Rankin Inlet (Mar 01/06) - Canada's most comprehensive textile art project paid a visit to Rankin Inlet this past month.

Susan Towndrow with the Quilt of Belonging during its visit to Rankin Inlet this past month. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

The impressive Quilt of Belonging (Invitation) is 120-feet (36 metres) long and 10-feet (three metres) high, with 263 individual patches representing Canada's indigenous people and every world nation.

The brainchild of artist Esther Bryan, the Quilt of Belonging took six years to complete and is a testimonial to Canada's multicultural heritage and identity.

It celebrates a future of all Canadians being proud of their blended cultural identities.

The project began in February 1999, when Invitation was granted permission to use a vacated office building in the artist's home village of Williamstown, Ontario.

The quilt has built an impressive resume since then, having been featured at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec, and both the Hall of Honour and the Confederation Room on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

The blocks of Canada's indigenous people (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) form the foundation of the quilt, running down both ends and along the bottom, cradling the immigrant nations.

A patch featuring the Kivalliq region was created in Baker Lake for the quilt.

Susan Towndrow has been with the quilt from its beginning and accompanied the masterpiece to Rankin.

She said while there were hundreds of people involved with its making, a core group of about 20 volunteers drove the project.

"The last year I worked on it full time, but there were people who would come in as needed and gradually it got completed," said Towndrow.

"Ester (Bryan) laid out the colours of the rainbow in deciding which block would go where because she wanted every colour to be included.

"When you view the quilt, you can see much of the thought process behind how the various blocks were arranged."

Towndrow said travelling with the quilt has been an enriching experience.

She never tires of seeing people's reaction to the piece or answering their questions.

"It's always been our goal to have the quilt travel to the people and not have it in one location where they would have to come to it.

"I've always felt like the quilt is a loving presence.

"You can see its impact on people when they view it and the sense of belonging it instills in them.

"That's a wonderful thing to witness during these often troubled times."