Quilts honouring N.L's role in WW I gifted to Memorial University

Quilts telling the personal stories of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians in the Great War have been taken down and boxed up.

A small group of volunteers aimed to pay tribute to the role of this province in World War I through quilting that grew into a 40 stoptour, a book and a lot of happy people.

"It's been very emotional for us. It's beyond what we could have imagined," the quilting group's chair, Elsa Fleck said.

Named Peace by Piece the travelling quilt show was seen all over this province, made stops in Toronto and a few even travelled to Beaumont Hamel.

17 quilts take up a lot of space and it's been a constant struggle finding a permanent home to showcase them.

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Since January the set has hung in the Queen Elizabeth II library at Memorial University.

On Thursday the volunteers who made them, took them down and carefully folded them for storage.

"The collection belongs together and the chapter in our lives is coming to an end because we have had a suitable owner to take them on," said Flack.

Memorial University, an institution that was named tohonour those who fought and died during World War I, will take control of the quilts.

"To try to preserve them as long as humanly possible," said long time Memorial archivist Bert Riggs.

"We realized that they are made of cloth and cloth has a tendency to have its ownshelf life. We are going to do the best we can to keep them in the best possible condition."

Riggsremained tight lipped on what the plan is but said the university will make an announcement on its plan for the quilts.

He acknowledges that they are important and will be displayed again.

"The quilts are beautiful works of art but they are also documents in and of their own right," Riggs said.

That qualifies them as an incredible archival resources."