18 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday July 12, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Quilt contributor reunited with project By Wilma Blokhuis OAKVILLE LIVING EDITOR LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER JOYFUL REUNION: Sixteen years ago Fran Aubin, 93, a resident of Oakville since 1940, contributed a quilt block to honour St. Jude's Church as part of an Oakville Signature Quilt project for the Oakville Museum. Through a series of coincidences, she was recently reunited with the finished quilt at The Kensington Retirement Residence. Fran Aubin couldn't believe her eyes. About 16 years ago, she contributed an embroidered, appliqué and stitched block of St. Jude's Church to an Oakville Signature Quilt, a fundraising project of the Friends of the Museum and then heard nothing. Then, two years ago, she saw it. "I've always wondered what happened to it," said Aubin, 93, a resident of the Kensington Retirement Residence since 1997. Turns out the project, Oakville's 20th Century Signature Quilt, fell into the hands of the Oakville Newcomers quilting group who contacted The Kensington asking for permission to use its craft room to lay it out for hand tying, the final finishing stage. The quilt consists of embroidered names, historical buildings and several churches. Aubin, curious to know what was happening in the craft room, wondered in and spotted her block of St. Jude's Church. It was instantly familiar to her, and upon closer examination, saw her name in the bottom right hand corner. "I was so surprised," she said. "I was so curious...I had to know what was going on, and so amazed when the ladies (from the Newcomers) asked me what church I belonged to, and I said St. Jude's but I don't go any more...many people don't go to church any more. I thought what a coincidence. "I couldn't believe it. I was stunned to see it...so surprised." A resident of Oakville since 1940, Aubin remembers working on it during the early 1990s. "I've wondered for years. I never knew what happened to it." At the time, Aubin, a local artist, was a member of the Oakville Stitchery Guild, the Oakville Arts Council and St. Jude's Church. She continues to volunteer with the IODE in its Opportunity Shop, and in the past also volunteered with the Red Cross, was a member of the Oakville Club and a founding member of the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital Auxiliary. "It was because I belonged to St. Jude's that I contributed the block," she said. Her passions were stitchery and painting. She continues to paint, having given up oils and watercolours in favour of acrylics. Once completed, the quilt went back to the Oakville Museum at Erchless, one of two signature quilts in its collection. Recently, for the first time, Aubin saw the finished quilt, with her block of St. Jude's Church prominently displayed, when it was shown at The Kensington. "For 10 years I've wondered that happened to that quilt." How this quilt fell into the hands of Oakville Newcomers quilting group remains a mystery. However, it appears to have taken a decade to complete. Wilma Blokhuis can be reached at blokhuis@haltonsearch.com. SPOTLIGHT or the elegance that European women have come to rely on, and that we here in North America can now begin to benefit from as never before, put yourself into the hands of the Certified Fit Consultants at Calla Lily Fine Lingerie. With fashions that are sensual, delicate and even comforting when the mood demands it, Calla Lily Fine Lingerie continues to offer a unique selection of today's most sought after brands. Find yourself in the popular `Hostess Pajamas' equally at home entertaining, or curled on the couch. Discover the best designers from Canada and around the world with Frou Frou, Christine Silk, and many many more. 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