Kamloops area museum trying to unravel mystery behind a 100-year-old quilt
Something special grabbed the interest of the manager of the museum in Chase, just up the highway from Kamloops, while she was looking through its data base last week.
It was a large, homemade quilt that is turning 100 years old this month.
“It appears to have been made by many people and has hundreds of names and surnames stitched in print and cursive on it, some of which are connected to families in Chase and surrounding areas,” Chase and District Museum and Archives manager Breanne Malo said.
The quilt is a point of fascination for Malo who is researching the more than 200 surnames stitched on it to discover the link that ties them all together.
So far she has researched 25 surnames but has been left with more questions than answers, and a lot more digging to do.
“Most of the names I’ve researched belong to families who no longer live here, and some are just single men I don’t know anything about,” Malo said. “Some of the people are connected to each other through marriage, so there are interconnections, but I haven’t found the single thing that connects them all.”
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Malo is making files for each family to fill with bits of information she may come across as she continues her research.
Her best guess is the names are of people who all belonged to the same local church, and that maybe the quilt was part of a church raffle.
“It was a community that came together to make this for whatever reason it was,” she said. “People in the 1920s seemed to be very tightly knit as a community here. This is a little slice of that time.”
The quilt was donated by Linda Matuska, a woman who lives in Chase.
“The quilt came from her grandmother,” Malo said. “After her grandmother died, she and her mother, who has since passed, found it in a trunk and brought it here.
“I phoned Linda and we met. Unfortunately, she never got to learn the story behind the quilt before her grandmother died.”
Malo has reached out to some families connected to the names on the quilt for more information on their history but has not heard back from anyone yet.
“I find this intriguing and can’t wait to keep discovering more about it,” she said.
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The quilt is made of cotton, is about 60 inches across and in excellent condition.
Malo is throwing a party for the quilt on its birthday on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
“Maybe we’ll put birthday hats on, make some posts on Facebook and encourage people to come down and take in the moment with us.”
The museum is located at 1042 Shuswap Ave. in Chase.
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