The outgoing president of the Yorkshire Rose Quilters’ Guild of Toronto issued a challenge to the guild: make a manhole cover quilt! Guild members were challenged to create a circular quilt the size of a manhole (around 24 1/2 inches) to celebrate Toronto. The design and technique were left up to each individual.

The mosaic quilt process:

My entry into the President’s challenge is created using a mosaic technique. I selected a variety of colourful scraps, ironed a fusible web onto the wrong side, cut the scraps into 1 inch squares and arranged them onto a solid grey.

I arranged them in a curved pattern, fused them to the background.

Each square was machine stitched 1/8 of an inch around the edge. The backing and batting were attached using the pillowcase technique. I under stitched around the perimeter, which helped to keep the backing fabric rolled towards the back.

Each section was machine quilted in a curved spiral.

All the quilts from this challenge will be on display at our quilt show Sept. 20-21, 2014. Visitors to the show will vote for their three favourites and the top three will be unveiled at our October meeting.

Artist’s Statement for Evolving Mosaic:

Toronto has been called a “Cultural Mosaic”. Almost half of the over 2.8 million people living in Toronto are immigrants. They speak over 140 languages and dialects. This quilt celebrates the diversity of Canadians that comprise our city.

The squares of the mosaic represent the more than 200 distinct ethnicities that make up Toronto. The quilt is a swirl of three primary colours, some squares are solids while some are a combination of colours. They symbolize the people of Toronto, all Canadians while still maintaining their rich ethnic, racial and linguistic heritage. We are fortunate that all the ethnicities have retained their uniqueness, contributing to, and strengthening the fabric of our community. The motto for the City of Toronto describes our rich culture: “Diversity Our Strength”.