{"id":113283,"date":"2022-08-29T11:12:10","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=113283"},"modified":"2022-08-29T15:41:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T19:41:43","slug":"the-worlds-largest-needlepoint-uniting-canadians-displayed-in-kingston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/the-worlds-largest-needlepoint-uniting-canadians-displayed-in-kingston\/","title":{"rendered":"World&#8217;s largest needlepoint uniting Canadians displayed in Kingston"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The World\u2019s Largest Needlepoint, Vahid Saadati\u2019s \u201cThe Welcome Mat,'' which depicts the word \u201cWelcome\u201d in over 100 different languages, was on display at quilting, fabric and sewing machine store Stitch By Stitch over the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saadati immigrated to Canada from Iran in 1987 and says he wanted to give back to his new home and show how Canada is united. The Welcome Mat was assembled 22 years ago by Saadati and 650 volunteers of all ages over a two year period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThat\u2019s something people love to be part of, to be a proud Canadian, to be proud to show we can work together regardless of age, background or religion,\u201d says Saadati.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saadati says he has been unable to find a permanent home for the mat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI have tried so many times to display at Pearson international, the largest airport in Canada, as people coming to Canada to see the welcoming of Canada, especially seeing something people put time and effort to create,\u201d says Saadati.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The welcome mat was used as the backdrop for his holiness Pope John Paul II\u2019s visit to Toronto for World Youth Day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe were in Downsview Park, this piece was displayed for the whole event. I had several interviews from media with other countries, but unfortunately not one Canadian media came and interviewed,\u201d says Saadati.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saadati says our leaders should think more about bringing people together:<\/span><\/p>\n<!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-113283-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Vahid-Saadati-Clip.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Vahid-Saadati-Clip.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Vahid-Saadati-Clip.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The mat was also used for former U.S. President Barack Obama\u2019s visit to Ottawa and has been recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records. The display at Stitch By Stitch was the first time the mat has been displayed since the COVID-19 pandemic began.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Listen to the full CFRC interview with Vahid Saadati below:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The World\u2019s Largest Needlepoint, Vahid Saadati\u2019s \u201cThe Welcome Mat,&#8221; which depicts the word \u201cWelcome\u201d in over 100 different languages, was on display at quilting, fabric and sewing machine store Stitch By Stitch over the weekend. Saadati immigrated to Canada from Iran in 1987 and says he wanted to give back to his new home and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":113285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,219],"tags":[1739,15070,18203,18204],"radio":[13056],"origine":[267,13051,269],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113283"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113380,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113283\/revisions\/113380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113283"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=113283"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=113283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}