"This quilt top was sewn by my husband's grandmother, Ann Marsha Armstrong. She was born in England in 1862 and came to Canada where she met her future husband, Thomas, who was born in 1845 in Ireland and came to Canada as a farm worker. They met, married in 1874, and lived in the Guelph area of southern Ontario. They later moved about 150 miles north to build a homestead at Ashworth in the Muskoka district, in the province of Ontario, Canada. The train only ran as far as Orillia, and they had to carry all their possessions and furniture the last 50 miles to the land grant they had received. They both died here at the home where they lived and raised their children, Marsha in 1929 and Thomas in 1933.

"Her daughter, Louise Armstrong Stiles, could remember her mother had large wounds on her leg and would sit by the cook stove in the kitchen, with her feet up, and sew. This was the same stove that was carried to their new home. Aunt Louise was born in 1892 and could remember sitting by her mother as a young girl, watching her piece this quilt top together The yellow patches with the black flocking were from the bows on her grandmother's wedding gown and bonnet. Each individual square was sewn on the tail or back of men's work shirts where they did not get too badly faded or worn under their overalls as they worked in the fields and bush.

"We received the quilt top from Aunt Louise in 1964 when we lived in Utterson, Ontario. She visited us in 1972, in Thunder Bay, Ontario and suggested we put a back on it to help support and protect it. We backed it with polyester/cotton broadcloth and quilted around a few of the patches to hold it all together.

"This quilt is a real family heirloom, is greatly valued and will be passed on to the next generations of the family."