Song Lines

Bush Picnic: 2013  (Started: 2007)

Finished & photographed....at last!

For simply ages, I had wanted to put together a quilt using the Aboriginal fabrics I’d been gathering.  I was fairly particular and had only purchased fabrics by Aboriginal women artists and designers.  Needless to say, some of the fabrics are just stunning; making it oh, so hard to cut into!

I started collecting these fabrics after a visit to Freemantle in 2002.  In a souvenir shop, of all places, I found the most amazing (but tiny) collection of authentic fabrics.  I’ve mentioned previously that I’d found current selections a wee bit stuffy, so this was definitely a “willy-willy” (dust storm) moment.  My initial selections rested in the garden shed for quite some months before I inadvertently found a new (and closer!) supply, also in a souvenir shop, in Berry (NSW) that same year.  So, my stash grew steadily over the years! 

A close up of both hand & machine quilting

However, finding an appropriate design to feature these wonderful fabrics was not so easy and for me, became something of an issue…  I dallied & dithered; again for some years until finally in 2008, I discovered a “Stars over the Rockies” pattern designed by Judie Rothermel. (Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Mar 2007).  This pattern seemed to meet my need for a design with some larger pieces (so as not to destroy the continuity in those bold designs) yet was complex and interesting enough not to be “the same old thing again”.  Mind you, I had already started cutting out pieces for another pattern, until this change of heart.  Oh well!

Cutting out had started in March 2007 and continued on over the next few years until somehow I managed to get a wriggle on with piecing it together.  I suspect the deadline for the Australia Day Exhibition 2013 had something to do with it, but my quilt went public without being properly finished – a little hand quilting needed finishing.  So, one must compromise when deadlines loom! 

Not quite finished for the Australia Day Exhibition, 2013
Bush Picnic (Right) & Margaret's Hexies (Left)
(Textile Artwork on wall by Cath Phillips)

One point I had overlooked however was the provenance of my fabrics.  I had been busy collecting fabrics but missed noting the artists’ names and design names.  I also have a little information on the various symbols used in the patterns, so more is needed.  Just a little more work to do then…

(In case you are wondering, "The SongLines" is the title of the wonderful travel book written by Bruce Chatwin in 1987.  It, rather like "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes (1986) that I've only recently discovered, made me realise how limited my world view has been & perhaps continues to be only seen through the eyes of Australian history and settlement.  In a way, this viewpoint embodies the isolation of our country.  This cover, a Picador edition (1988), features "Red Landscape" by famous Australian painter Fred Williams. )

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 190 x 190cm
Block Sizes: 38cm
Cut in: 17 Mar 2007; adjusted 2008
Pieced & Basted: 2012
Quilted: Hand & Machine 2013
Quilt Type: Judie Rothermel Design
Quilt Finished: Jan 2013
Exhibited: Australia Day, 2013 (part-finished)
Collection: Home# 050
Pattern Name: Stars over the Rockies
Pattern Source: Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Mar 2007
Fabrics Purchased: Special Collection
Fabric Design: Aboriginal Women Designers
Fabric Style: Aboriginal Designs
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants

Flower of Life....

Tea Reading: 2009  (Started: 1999)

My favourite quilts are made with scraps.  This one is made from a mixed bag of left-overs, charm squares and friends’ donations.  The background is made up of a selection of “scrap” creams too, some from a tea dying episode.  This quilt, though not huge seemed to use an enormous amount of fabric – probably because of the shaped piecing.  Not that that is a bad thing; one just has to work harder to keep one’s stash at a healthy level!

This traditional tea leaves pattern by Judie Rothermel in “Aunt Grace’s Scrapbag” was sourced by Erica (who incidentally made 2 quilts of this particular pattern in lovely 30’s prints no less!) and they were my inspiration to try one.  The top is all hand pieced and kept me busy during those long hot Delhi summers!

For the backing, I used a cotton sarong I had purchased in Kathmandu, and a complementary fabric purchased in Mr Singh’s store, Nehru Place.

Once basted, I started to hand quilt the plain background pieces, but cotton wadding makes for better machining, so I did a small stipple using a variety of cream shades.  This had a nice effect of accentuating each tea leaf shape as I left them unquilted.

This quilt allowed me to try a scalloped edge – and thus the need to cut & make miles of ½ inch bias for a pretty binding.  It wasn’t as difficult as I expected and the bias sat nicely in the tight curves. 

I put my Tea Leaves on show for the Dangar Island Australia Day celebration in 2010.  One of our visitors said that the pattern was an ancient design called “Flower of Life” and is heavily symbolic.

Australia Day Quilt Exhibition Dangar Island 2010

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 177x 200cm
Block Size: 12“ circle
Cut in: 1999
Pieced & Basted: Hand 2005
Quilted: Machine 2009
Quilt Type: Group
Quilt Finished: 2009
Exhibited:  Australia Day 2010
Collection: Home# 034
Pattern Name: Tea Leaves
Pattern Source: Judie Rothermel
Fabrics Purchased: Stash
Fabric Design: Mixed
Fabric Style: Cotton
Materials Type: Cotton
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Cotton

Lessons Learned:
I hadn’t hand pieced a quilt for ages and this one seemed to take forever ; ).  The blocks were very “portable” however, so this became an easy project to work on in those spare moments when life can be dull (eg driving 12 hours to visit relatives in another state).  I also seemed to use up heaps of fabric due to the shape of the leaves, which wasn’t so bad for the scraps but somehow I was always scavenging for backgrounds as I didn’t want them noticeably different from each other.