Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 9.
Did You Know That
A dedicated quilter spent her life in the Wakefield area
Quilting has been a part of traditional Gatineau life for many people and Roxy Good Hamilton was a shining example of one who kept this folk art alive. Roxy was a Gatineau Valley girl who spent most of her life in the Wakefield area. She learned to quilt at the early age of 7 or 8 while she passed several winters at her grandmother's farm. The men would be logging in the bush and the women were left to look after the children and homestead. Quilting was the ideal pastime for young and old. Warm and much needed bedding was created while time passed on those cold winter nights.
Roxy's quilts were always bright and cheerful. She used mostly geometric designs to create her works, blending bright prints with white and pastels. She was accomplished at even the most difficult patterns. Some of her loveliest quilts were a collage of numerous different patterns put together “every which way."
Through the passage of years Roxy's quilting remained very much a part of her life. As a grandmother, a gleam would come to her eyes as she talked of the quilts she had made for her grandchildren. She prepared many quilt tops in her later years but left the actual quilting to be done by others because of the strain on her eyes and fingers. Her projects during her last year were a combination of traditional methods and machine quilting techniques.
Although she died at 81 in 1982, Roxy and her quilts will long be remembered by quilt lovers. She was an inspiration to many of us.
Contributed by Karen Bays Woods