For all works of art, every artist starts in the same place – with a blank canvas. This canvas can take various forms, such as a piece of paper, a board, a wall, or even an object. Sometimes, it begins as many individual pieces waiting to be combined into a new creation.

One such creation is the colorful quilt on display this year in various USask campus libraries. This quilt, made from many individual pieces sewn together, is a product of many parts and of people. Together, they not only crafted a beautifully designed quilt but also experienced the intangible rewards of community and connection.

Aurora Wolfe, the Indigenous Initiatives Coordinator at the University of Saskatchewan, initiated the project. Leading the Indigenous Graduate Student and Professional Transition Program, which is a collaboration between the USask College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (CPGS) and the Office of the Vice Provost, Indigenous Engagement (OVPIE), Aurora aims to offer programming, events, and support that create pathways for students to successfully complete their graduate programs.

As an artist and musician, Aurora envisioned quilt-making as a way of bringing together Indigenous grad students on campus. Stepping into the role of Lead last summer, she built on the solid foundation laid by her predecessor, reflecting on the project’s direction and potential.

To cultivate a sense of belonging, she began with an exercise in brand awareness, creating a sew-on badge for the Cousins networking group formed within the project (see the related story here). After this initial success, she sought an initiative that would engage and excite participants.

“Graduate students are the busiest people I know,” Aurora noted, “so I wanted to create programming that supported them, was respectful of their time and was adapted to what they wanted,”

With the fall semester about to begin, she wanted a project that could get started as well. “We’re going to make a quilt, and it’s going to be awesome!” she thought. “Because who doesn’t love quilting?” she added with a smile.

She shared why she chose a quilt as a project, “I wanted something that we could make collaboratively. I was really interested in this idea of quilting and the through-line of it not only [incorporating] Indigenous tradition, but also in making something really beautiful out of perceived scraps.”

She recognized that it wouldn’t only be Indigenous students participating; attendees from diverse backgrounds might connect with their own memories of family quilting traditions and of their kookums or their grandmas.

 Each hexagon patch of the quilt represents a student, and the different fabric designs symbolize the various colleges or programs they belong to.

“It’s like a complete ‘blanket of research’ representing our Indigenous students,” she said.

Over nine sessions held from November 2024 to March 2025, more than 100 individuals took part in the project. The oldest participant, a kookum herself, was enrolled in an education program at the age of 84, and the youngest was just 4 months old, accompanying her mother to the sessions. This setting not only fostered connections but also provided the mother a chance to engage, while the group took turns caring for her baby.

The project, named “Stitching Stories,” reflects the sharing and storytelling taking place while participants sew, creating new stories. New connections within a new and growing community.

Aurora spoke to the importance of such activities,”Having projects like that for students to gather around not only gives them something in common but can strip away the awkwardness of meeting new people.” The activity of quilting was an ice breaker, even for those new to sewing.

Participants came from diverse backgrounds and programs, including nursing and the NBA (??? need to check this) program. Some students were newcomers to Saskatchewan or Saskatoon as well, seeking connections to communities while away from home and families. The relationships formed during these events give opportunity to lead to greater support networks.

Now having completed the quilt, Aurora reflects on its impact: “Just feeling invested in the project and represented, that’s something that I really want them to see here. They are not just lost in the ocean of students, and their achievements and accomplishments specifically are something that they and the university can be very proud of.”

This meaningful project provided a creative space for Indigenous grad students to come together, to foster a sense of belonging, shared purpose, and feeling integral to this community.

The colorful mosaic quilt is one of the results of the Stitching Stories Project; new connections and community are too.