The cape was designed and quilted by Lily Lam, of Westmount’s Public Library Committee. It will be used in upcoming storytelling events at the library, including a special celebration planned to inaugurate the library’s new storytelling garden.

Jammed with eye-catching colour and detail, the cape boasts a richness of textures and imagery. The quilt, 100 inches (250 cm) across and 50 inches (125 cm) wide in the middle, shows a tree under a low sun, with day to one side and night to the other. Waves of light and darkness swirl around the cape, flowing through a variety of fabrics and patterns. Leaves, animals, and other design elements are appliquéd and quilted on, creating a three-dimensional feel. The lining is made of Chinese silk, while a stylised library logo in violet thread peeks out from rich black velvet trim.

When the cape is joined together at the front by a wearer, the union of the two sides reveals a spiral spider-web. The design is based on Chinese court robes, which similarly featured a circular pattern called a mandala. In fashioning the Cloak of Imagination, Lam chose to instead depict the web “where all the stories spin out of.” Lam worked a number of other storytelling symbols into her quilt, as well as symbols of the library itself — including the redwood tree in the park just east of the library, the library owl, and various iconic aspects of the library building.

The patterns of the threads and textures hide many things, including faces, hobbits, and a yellow brick road. These images can be picked out if you look closely, emerging from the background patterns like a mirage. However many times you see the cloak, you’ll always find something new to look at; it’s clearly designed to be the focus of attention for audiences, not only for a night, but throughout shows and events over the course of years.

The idea of the quilt was first put forward at a meeting of the Library Committee in April, 2005. Lam volunteered to make the quilt, and drafted her first concept sketches immediately.

“I wanted something that would display well on the wall but would also work as a cape,” she said. “Most of the original ideas got in.”

The Friends of the Library paid for the materials of the quilt, but Lam’s design process, incorporating research into storytelling symbols and quilting techniques, was exhaustive. A model was unveiled in June 2005, after which she made a diagram and began to cut fabric. Her actual quilting was done in an intensive burst which began in November and lasted until January of this year.

Lam has been quilting regularly for seven years. In 2003 she founded the Westmount Quilters’ Guild, which meets twice a month in Victoria Hall. The Guild sponsors contests, helps with individual and group projects, and donates quilts and the proceeds from raffles to charities such as the Royal Victoria Hospital. This year, the Guild intends to donate a quilt to a palliative care residence for children with terminal illnesses.

The Cloak of Imagination, when not in use, will be mounted above the double doors in the library’s South Findlay Room, roughly opposite the magazine racks and Fast Reads shelf. Information on the Quilters’ Guild is available at Victoria Hall, or by calling Lily Lam at 514-989-7939.