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Canadian Cultural Heritage

The year 2017 was Canada’s 150th anniversary. To extend and commemorate Canada’s Culture and Heritage, this year our Website’s  “Show & Tell” section will be dedicated to heritage buildings and historical sites. In the coming months, two of these structures, lighthouses and covered bridges, will be shown as seen by our rug hookers. Starting in January, Lighthouses will be highlighted in Show & Tell, to be followed by Covered bridges a few months later. 

Show & Tell : Covered Bridges!

From the middle 1800’s to the middle 2000’s over 1000 to 1200 covered bridges were built in Quebec alone, and, of these, 82 were still in existence in 2012. (Certain sources claim 100). These structures were erected to facilitate the transport of timber across watercourses, replacing the early primitive bridges made out of exposed wooden boards, which, unprotected from the elements, were rotting quickly and were hazardous for the users. Covering the bridge with a roof meant a longer lifespan for the bridge and  protection for the horses and pedestrians. Over the years, many of these bridges were restored and are still in use today for pedestrians and cyclists.  To learn more about covered bridges, please visit:

Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America

Blogue sur les ponts couverts (In French only)

The Canadian Encyclopedia - Bridges

Covered Bridges Map  (Interactive Map)

Altogether /Tous ensemble

Hooked By Isabelle Rollin

Close to my childhood family farm is the Powerscourt bridge near Elgin, Quebec, opened in 1861, it is the oldest covered bridge in Canada that is still in function.
I added the theme of the 150th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation into this rug since it was another guild project. I tried to squeeze in many different elements that represent our beautiful country. "A Mari usque ad Mare " from sea to sea, is my sky, where the oceans come together.  Sweet maple leaf in the east, elegant pine tree in the west, and a touch of Fleur de Lys. Our beaver and Canada geese, are set into a border which represents our famous woolen socks.
Hooked on linen, mostly #6 and 8 cut, using both new and found wools.

Romance at Kelly Bridge

Hooked By Brenda Ticehurst

Inspired by Pont Macaza and a scene I painted

Historic Pont Kelly covered bridge is located in Low,Western Quebec along the Gatineau River north of Wakefield on chemain du Lac pike over the Stag River. Erected in 1923.  As I was Hooking I had recently seen the excellent romance with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY 1995. Many of the scenes took place at a covered bridge. My mind began to wonder and I imagined a romance on Kelly Bridge and so it is a love story rug.

Pont St Columban 

Hooked by Dawna Matthew
  

This covered bridge was built in 1937 but unfortunately burned down in 1974. When the guild decided to have a theme for our 2017 biennial show I started thinking about which covered bridge in Quebec was the closest to my home, and I remembered that there used to be one in St Columban, which crossed the North River. “Les ponts couverts au Québec”  has a section on their website titled “Ponts Disparus” and there I found all the information on the St Columban covered bridge. I also discovered an artist’s sketch of the bridge and contacted the owner who then put me in touch with the artist. I received permission from M. Guy Thibault to use his sketch for a rug. This rug was fun to work on as the original sketch was black and white. That allowed me to play with colour and I decided to make the season spring.

Pont Faubourg

Hooked By Dawna Matthew

I decided to use this covered bridge as my project for a class at Green Mountain Rug School in Montpelier, Vermont, in June 2017. The class was titled “A Painterly Approach to Depth and Colour” and given by Davey DeGraff. I had several photos of the bridge which I had taken on a camping trip to that area several years ago. My husband and I had climbed to a lookout over the town and discovered that the town, with the bridge, had been depicted on the 1954 Canadian 1000$ bill. It was only after a newer version of the bill, with a different illustration, that the people of L’Anse St Jean realized it was their village on the older currency. 

Using my modern photos and the one from the 1000$ bill, I came up with a design for my project. It took several tries, using various shades of white, to get the bridge to stand out as the focal point of the rug but not overtake the landscape.

Pont Prud'homme
Hooked By Dawna Matthew

I always love seeing this little covered bridge in the Rouge-Valley on our drives going to Tremblant and area. I stopped one fall day and got some great photos and they eventually became the design for this rug.

This was my first covered bridge rug.