Sydney
1998-2002
Up until 1998 my quilting life had been
somewhat “held back” by work and study.
The year had promising beginnings with mixed outcomes (I was retrenched)
so I wondered about the usefulness of all that study I had done. Luckily I managed to pick up another job
almost immediately and to end the year, the good Cap’n was offered work in
PNG for a four months. Yeah! Think of
all that sewing time!
I had free week-ends now to go away to Quilt
Camps and managed the odd lecture or two at the Quilt Study Group, an offshoot
I think, of the Quilters Guild. One
inspiring lecture was given (1/7/98) by our own Quilt Historian, Annette Gero, and
we followed up our interest in historical Australian Quilts at an exhibition at
Elizabeth Bay House. (I’m not sure if I
kept the information from these sessions but there’s still a mountain of stuff
to go through, so you never know what will surface!)
I had a particularly productive 1998 &
1999 but things started to slow down in 2000.
My job intensified with Sydney’s fervour for hosting the Olympic Games,
I also decided to go back to uni and of course there was the devastating attack
on the USA, which hit home closer than I would have cared with the loss of a
friend. This was the year that changed
our lives in many ways.
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| Japan Textile Tour 2000 |
The year was not all work however and (thanks
to my MIL) I managed a trip to Japan.
The Quilt Study Group held an exhibition of antique Japanese textiles
prior to our departure so that got us all salivating. I brought back rather too much fabric from
Japan (as you do!) and still have quite a bit left over because if I use
it…. You know, that old trap! I’m
currently writing about my Japan Textile Tour experiences over on TextileTourist – part of the process to digitalise my photo albums and travel/quilting
life. This year was also the year that
we purchased our home on Dangar Island – a significant event and one that we’ve
never regretted.
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| How amazing to see this quilt dedicated to those who lost lives in 9/11 |
After 2000, life became a blur of work, study
and quilting with the UFO box growing at an alarming rate. Many quilters were starting to have their
tops professionally quilted but somehow that option didn’t appeal to me. I had enjoyed my machine quilting class with
Lee Cleeland (Jun/Jul 1995) and as a result decided to shout myself (on laybuy in 2002), a
brand spanking new Bernina with the intention of machine quilting my own tops. The learning curve was steep but I never
regretted spending the money on that machine (even though I lusted after the
BSR which came out a year or so later!).
Bertie is still going strong especially as Ernie Elna was retired
recently (1973-2011). That’s not to say I don’t miss my blue top Elna. Ernie was very good to me!
