Houston, TX, June 4, 2007 - Quilts, Inc. announced the 2007 edition of the International Quilt Festival/Houston will feature a very special showing of the Quilt of Belonging.  The expansive quilt features hundreds of individual blocks representing every world nationality and major Canadian aboriginal group.  Festival will mark the quilt project's U.S. debut. 

Canada's largest and most comprehensive textile artowrk, the 120-foot long Quilt of Belonging is the collaborative effort of coordinator Esther Bryan and scores of individual and fabric artists.  Members of the 263 nationalities or ethnic groups represented in the quilt were invited to create a single block signifying a unique characteristic of their country or unique culture.  Each block possesses its own special character, yet also "belongs" in the overall design of the quilt.

Bryan initiated the Quilt of Belonging project after returning from a life-changing trip with her family to Slovakia, the country that her father had left behind 43 years earlier.  Her vision for the quilt was born out of the desire to create something that would celebrate diversity among people as well as promote a common humanity and compassion for others.

Since its inaugural exhibition in Canada in 2005, the quilt has traveled entirely across Canada, covering every province and parts of the Arctic territory.  Its upcoming journey to Houston, however, will mark its first exhibition in the United States. 

You can find out more about the Quilt of Belonging on the official website, www.quiltofbelonging.ca