Why are we waiting?

I had thought this was going to be easy.  A simple assembly of the quilts I’ve made over the years. HA!  I should have known better.  One question leads to another and in a way I feel as if I’ve joined the ranks of the “family history” fraternity.  So, let the recipe (so far) begin:

1. Sort and measure all quilts/wall hangings at home. Try to remember technical details and pattern sources, so get lost in my books again!
2. Sort all workshop notes & patterns into chronological order.  Maybe doing this in front of the TV wasn’t such a good idea.  Now what’s missing?  Ask the girls – blank stares (of the “who really cares” variety).
3. Remember (well try) to list those given away; made by me or as part of a group.
4. Start looking for photos.  Damn – their nearly all pre-digital.  Wow, have I been quilting for that long?….  Box them up until I find the perfect scanner.  Meanwhile get lost in all the old family photos (pre-digital too!).  I’m found late at night under the stairs, with a glass of red, lost in memories… Ooops, beans on toast for dinner. Again!
5. Buy the perfect scanner, now covered in dust, still waiting to be used.  Still haven’t finished sorting photos.  Unfortunate side effect – rapidly reducing wine cellar - but I’ve got a happy glow. 
6. Now, which ones did I exhibit?  What, when & where…. Oh, this is all too much!
7. Add all ingredients, knead well and pour into an excel spreadsheet.  Dust with a little colour (to keep your eyes open and brain on fire).  We’re not anywhere near finished yet!!

I am consoled by this: 

"The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination."  Don Williams Jr. (poet)

The picture to the left is a sarong kebaya, a form of Malaysian dress.

Humble Beginnings

This blog will be dedicated to my quilting life.  I love making quilts: bed quilts, wall quilts, lap quilts, gift quilts and art quilts to mention but a few.  Where to start and what to share?  From the beginning of course!

My mother had sewn my clothes.  I had sewn my clothes.  I had also served time in my grandmother’s sewing room – wide enough for a single bed and a small desk with a sewing machine.  High shelves were loaded with many “things” in the making….dolls, aprons, bottle covers, bags and soft toys.  Her cranky sewing machine loved a challenge and zapped me at every opportunity.  I quickly learned to wear rubber shoes and not touch any metal bits.  When my mother offered to buy me a new machine, I did not turn her down!  We found a lovely blue top Elna at Chermside shopping centre.

The fabric thing stuck with me though.  I began collecting…..   A trip to Bali in 1976 opened my eyes to the magic of batik and wonders of exotic handmade textiles. 

After getting married, we took a trip in to South East Asia in 1980.  Our adventures just had to included a visit to Jim Thompson’s Silk store in Bangkok. I was ecstatic!  I had my list ready – metres of rough raw silk for curtains (dark brown – what was I thinking!) and a selection of bright jewel-like colours for a bed cover I had seen in a McCalls Needlecraft magazine some years before.   

The curtains made it up and looked lavish in our modest Swedish pre-fab in rural Victoria but the quilt languished until we moved to Malaysia in 1983.  It was two wonderful years here that my love affair with sewing and cloth became apparent and where my personal textile tour really begins.

In Malaysia I was entranced by Indian Classic Dance too!