In 1960, Lois Monieson purchased several yards of madras plaid, intending to make her husband, Queen’s University marketing professor Dan Monieson, a patchwork sport jacket for an upcoming wedding. She never made the jacket. Instead, in 1988, she made this quilt. Composed entirely of piecework, each triangle evokes her husband’s sartorial style: the bright plaid triangles representing the sport jacket that never was; the larger triangles the pastel shirts her husband often wore; the smaller right-angle triangles his bowties, and finally, the black triangles his trousers. Inspiration for the quilt came from the popular song ‘Thanks for the Memory,’ Bob Hope’s signature tune. This quilt won a ribbon in 1989 at A Quilters’ Gathering presented by Eastcoast Quilters’ Alliance, Westford, MA.

Lois Monieson took her first quilting course in 1985 and was hooked. She became an accomplished quilter who exhibited widely in Canada, the United States and Japan, winning numerous awards. Her work has been featured in several quilting books, magazines and newspaper articles. Her stitching was detailed and her designs inventive. Monieson was fascinated by the ‘math’ of quilt design and, in her own work, pushed the boundaries of traditional patterns. Well-respected in the Kingston quilting community, Lois Monieson’s quilts are evocative of the impact and resurgence of the decorative arts, and particularly quilt-making in mid-twentieth century Kingston.