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3 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,January 16,2020 w aterloochronicle.ca YOUR CITY Visit waterloochronicle.ca for more coverage Ellie and Emily Anglin have filled their mother's living room in Waterloo with her quilts. It's December and the sisters have to choose which pieces to include in an upcoming exhibit and memorial planned for their mother at the Button Facto- ry Arts. Slated to open in this month, the show "Quilted Histories" will display some of Margaret Anglin's most precious quilts. Margaret died in Sep- tember at the age of 71. One of her quilts hang- ing in the living room was made for Emily before she left for university. It in- cludes pictures of things that were important to her at the time. There's appliqué of the house they grew up in on Mary Street, cats they loved, a passage of a favou- rite poem by Edgar Allan Poe, and an appliqué of Art Garfunkel. "I was really into Simon and Garfunkel at the time," Emily says with a laugh. Margaret was diagnosed with cancer in June. She had multiple sclerosis and the cancer, which was found in her lungs and spine, went unnoticed until it had become too ad- vanced. "Unfortunately, when we found out it was way too late," said Ellie. Ellie remembers leaving Grand River Hospital can- cer centre shortly after Margaret's diagnosis to pick up some items at her mom's house. "I obviously was just so distressed," said Ellie. "I re- member I was just lying on her bed with one of her quilts spread out and cry- ing." Comforted by the hand sewn stitches, she took a photo of the quilt and shared it on social media. Friends soon responded with glowing reviews of Margaret's work. "Quilts were everywhere in our home and we just sort of took it for granted until we were old enough to realize how special they were," said Ellie. For the next weeks of Margaret's life, Ellie and Emily collected images of their mother's quilts, shar- ing them with her and dis- cussing the life events they commemorated. "We spent basically ev- ery day with her for the en- tire summer, just at her bedside talking about her life and our life together," said Emily. "It became clear to her what impact her work had had on us and ev- eryone who encounters these quilts." Emily and Ellie estimate their mom made about 60 quilts in her lifetime, not in- cluding wall hangings, pil- lows and other quilted items. "Each one tells a sto- ry of a different chapter in our family's life or in her life," said Emily. One of those quilts was made for Jerry Anglin. "My mom made this for my dad to use on his bed when he had to go to long- term care when he was ex- periencing advanced Alz- heimer's," Emily explained. Jerry died just a little more than a year before Margaret. The quilt was made with images of Jerry, Margaret, Emily and Ellie and, of course, the family cats. "I've always found her quilts so comforting," said Ellie. "They've been just a huge source of comfort through all of our difficult times." As far back as Emily and Ellie can remember, Mar- garet was busy working away at a quilt. "I remember just always seeing her sit- ting on the couch with a quilt in her lap, hand quilt- ing them," said Ellie. Appliqué was one of her biggest strengths and as she became more experienced, her quilts became less tra- ditional as she worked out- side patterns and explored her own artistry. "Her quilting just be- came amazingly more joy- ous, more colourful, more full of animals and nature and flowers," said Ellie. Over the years, Marga- ret gifted many of her quilts to family and friends. "It was the most meaningful gift she could give," said Emily. In the last year of her life she gave a quilt to her son, who she had given up for adoption in 1963. "It wasn't her wish to give him up for adoption," explained Ellie. "In the last year of her life he reached out to her and they got back in touch." He visited with her shortly before she died and she presented him with a quilt. "It was a really beauti- ful thing," said Ellie. To remember Margaret, Ellie and Emily decided to share a selection of her quilts with the public. Quilted Histories opens at the Button Factory Arts at 25 Regina St. S. in Water- loo on Jan. 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. The show will remain at the main floor gallery un- til Feb. 1. QUILTS OF COMFORT: SISTERS PAY TRIBUTE TO LATE MOTHER Emily Anglin, left, and her sister Ellie look at quilts their mother, Margaret, made in her Waterloo townhouse. Mathew McCarthy, Waterloo Region Record LAURA BOOTH lbooth@therecord.com SISTERS PAY TRIBUTE TO THEIR MOTHER WITH AN EXHIBIT OF HER QUILTS Start planning your dream vacation with hand-picked travel deals and inspiration just for Canadians Visit