphabetically by the artists’ last names.

Sharon Armour

Reflections

How do I connect with the Grand River and surrounding Area?

For this I turn to my Mom, Audrey Armour, and her lifelong involvement in different levels of Women’s Institute and the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead. Her passion for this organization and its founders were always in the forefront as I was growing up. She planned many bus trips throughout Southwestern Ontario, with some to the Grand River area enabling me to experience glimpses into the people’s lives and places in an area not far home.

On my own, as of member of the Ontario Junior farmers some activities included exchanges and participation in competitions in some counties in the Grand River area. While attending the University of Guelph I lived along the Grand for a few months. During this time, I formed a couple of University of Guelph lifelong friendships. I was asked to be the Maid of Honour at each of their weddings.

Family has also brought me to the Grand as my Mom’s sister and family have lived in both Brantford and Paris since the 50’s. Over the years, we enjoyed events like picnics, family get-togethers, births, weddings with my five first cousins.

Miriam Azevedo

Square #1 – it’s a mixed of good feeling from past and present, as an immigrant I first lived in Hespeler, and my peaceful moments were…

Square #1 – it’s a mixed of good feeling from past and present, as an immigrant I first lived in Hespeler, and my peaceful moments were at Ellacott Lookout at Queen St. and today as I live in downtown Galt, my peaceful place is at the bridge, fueling my days with peace and awe.
The Grand River represents Life and generously gives it to everyone who is sensitive enough to capture the essence of it.

Square #2 (made at home) –
This is my perception of the Grand River as a great body of water who gives life wherever it flows, season after season, country or city, the life blossoms in every form of flowers, animals, etc and integrates even the concrete and the abstract as the bridge does…making a connection between peoples and Nature.

Ruth Bauman

This square is for all of the beautiful animals and plants that live along the Grand River.

Jodie Birco Baker

For my square I wanted to represent and reflect the river in terms of layers. There are many aspects to a river system, including both ecological…

For my square I wanted to represent and reflect the river in terms of layers. There are many aspects to a river system, including both ecological and cultural. There are several layers to my square, representing the various layers of the river itself. These layers are a manifestation of one particular day spent on the Grand River with my beloved dog, Luna.

On the bottom is the riverbed, containing rocks, sediment and creatures that live and eat within this layer. I walked in waist high water through the river, touching the bottom, stirring up debris and observing small crayfish, while Luna looked to see what else was moving below the surface. Currents may move quite differently in this layer, than say, the middle or upper layers of the river.

The next layer represents the middle layer of the river, which on that particular day, was sometimes quite swift and fast moving. The water colour looked different as the light didn’t have to travel as far to penetrate it. I remember being pushed and pulled, seeing swirls and eddies and in fact Luna got caught up in a fast moving current and I rushed to catch her. I remember the water felt cool and refreshing, I splashed Luna and she jumped to catch the water droplets.

The final layer is the top layer, the water now reflective and dancing as the light hits it. On this layer are various floating plants and insects, like dragonflies, flitting here and there, hovering above the water and zooming away, beyond the river’s edge. Luna and I laughed and played, looked down at the surface, watching water plants flow past, following the dragonflies and their mesmerizing aerobatics.

Cathy Boluk

I retired from BHNC School Board and reside with my husband in Brantford near the Grand River. We have canoed the Grand, enjoyed the wildlife and…

I retired from BHNC School Board and reside with my husband in Brantford near the Grand River. We have canoed the Grand, enjoyed the wildlife and walked and hiked the trails. Our children and my husband’s classes have also spent time in cones and on the trail. It’s an integral experience.

Karla Boluk

My quilt square reveals the coming together of communities along the Grand River to engage, share and learn together

Breslau Mennonite Church: Breslau Church History

Submitted for BMC By: Dale Wombwell, Maryanne Szuck Breslau Mennonite Church (BMC) is located within a mile on the east side of the Grand River, on…

Submitted for BMC By: Dale Wombwell, Maryanne Szuck

Breslau Mennonite Church (BMC) is located within a mile on the east side of the Grand River, on land that is part of the Haldimand Tract. This land, six miles on each side of the Grand River was granted in 1784 by the Crown to the Haudenosaunee nations.
In 1796, the Haudenosaunee leader, Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) sold Block Two (Waterloo Township) to Richard Beasley. In turn, Beasley sold 60,000 acres to Mennonite farmers from Pennsylvania (German Land Company – 1803). Around 1815 Mennonites settled in the Breslau area of Block Two.

Christian and Annie (Cressman) Snyder moved to the Breslau area in 1828. In 1834, the Benjamin Eby congregation (First Mennonite Church in Kitchener (Berlin)) outgrew its 1813 log meetinghouse. This was the first meetinghouse in Waterloo Region and the first Mennonite meetinghouse in Breslau. The building was disassembled, moved to an acre of land on the Christian J. Snyder farm in Breslau, and reassembled. In 1837, this land was deeded by Snyder to the Mennonite Church.

The log meetinghouse served the congregation until 1856 when a larger brick meetinghouse was built.

The log church was moved into the village of Breslau and converted into a local residence.
In 1968 Cressman Mennonite Church changed its name to Breslau Mennonite Church (BMC).

Adrienne Carter

My ancestors, the Wye and Swaisland families, were the neighbours to Melville Bell and his family on Tutela Heights along the Grand River in Brantford, Ontario.…

My ancestors, the Wye and Swaisland families, were the neighbours to Melville Bell and his family on Tutela Heights along the Grand River in Brantford, Ontario.

Aunt Raby (Rebecca Wye) used to play the piano for Mrs. Bell who, being deaf, would listen through a megaphone attached to the piano. Raby shared stories of Alexander Bell playing with string and tin cans in the barn!

The house is still there as part of the original Wye Banks Farm, in amongst willow trees and down the road from the Bell Homestead.

Barbara Crossman

Heron in the Reeds and River Dragon We were new to the Waterloo Region in 1988 and wanted to explore the forests, trails and canoe routes…

Heron in the Reeds and River Dragon
We were new to the Waterloo Region in 1988 and wanted to explore the forests, trails and canoe routes along the Grand River to share with our children, encouraging a respect and reverence for the interconnectedness of the living world. As a family, we opened our senses to the sights and sounds of the river, the flora and fauna, and delighted in our children’s response: wonder…flowing like a river, animating our lives!

Liz deGroote

For several years I drove through Glen Morris on my way to work and thought it looked like a nice quiet village. I moved to this…

For several years I drove through Glen Morris on my way to work and thought it looked like a nice quiet village. I moved to this village when my children were old enough to start school and I have now lived here for over 30 years.

Soon after arriving in Glen Morris I got a closer look at the river that is ‘in our backyard’. What fun it was to take my kids down to The Grand River and walk along it, even in it a lot of the time. We climbed on and over fallen trees, watched the Great Blue Herons fly by and witnessed how the beavers cut down trees that they needed for their lodges. Every spring the shoreline was a little different, especially when a lot of ice had come downstream during spring thaw. My very favourite time of spring has always been when the Trilliums bloom.

The quilt square I made showcases the Trillium on a background of various blues that represent The Grand River.

Sharon Gashgarian

My relationship with the Grand River was rekindled when my daughter was young. We would walk or ride our bikes along the trail in the summer…

My relationship with the Grand River was rekindled when my daughter was young. We would walk or ride our bikes along the trail in the summer then stop off by the river’s edge to relax. My daughter would find and collect rocks and I would sit and listen to the river.

This design was inspired by a photograph I had taken of a stump by the Grand. Although it was apparent that the stump had been once part of a living tree, it now rested by the water’s edge giving life to moss and lichen. The poem evolved after I attended a workshop in Brantford when I was first introduced to the amazing Grand River Community Play project. Then it all came together as one…the river, the tree, the words.

Alison Hall

My wife and I wanted to leave the city of Kitchener and began to search properties online. Typing in “cottage”, we were so surprised to see…

My wife and I wanted to leave the city of Kitchener and began to search properties online. Typing in “cottage”, we were so surprised to see a small house for rent just 15 minutes away and on the Grand River. We applied, site unseen, and moved in a month later. Eight years later, we still feel blessed and enriched living with the ever-changing river, mature trees, and wildlife that make this area home. We didn’t need to leave the city after all. This square is a “bird’s eye view” of the houses on our short street. Historically, all were cottages, some have been remodeled, but ours remains happily stuck in the sixties.

Irene Hanuta

“My Little Creek Flows to the Grand” Where were you born? From a spring underground? From some trickle down a hillside from Heavenly rains that found…

“My Little Creek Flows to the Grand”

Where were you born?
From a spring underground?
From some trickle down a hillside
from Heavenly rains that found their path forward?
Or were you always meant to be,
born of one lake to another?
My little part a reminder, a clue
Watson helped Sherlock solve the mystery
sleuthing the path revealing your name change
Married at the bridge
Speeding through the park
Dammed
All to be Grand

Nellie Hanuta

The Wandering Grand The Grand River has so much to offer the many communities it winds its way through. Walking trails along the shore, picnic areas,…

The Wandering Grand

The Grand River has so much to offer the many communities it winds its way through. Walking trails along the shore, picnic areas, forests, waters for boating, fishing, and swimming – a veritable summer vacation oasis or tranquil weekend getaway. When I first arrived in Guelph, I spent more than a few hours at Guelph Lake. The quiet setting reminded me of the Northern Ontario home I left and helped smooth the transition to Southern Ontario.

E.I Harvey

The first quilt square is reflecting a community that exists in harmony with the river. The second quilt square depicts a mermaid: reflecting both good fortune…

The first quilt square is reflecting a community that exists in harmony with the river. The second quilt square depicts a mermaid: reflecting both good fortune and disaster. Many future generations continue to act as stewards of the river.

Doris Henhawk – Six Nations

Use your imagination. Water: white in blue Colourful: to represent wild flowers and weeds

Use your imagination. Water: white in blue

Colourful: to represent wild flowers and weeds

Mary Kay Hopkins

A Forest Story. A long time ago, a city girl fell in love with nature, trees in particular. She did the unheard of thing and enrolled…

A Forest Story.

A long time ago, a city girl fell in love with nature, trees in particular. She did the unheard of thing and enrolled in and earned an industrial oriented Forestry Degree. However, the “cut and pave” mentality of the seventies, pushed her in the opposite direction to work instead in education for the Conservation Authority.

When given the opportunity to move to Wellington county and live alongside Cox Creek, a very small tributary of the Grand River. She jumped. Being a steward of 100 acres was heaven. Time found her living in Guelph very close to Clythe Creek, a tributary of the Eramosa, feeding the mighty Grand River.

Daily walks along one or the other are exercises in observation. Here, the industrial mentality has long disappeared. When nature, or Man dictates the felling of a tree, stumps are left. Some return to the earth and some foster new life.

This new life in turn draws animal elements to a new home. Coppice growth from the stump forms a shrub-like mini-grove that provides an environment for small animals and a multiple of songbirds. Some trees recover and become dominant again. Others stay as ground level shelters. The rescue and restoration of the banks of the Grand River are a dream coming true for many, myself included.

Helen Hughes

“Life in the Watershed” The Blacks and white in the background of this composition represent night, day, shade, shadow and snow. The maple leaf (very Canadian)…

“Life in the Watershed”

The Blacks and white in the background of this composition represent night, day, shade, shadow and snow.

The maple leaf (very Canadian) represents all the vegetation in the Grand River watershed areas. The dragonfly represents life in the watershed – insets, animals, humans.

Pieced cotton (commercial), dyed cottons and batik. Machine sewn, hand appliqued and beaded

“Summer Storm”

All the recent summer storms with black clouds rolling in, inspired this composition.

Hand-painted, with inks, on cotton, cotton batiks, machine embroidered details. “Raw edge”

Anne Innes

How do I connect with the Grand River and surrounding Area? My first experience with the Grand River was on the riverboat. My best friend Sharon…

How do I connect with the Grand River and surrounding Area?

My first experience with the Grand River was on the riverboat. My best friend Sharon Armour’s mother was always so kind in asking me to join her and her Women’s Institute members on the trips she planned. The outing planned included the riverboat ride, food and of course a meeting. More than 50 years ago I still remember the boat and the fun we had. At the time I was impressed that the river was large enough to enable such an excursion!

It wasn’t long after I joined the Women’s Institute. Many trips to the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead have

followed, as the Grand River and surrounding area continues to lure me back!

Ash Kekes

The rainbow theme is to represent all the different colours in nature along with the fact that a lot of species are naturally gay or trans!…

The rainbow theme is to represent all the different colours in nature along with the fact that a lot of species are naturally gay or trans! It also shows the connection between the LGBTQ community across the Grand River. The different species are there because my grandma and I both loved dragonflies before she passed away. The frogs are because I have so many memories of looking at tadpoles or frogs, spending hours completely fascinated with them as a child. The water is to represent the beautiful water and the home to many animals, the Grand River. The beads are to represent the lasting presence of Indigenous people across the Grand River and Canada; they’re in the colours of the Indigenous medicine wheel. It’s also there to represent our connection to nature and how we have traditionally taken care of the land and used rivers for trading routes! I’m Métis and queer so it’s to also represent the different facets of my identity and the community connection I feel across the Grand River!

Thank you for putting my square along with the others and telling so many people’s stories!”

Dana Martin

Turtle Clan, Cayuga Nations. Six Nations of the Grand What the Grand River Means to me…Family In early spring, before the bugs got too bad, me…

Turtle Clan, Cayuga Nations. Six Nations of the Grand

What the Grand River Means to me…Family

In early spring, before the bugs got too bad, me and my hubby would take the kids to the river to fish. He would get all the fishing poles ready. The kids would help picking up worms from the yard. I would pack us a lunch – also hats, sunscreen and bug spray. We would always stop at the store for hot dogs and buns and drinks and chips. He would drive the truck down the east end of fifth line and drive in past a huge grove of very old trees then up a hill to where there was a trail. We’d find a nice spot with some grass and room to park the truck. A big sleeping bag would be laid out in the grass and we would chose our poles and get worms on to start fishing. Usually we would catch mud cods, which were good eating, or carp which we would just throw back.

I always enjoyed picking up wood and sticks to make a small fire in the gravel along the water’s edge. Then we all roasted the hot dogs for lunch. There were many times like this over the years that included my sister, nephews and cousins. Every year was different. This year, 2026, my hubby took our two daughters and oldest granddaughter to the river. A good time was had by all.

Susan Miller

I was born in Galt, Ontario and in my teens when the city of Galt, town of Preston, village of Hespeler and townships of North Dumfries,…

I was born in Galt, Ontario and in my teens when the city of Galt, town of Preston, village of Hespeler and townships of North Dumfries, four quite distinct places, were amalgamated into the City of Cambridge. All were connected (and often further divided) by the Grand River and its tributaries. I spent much of my time on the various bridges that spanned the river, but truthfully gave the river very little thought. Then, one fateful day in 1974, the Grand River flooded, creating chaos and disastrous losses for so many.

Twenty-four years later, the river flexed its muscle once again, taking the lives of a young boy and the officer who tried valiantly to save him. Each of those times, we were reminded that the picturesque, meandering river could be a powerful adversary and that our physically-divided city could come together to mourn, support and help each other move forward.

My quilt square is a photograph taken on the banks of the Grand River in Glen Morris by naturalist and photographer, Jeff Leader. I picked this square because it was such a pretty picture of a creature I admire, the white-tailed deer. I enjoy all types of needlework, so I embellished the photo by cross-stitching daisies around the perimeter, a line from “O Canada” at the bottom and a stylized maple leaf in the corner. I finished it by embroidering the beautiful deer and some of the surrounding grasses and adding some simple beading to the background.

It was many hours of pure pleasure to create this quilt square and I feel privileged to have my simple tribute to life along the mighty Grand included in the Grand River Quilt project.

Lesley Ord

“Confluence” This is a representation of a view from my first home in Guelph. I made the batik fabric in 1975 and it became curtains for…

“Confluence”

This is a representation of a view from my first home in Guelph. I made the batik fabric in 1975 and it became curtains for a kitchen window overlooking the Speed/Eramosa rivers where they converge.

Cathy Rowe

Who can’t admire the Grand and all the beautiful nature you see along her banks. Fond memories of canoeing and tubing different sections of her from…

Who can’t admire the Grand and all the beautiful nature you see along her banks. Fond memories of canoeing and tubing different sections of her from Paris to Dunnville make me appreciate just how Grand she is.

I chose this sunset scene of the river, highlighting its rich green foliage along the shore with some batik and quilting fabrics, while trying to capture the moment of the river and glow of the sun with needle felting. Hope you enjoy it.

“Industry”

This symbolizes industry versus nature on the Grand. It reminds me of the mills along the river in Hespeler.

Marilyn Rudy – Froese

The Swinging Bridge I grew up on a farm on a bend in the Nith River at what is now Luxemburg. Our long lane had a…

The Swinging Bridge

I grew up on a farm on a bend in the Nith River at what is now Luxemburg. Our long lane had a cement bridge to drive over, but when the snow melted in spring, the river rose over the cement bridge. We then had to park our car at the end of the driveway and walk across the “swinging” bridge to get to and from home. I remember my mother carrying bags of groceries across the bridge. I balanced my school books, pencil case and lunch on one arm (we didn’t use backpacks in the 1970s!), and used my other arm for balance, or to hang onto the cable if the boards were slippery. I lost many mittens in the river, when they got caught on a wire and dropped before I could catch them, but I never lost anything else, surprisingly!

Growing up by the Nith River shaped my childhood. We spent summers swimming in the river while my mother podded peas or “schnibbled” beans. We learned to read the river, noting the change in height with the changing seasons, planning ahead to get the required vehicles out to the end of the lane. At least once a year, we either were taken out of school early, or missed a day completely, because the river rose so high that we could not get to the footbridge. Only once did none of us make it home, and we had to spend the night with my grandparents in New Hamburg. It was easy to tell people where we lived: between Baden and New Hamburg, on the road just after/before the S-bends, on the farm with the swinging bridge.

It has been fun to make this quilt block; to stretch my creative quilting skills and try to capture the river, the lane and the swinging bridge. Remembering my relationship to the river has been meaningful. I’m grateful for this opportunity to be part of the Grand River Quilt Project.

Marilyn Swaby

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river in you, a joy” – Rumi When Covid closed the Canoe Club, a fellow member…

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river in you, a joy” – Rumi

When Covid closed the Canoe Club, a fellow member and I bought kayaks. For three summers now, we have been exploring the rivers of the Speed, Eramosa, Conestoga and the Grand River Conservation waters. We decided to draw, paint or sketch anything new we discovered. Our booklets are call, “Summer School”. We have 80 paddle entries so far!

Once we “put in” and draw our first stroke, we sigh “This is our happy place”.

This summer I was introduced to eco-dyeing which is a method of printing flowers and leaves by layering them between papers or fabric and simmering them in water. I have been experimenting on all kinds of papers because they are easier to prepare than fabric but, I did stick in this piece of cotton. It is made mostly of maple leaves and reminds me of our lunchtimes n the river. We would paddle to a riverbank and back in under trees for shade. We marvelled at the varieties of maples, willows and pines throughout the three seasons…and the wonderful birds and animals that are looking back at us too..

Nancy Taylor

“This peaceful, tranquil photo of the sun on the Grand River by Jeff Leader, intrigued me with its shimmering simplicity. I pondered on how I could…

“This peaceful, tranquil photo of the sun on the Grand River by Jeff Leader, intrigued me with its shimmering simplicity. I pondered on how I could add ‘quilting’ to this peaceful, calm scene, without disturbing the beauty and serenity of the glistening river. I chose to minimally enhance the sparkling, soothing waters, and to build on the quiet, shadowed rocks below.

We live beside the Grand River and have paddled it top to bottom, with our Ancient Mariners Canoe Club. The river flow is continually changing depending on the season, the weather, the water levels, and so many variables. We have seen the river so low you could walk across it, and watched it rise and flood its banks! It always amazes us!

Thank you for allowing me to participate in this fun project.

Peggy Vacalopolous

As a Pisces, it is important to me to have fish represented in my square, symbolizing myself and my entanglement within the Grand River Watershed. The…

As a Pisces, it is important to me to have fish represented in my square, symbolizing myself and my entanglement within the Grand River Watershed. The red-tail hawk up top signals to those viewing the square that they are looking underwater. The square is meant to evoke a dreaminess, paying homage to the spirit surrounding the river.

The Grand River means many things to me. As a child of immigrant parents from Greece, the river was something to be feared as it was a wilderness unknown to them. As I grew older, my relationship with the river changed, yet it has always remained a source of my leisure. As a graduate student researching the Grand River Community Play Project: The Voice of a River, my relationship to the river can be likened to an onion. Whereby there are many layers to be peeled away.

Overall, my square and the narrative behind it convey a rich and multifaceted relationship with the Grand River, reflecting both personal history and ongoing exploration. It is a testament to the power of nature to shape our lives and perspectives in profound ways.