The Vale Quilters
Artifact
Image
Video
Audio
Activities
LOOK
I see . . . (Describe what you see in the quilts.)
I think . . . (Explain what you think is happening in the quilts.)
I wonder . . . (What questions do you have about the quilts?)
THINK
What is the purpose of these quilts and the Vale Quilters?
DO
Find other examples of communities in Canada that use quilts to share messages or stories.
Details
Date 2004-2012
Materials - Textile
Historical Context
Choose one of the three levels below to match your needs.
- The Vale Quilters of New Glasgow formed in 2007.
- They present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions, and explore the Black experience through quilt design.
- In 2012, the exhibition The Secret Codes featured historical quilt patterns identifying safehouses along the Underground Railroad. The title also refers to the “secret experiences” women share while making quilts.
Scroll through the media carousel to see more work by the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow.
These quilts were made by a group of women known as the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: Myla Borden, Shirley Makenzie, Stephanie Mackay, Marlene Dorrington, Frances Dorrington, Debra Jordan, and Marilyn Brannan.
The group was organized in 2007 to present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions. They have created exhibitions exploring the Black experience in Nova Scotia.
In 2012, they launched a joint exhibition, The Secret Codes. The exhibition’s name is a nod to the quilt patterns used to identify safehouses along the Underground Railroad: the route used by enslaved African Americans to escape north. The title also refers to the “secret experiences” women share while making quilts.
Meeting at the Well by Myla Borden depicts women discussing support for the proposed Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children: a Halifax Black orphanage and learning institute. Their meetings led to the establishment of the Women’s Auxiliary of the African United Baptist Churches in 1917. Myla Borden learned to quilt during a difficult time, when she was unable to find employment as a schoolteacher. She is the organizing co-founder of the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow.
The Preston Quilt by Laurel Francis shows the history and culture of Preston’s communities, which constitute the largest African Nova Scotian settlement in the province, and one of the oldest in Canada. The quilt includes photo reproductions from moments in Preston’s history, along with art and poems from community members. Laurel Francis is a Montréal-born quiltmaker who lives in Pincher Creek, Alberta. In 2007, she learned of the Vale Quilters, and welcomed the chance to explore her heritage through quilts she created for the group’s exhibitions.
Underground Railroad Quilts In 1990, American folklorist Gladys Fry claimed: “Quilts were used to send messages. On the Underground Railroad, those with the color black were hung on the line to indicate a place of refuge […]. Triangles in quilt design signified prayer messages or a prayer badge […]. Colors were very important to slave quilt makers […] A blue color was believed to protect the maker.” Perhaps more myth than fact, these “secret patterns” became an inspiration for quiltmakers of African descent.
Four generations of Cromwells worked on this quilt: great-grandmother, grandmother, son and great-granddaughter. Heather Cromwell began quiltmaking as an adult, stitching patterns learned from her mother. In 2007, Cromwell joined forces with several African Nova Scotian women in New Glasgow to form the Vale Quilters, a group interested in exploring African North American quiltmaking traditions, while also promoting the heritage of Pictou County’s Black community.
These quilts were made by a group of women known as the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: Myla Borden, Shirley Makenzie, Stephanie Mackay, Marlene Dorrington, Frances Dorrington, Debra Jordan, and Marilyn Brannan.
The group was organized in 2007 by artist and writer David Woods, to present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions in Pictou County and the rest of the province. Since then, the group has created several themed exhibitions exploring the African Nova Scotian experience. The exhibitions feature quilt designs based on drawings made by Woods, following his visits to 40 Black villages across the province. The drawings document community stories in artistic interpretations of the people he encountered and the experiences he had.
In 2012, the group launched The Secret Codes: an exhibition of African Nova Scotian quilts, inspired by Underground Railroad folklore and stories from African Nova Scotian communities. The exhibition’s title refers to the use of specific quilt patterns to help freedom-seekers identify places such as safehouses along the Underground Railroad to Canada.
The title is also a reference to the “secret experiences” women have shared while making the quilts. As explained by Woods, “What I have realized is that quiltmaking is not just the act of making a quilt — or in my case, designing a quilt — but a way of organizing and visioning the world. The craft has its own rituals, including the regular getting-together of women, the inevitable talk at these gatherings, the relationship women have to fabric, and the personal meaning certain patterns and quiltmaking in general have achieved in the minds of its makers.” In 2022, The Secret Codes began a national tour.
About Meeting at the Well
Meeting at the Well depicts women from the African Nova Scotian community of East Preston, meeting at the community well to discuss ways of supporting the proposed Nova Scotia Home for Coloured Children: a new Black orphanage and learning institute being established in Halifax. These meetings led to the establishment of the Ladies Auxiliary of the African United Baptist Association in 1917.
About the Quiltmaker — Myla Borden
Myla Borden was born in New Glasgow in 1960, and was taught quiltmaking by her Aunt Frances, at a time when Borden was unable to find work as a recently graduated teacher. She has been a keen quiltmaker ever since, and was co-founder of the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia’s only Black quilting guild.
About The Preston Quilt
The Preston Quilt depicts the history and culture of the African Nova Scotian communities that make up Preston (Cherry Brook/Lake Loon, East Preston and North Preston). Preston is the largest African Nova Scotian community in the province, and one of the oldest of its kind in Canada. The quilt includes photo reproductions from moments in Preston’s history, along with art and poems by community members.
About the Quiltmaker — Laurel Francis
Laurel Francis is a Montréal-born quiltmaker who lives in Pincher Creek, Alberta. In 2007, she learned of the Vale Quilters and their creation of quilts reflecting African-Canadian history and culture. Welcoming an opportunity to explore her heritage through quilting, she began creating quilts for the group’s exhibitions.
About Underground Railroad Quilts
Underground Railroad quilts combine a number of quilt patterns allegedly used to provide coded information to enslaved people escaping the United States. The first appearance of this claim in print came in the 1990 book, Stitched from the Soul, by American folklorist Gladys Fry.
Without providing a source, the author states, “Quilts were used to send messages. On the Underground Railroad, those with the color black were hung on the line to indicate a place of refuge (safehouse). […] Triangles in quilt design signified prayer messages or a prayer badge, a way of offering prayer. Colors were very important to slave quilt makers […] A blue color was believed to protect the maker.”
These claims may be more myth than fact. However, the idea inspired quiltmakers of African descent as a way of expressing their heritage in quilts.
About Quilt
Quilt was made by four generations of the Cromwell family: great-grandmother, grandmother, son and great-granddaughter.
About the Quiltmaker — Heather Cromwell
Heather Cromwell did not begin quiltmaking until her thirties, and began by making pattern quilts learned from her mother. In 2004, Cromwell joined the Northumberland Quilters Guild (Pictou County) — one of the largest quilt guilds in Nova Scotia — and attended several workshops to develop skill at her new craft.
She also began entering her quilts in the guild’s annual member showcase exhibition, held each August at the Decoste Centre in Pictou. In 2007, Cromwell joined forces with several African Nova Scotian women in New Glasgow to form the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: a group interested in exploring African North American quiltmaking traditions, while also promoting the heritage of Pictou County’s Black community.
- The Vale Quilters of New Glasgow formed in 2007.
- They present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions, and explore the Black experience through quilt design.
- In 2012, the exhibition The Secret Codes featured historical quilt patterns identifying safehouses along the Underground Railroad. The title also refers to the “secret experiences” women share while making quilts.
Scroll through the media carousel to see more work by the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow.
These quilts were made by a group of women known as the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: Myla Borden, Shirley Makenzie, Stephanie Mackay, Marlene Dorrington, Frances Dorrington, Debra Jordan, and Marilyn Brannan.
The group was organized in 2007 to present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions. They have created exhibitions exploring the Black experience in Nova Scotia.
In 2012, they launched a joint exhibition, The Secret Codes. The exhibition’s name is a nod to the quilt patterns used to identify safehouses along the Underground Railroad: the route used by enslaved African Americans to escape north. The title also refers to the “secret experiences” women share while making quilts.
Meeting at the Well by Myla Borden depicts women discussing support for the proposed Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children: a Halifax Black orphanage and learning institute. Their meetings led to the establishment of the Women’s Auxiliary of the African United Baptist Churches in 1917. Myla Borden learned to quilt during a difficult time, when she was unable to find employment as a schoolteacher. She is the organizing co-founder of the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow.
The Preston Quilt by Laurel Francis shows the history and culture of Preston’s communities, which constitute the largest African Nova Scotian settlement in the province, and one of the oldest in Canada. The quilt includes photo reproductions from moments in Preston’s history, along with art and poems from community members. Laurel Francis is a Montréal-born quiltmaker who lives in Pincher Creek, Alberta. In 2007, she learned of the Vale Quilters, and welcomed the chance to explore her heritage through quilts she created for the group’s exhibitions.
Underground Railroad Quilts In 1990, American folklorist Gladys Fry claimed: “Quilts were used to send messages. On the Underground Railroad, those with the color black were hung on the line to indicate a place of refuge […]. Triangles in quilt design signified prayer messages or a prayer badge […]. Colors were very important to slave quilt makers […] A blue color was believed to protect the maker.” Perhaps more myth than fact, these “secret patterns” became an inspiration for quiltmakers of African descent.
Four generations of Cromwells worked on this quilt: great-grandmother, grandmother, son and great-granddaughter. Heather Cromwell began quiltmaking as an adult, stitching patterns learned from her mother. In 2007, Cromwell joined forces with several African Nova Scotian women in New Glasgow to form the Vale Quilters, a group interested in exploring African North American quiltmaking traditions, while also promoting the heritage of Pictou County’s Black community.
These quilts were made by a group of women known as the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: Myla Borden, Shirley Makenzie, Stephanie Mackay, Marlene Dorrington, Frances Dorrington, Debra Jordan, and Marilyn Brannan.
The group was organized in 2007 by artist and writer David Woods, to present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions in Pictou County and the rest of the province. Since then, the group has created several themed exhibitions exploring the African Nova Scotian experience. The exhibitions feature quilt designs based on drawings made by Woods, following his visits to 40 Black villages across the province. The drawings document community stories in artistic interpretations of the people he encountered and the experiences he had.
In 2012, the group launched The Secret Codes: an exhibition of African Nova Scotian quilts, inspired by Underground Railroad folklore and stories from African Nova Scotian communities. The exhibition’s title refers to the use of specific quilt patterns to help freedom-seekers identify places such as safehouses along the Underground Railroad to Canada.
The title is also a reference to the “secret experiences” women have shared while making the quilts. As explained by Woods, “What I have realized is that quiltmaking is not just the act of making a quilt — or in my case, designing a quilt — but a way of organizing and visioning the world. The craft has its own rituals, including the regular getting-together of women, the inevitable talk at these gatherings, the relationship women have to fabric, and the personal meaning certain patterns and quiltmaking in general have achieved in the minds of its makers.” In 2022, The Secret Codes began a national tour.
About Meeting at the Well
Meeting at the Well depicts women from the African Nova Scotian community of East Preston, meeting at the community well to discuss ways of supporting the proposed Nova Scotia Home for Coloured Children: a new Black orphanage and learning institute being established in Halifax. These meetings led to the establishment of the Ladies Auxiliary of the African United Baptist Association in 1917.
About the Quiltmaker — Myla Borden
Myla Borden was born in New Glasgow in 1960, and was taught quiltmaking by her Aunt Frances, at a time when Borden was unable to find work as a recently graduated teacher. She has been a keen quiltmaker ever since, and was co-founder of the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia’s only Black quilting guild.
About The Preston Quilt
The Preston Quilt depicts the history and culture of the African Nova Scotian communities that make up Preston (Cherry Brook/Lake Loon, East Preston and North Preston). Preston is the largest African Nova Scotian community in the province, and one of the oldest of its kind in Canada. The quilt includes photo reproductions from moments in Preston’s history, along with art and poems by community members.
About the Quiltmaker — Laurel Francis
Laurel Francis is a Montréal-born quiltmaker who lives in Pincher Creek, Alberta. In 2007, she learned of the Vale Quilters and their creation of quilts reflecting African-Canadian history and culture. Welcoming an opportunity to explore her heritage through quilting, she began creating quilts for the group’s exhibitions.
About Underground Railroad Quilts
Underground Railroad quilts combine a number of quilt patterns allegedly used to provide coded information to enslaved people escaping the United States. The first appearance of this claim in print came in the 1990 book, Stitched from the Soul, by American folklorist Gladys Fry.
Without providing a source, the author states, “Quilts were used to send messages. On the Underground Railroad, those with the color black were hung on the line to indicate a place of refuge (safehouse). […] Triangles in quilt design signified prayer messages or a prayer badge, a way of offering prayer. Colors were very important to slave quilt makers […] A blue color was believed to protect the maker.”
These claims may be more myth than fact. However, the idea inspired quiltmakers of African descent as a way of expressing their heritage in quilts.
About Quilt
Quilt was made by four generations of the Cromwell family: great-grandmother, grandmother, son and great-granddaughter.
About the Quiltmaker — Heather Cromwell
Heather Cromwell did not begin quiltmaking until her thirties, and began by making pattern quilts learned from her mother. In 2004, Cromwell joined the Northumberland Quilters Guild (Pictou County) — one of the largest quilt guilds in Nova Scotia — and attended several workshops to develop skill at her new craft.
She also began entering her quilts in the guild’s annual member showcase exhibition, held each August at the Decoste Centre in Pictou. In 2007, Cromwell joined forces with several African Nova Scotian women in New Glasgow to form the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: a group interested in exploring African North American quiltmaking traditions, while also promoting the heritage of Pictou County’s Black community.
Summary
- The Vale Quilters of New Glasgow formed in 2007.
- They present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions, and explore the Black experience through quilt design.
- In 2012, the exhibition The Secret Codes featured historical quilt patterns identifying safehouses along the Underground Railroad. The title also refers to the “secret experiences” women share while making quilts.
Scroll through the media carousel to see more work by the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow.
Essential
These quilts were made by a group of women known as the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: Myla Borden, Shirley Makenzie, Stephanie Mackay, Marlene Dorrington, Frances Dorrington, Debra Jordan, and Marilyn Brannan.
The group was organized in 2007 to present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions. They have created exhibitions exploring the Black experience in Nova Scotia.
In 2012, they launched a joint exhibition, The Secret Codes. The exhibition’s name is a nod to the quilt patterns used to identify safehouses along the Underground Railroad: the route used by enslaved African Americans to escape north. The title also refers to the “secret experiences” women share while making quilts.
Meeting at the Well by Myla Borden depicts women discussing support for the proposed Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children: a Halifax Black orphanage and learning institute. Their meetings led to the establishment of the Women’s Auxiliary of the African United Baptist Churches in 1917. Myla Borden learned to quilt during a difficult time, when she was unable to find employment as a schoolteacher. She is the organizing co-founder of the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow.
The Preston Quilt by Laurel Francis shows the history and culture of Preston’s communities, which constitute the largest African Nova Scotian settlement in the province, and one of the oldest in Canada. The quilt includes photo reproductions from moments in Preston’s history, along with art and poems from community members. Laurel Francis is a Montréal-born quiltmaker who lives in Pincher Creek, Alberta. In 2007, she learned of the Vale Quilters, and welcomed the chance to explore her heritage through quilts she created for the group’s exhibitions.
Underground Railroad Quilts In 1990, American folklorist Gladys Fry claimed: “Quilts were used to send messages. On the Underground Railroad, those with the color black were hung on the line to indicate a place of refuge […]. Triangles in quilt design signified prayer messages or a prayer badge […]. Colors were very important to slave quilt makers […] A blue color was believed to protect the maker.” Perhaps more myth than fact, these “secret patterns” became an inspiration for quiltmakers of African descent.
Four generations of Cromwells worked on this quilt: great-grandmother, grandmother, son and great-granddaughter. Heather Cromwell began quiltmaking as an adult, stitching patterns learned from her mother. In 2007, Cromwell joined forces with several African Nova Scotian women in New Glasgow to form the Vale Quilters, a group interested in exploring African North American quiltmaking traditions, while also promoting the heritage of Pictou County’s Black community.
In-Depth
These quilts were made by a group of women known as the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: Myla Borden, Shirley Makenzie, Stephanie Mackay, Marlene Dorrington, Frances Dorrington, Debra Jordan, and Marilyn Brannan.
The group was organized in 2007 by artist and writer David Woods, to present and preserve African Nova Scotian quiltmaking traditions in Pictou County and the rest of the province. Since then, the group has created several themed exhibitions exploring the African Nova Scotian experience. The exhibitions feature quilt designs based on drawings made by Woods, following his visits to 40 Black villages across the province. The drawings document community stories in artistic interpretations of the people he encountered and the experiences he had.
In 2012, the group launched The Secret Codes: an exhibition of African Nova Scotian quilts, inspired by Underground Railroad folklore and stories from African Nova Scotian communities. The exhibition’s title refers to the use of specific quilt patterns to help freedom-seekers identify places such as safehouses along the Underground Railroad to Canada.
The title is also a reference to the “secret experiences” women have shared while making the quilts. As explained by Woods, “What I have realized is that quiltmaking is not just the act of making a quilt — or in my case, designing a quilt — but a way of organizing and visioning the world. The craft has its own rituals, including the regular getting-together of women, the inevitable talk at these gatherings, the relationship women have to fabric, and the personal meaning certain patterns and quiltmaking in general have achieved in the minds of its makers.” In 2022, The Secret Codes began a national tour.
About Meeting at the Well
Meeting at the Well depicts women from the African Nova Scotian community of East Preston, meeting at the community well to discuss ways of supporting the proposed Nova Scotia Home for Coloured Children: a new Black orphanage and learning institute being established in Halifax. These meetings led to the establishment of the Ladies Auxiliary of the African United Baptist Association in 1917.
About the Quiltmaker — Myla Borden
Myla Borden was born in New Glasgow in 1960, and was taught quiltmaking by her Aunt Frances, at a time when Borden was unable to find work as a recently graduated teacher. She has been a keen quiltmaker ever since, and was co-founder of the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia’s only Black quilting guild.
About The Preston Quilt
The Preston Quilt depicts the history and culture of the African Nova Scotian communities that make up Preston (Cherry Brook/Lake Loon, East Preston and North Preston). Preston is the largest African Nova Scotian community in the province, and one of the oldest of its kind in Canada. The quilt includes photo reproductions from moments in Preston’s history, along with art and poems by community members.
About the Quiltmaker — Laurel Francis
Laurel Francis is a Montréal-born quiltmaker who lives in Pincher Creek, Alberta. In 2007, she learned of the Vale Quilters and their creation of quilts reflecting African-Canadian history and culture. Welcoming an opportunity to explore her heritage through quilting, she began creating quilts for the group’s exhibitions.
About Underground Railroad Quilts
Underground Railroad quilts combine a number of quilt patterns allegedly used to provide coded information to enslaved people escaping the United States. The first appearance of this claim in print came in the 1990 book, Stitched from the Soul, by American folklorist Gladys Fry.
Without providing a source, the author states, “Quilts were used to send messages. On the Underground Railroad, those with the color black were hung on the line to indicate a place of refuge (safehouse). […] Triangles in quilt design signified prayer messages or a prayer badge, a way of offering prayer. Colors were very important to slave quilt makers […] A blue color was believed to protect the maker.”
These claims may be more myth than fact. However, the idea inspired quiltmakers of African descent as a way of expressing their heritage in quilts.
About Quilt
Quilt was made by four generations of the Cromwell family: great-grandmother, grandmother, son and great-granddaughter.
About the Quiltmaker — Heather Cromwell
Heather Cromwell did not begin quiltmaking until her thirties, and began by making pattern quilts learned from her mother. In 2004, Cromwell joined the Northumberland Quilters Guild (Pictou County) — one of the largest quilt guilds in Nova Scotia — and attended several workshops to develop skill at her new craft.
She also began entering her quilts in the guild’s annual member showcase exhibition, held each August at the Decoste Centre in Pictou. In 2007, Cromwell joined forces with several African Nova Scotian women in New Glasgow to form the Vale Quilters of New Glasgow: a group interested in exploring African North American quiltmaking traditions, while also promoting the heritage of Pictou County’s Black community.