The Story of the Pigeon Inlet Quilt



Pigeon Inlet is a fictitious Newfoundland outport community which sprung from the imagination of Ted Russell in the 1950s. It is a composite of several Newfoundland fishing communities and could be located anywhere where an outport way of life exists. Ted, a native son of Coley’s Point, located on the south side of Bay Roberts, NL, developed a series of radio shows which were later compiled into books – The Chronicles of Uncle Mose. It is from these stories that the idea and design of the Pigeon Inlet Quilt were taken.

In 2008 the Bay Roberts town council developed a summer programme which included weekly dinner theatre productions based upon Ted’s writings. That same year the newly formed local quilt guild adopted the name Pigeon Inlet Quilters’ Guild thereby keeping in touch with local intangible heritage. (* This name was taken with permission from the Russell family.)

The idea of producing a Pigeon Inlet Quilt came from a discussion which took place among a group of friends at their weekly kitchen party. As the men chided their wives, two of whom were quilt guild members, one of the men suggested that the guild make a Pigeon Inlet Quilt. Everyone else then chimed in with suggestions relating to their favorite Pigeon Inlet story, and the idea took off from there. A proposal was put forth at the next quilt guild meeting (January 2009) and it was decided to produce a Pigeon Inlet Quilt (with permission from the Russell family) which would be presented to the Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation Inc. during the summer of 2010. A small guild sub-committee consisting of Valerie Dawe, Loretta Mercer, and Pat Ivimey was formed.

When these three quilters had their first meeting they decided upon the basic design and the colour scheme to be used. The plan was to use NL colors as described in the Ode to Newfoundland and used in the provincial tartan. Included were: green for the pine clad hills, gold for the sun's rays that crown the pine clad hills, white for the cloak of winter’s stern command, brown for the iron isle (referring to Bell Island), and red for the English Royal Standard…for which our fathers stood. It was decided to seek a rich brown, deep green, and fawn colours to serve as sashing and borders, to unite the blocks while not taking away from their importance. After carrying around paint chips in the exact colours desired, beautiful fabrics were located and purchased long before the quilt was begun.

An interesting aside relating to the deep brown fabric occurred about a year after it was purchased. Eileen, Valerie, and I were cutting the fabric for sashing and borders. Quilters are aware that fabric is often produced in a family or series and that each different design is given a name which is printed on the selvage, or lengthwise edge. At one point in the evening Valerie read the name of the brown fabric and each of us got chills when she told us that it was called "Echoes of the Past".

At that same initial brainstorming session, a decision was made to base the design around a large centre block, an old fashioned window, through which the observer would view the harbour and its’ surroundings. A total of 18 blocks were decided upon and an asymmetrical design with a variety of different sized blocks would be used.

Shortly after several guild members were approached to produce a block. They were told the size of their block and the story upon which it was to be based. The design, method of construction, fabrics, and other materials used were left to the imagination of the individual quilters. When each block was completed, it was turned over to the committee and it was only at that time that we realized what a treasure we were creating. It was also at this time that we sadly learned that Loretta Mercer was very ill and would pass away before the quilt was anywhere near completion.

To continue the project in the spirit in which it began, Eileen Newman (who is responsible for the centre block) was approached, and she agreed to serve on the committee with Valerie and Pat. When most of the blocks were completed, the committee met once again to determine the size of sashing to be used. This proved to be a rather painstaking task due to the irregular sizes of the blocks. Each one had to be individually sashed before the quilt top could be assembled. At a guild workday, the old saying “many hands make light work,” once again proved true as the rich brown fabric was joined to the picture blocks, completing all but two blocks on the same day! One more guild workday was used to produce the borders which would feature a line of squid, a small forest of pine trees, and 25 flying geese. These flying geese may be difficult for viewers to spot but quilters will locate them with no problem. (Flying geese is a common quilt pattern which is often used in borders and blocks alike.)



Another interesting aside relates to the flying geese pattern. It goes all the way back to the American Civil War which took place during the 1860s. Secret messages in the form of quilt patterns were often used to aide slaves who were trying to escape captivity through the Underground Railway. At that time in history, women were considered to be second class citizens and little attention was given to women’s work. The escaping slaves knew the quilt codes and when they saw the flying geese in a quilt which had been hung out to air, they knew that they should follow the direction of the flying geese which pointed northwards. They also knew that this pattern was used as a guide to find water, food, and places to rest. Those who were trying to keep the slaves in captivity were none the wiser.



The quilt top was fully assembled and shown to guild members in May 2010. It is truly a work of love – love of quilting, love of Newfoundland and Labrador, and love of The Chronicles of Uncle Mose. Finally the quilt was sandwiched together and a combination of machine and hand stitching was used to complete the work. The Pigeon Inlet Quilt was officially presented to the Bay Roberts Cultural Foundation on June 29, 2010. It will be on display in the Holdin’ Ground Room at the Bay Roberts Interpretation Centre located on the Verterans Memorial Highway.

For additional information or more pictures please phone me at 709-786-6541 or by emailing to [email protected] Thanks   Submitted By: Patricia Ivimey