MINDEMOYA—Manitoulin received more accolades lately as Myra Tallman of Mindemoya took home the Reserve Champion award in the hand quilt division at the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies event held recently. This honour means that Ms. Tallman placed second in all of Ontario for her quilt after placing first at the Providence Bay Fair and first at the District 12 competition.
The quilt is named ‘Count Your Blessings’ and each block is reminiscent of Ms. Tallman’s life and her family. She started the quilt some years ago when she stayed at the Daffodil Terrace while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. “I took blocks that were to be hand appliquéd,” Ms. Tallman explained. The quilt then came home where it was put away while Ms. Tallman worked on other things. In 2008, the artwork came out again. “I decided,” said Ms. Tallman, “to finish it for our 50th anniversary.” The part of the quilt with hearts shows June 21, 1958 as the wedding date.
The block in the centre of the quilt shows the Tallmans five grandchildren and their dog while the wedding rings represent their daughter Janet and her husband Geoff and their son Peter and his wife Verna. The houses shown are her grandparents’ house at Ice Lake and her husband Richard’s grandparents’ residence in Smithville, near St. Catharines.
There is an area showing a milkmaid which represents the Tallman’s dairy background while the block with a church is not a particular church, Ms. Tallman says, but a reflection of their religious heritage. Another part of the quilt shows Richard’s 1932 Ford Coupe with a rumble seat while hummingbirds and deer show the animals the Tallmans enjoy on the Island.
Ms. Tallman explained other aspects of the quilt with the tulips and hearts symbolizing love. “And the two blocks with pine cones and roses mean fertility and they are classic blocks for this kind of quilt,” she explained as she went on to say that the work of art she made is bordered with grape leaves as the Tallmans at one time had a grape farm on the Niagara Peninsula.
Ms. Tallman had a funny story to tell about all her years of quilting on Manitoulin. “Jill Thorpe and I are the best of friends,” she said, “and we are competitors in the quilt world. Her quilts would win at the Prov Fair, but then she moved to Stratford and then I started winning. Well, this year she came first and I came second.”
Ms. Tallman is the president of the quilt club that meets in Mindemoya at 7 pm on the third Thursday of the month at the Community Hall. The cost to join is $25 per year and membership stands at about 60. There are no requirements to join, just an ambition to learn all about quilting.
