In 2002 she turned 80. I had only been quilting for a year then but I decided I wanted to make her a quilt to commemorate this special birthday, to celebrate her life and to reflect her interests, values and her family. Each of my 7 siblings either made a block or had one made for them that reflected their family. I ended up making 5 of the blocks, my 2 sisters in law made one each for their family and one sister made one for her family and one for another sister. 9 blocks in all. I arranged the blocks from each of my siblings and myself around a central block that celebrated Mum and Dads' life and marriage.
At the time of making this quilt I was a new quilter and had a very limited stash, particularly picture fabrics. I was a member of an online quilting group called Southern Cross Quilters, which was for Australian and New Zealand Quilters. Through them I was also a member of a group called Year Quilters who had regular swaps of conversation (ie picture) fabric. I was able to ask on this group for some special requests. One lady with an embroidery machine made me a number of special things for mum reflecting her Christian faith, as I was having trouble sourcing fabric reflecting this.
I wasn't really sure how to approach the blocks but my sister Joy made her 2 blocks first based on a 9 patch with each patch reflecting family interest. I used her idea as the basis of the 5 blocks I made. Here are the blocks organised from my oldest sibling down to me, the baby of the family.
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| Oldest sister Beth. Her husband was a builder, her son a volunteer fireman. She was a book author and loved gardening. Her daughter was currently travelling overseas. As a family they loved to ski (sewn by me) |
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| Joy's block reflecting her family interests - teaching, soccer, chooks and cats, music, their Christian faith and their beloved Bulldogs football team (sewn by Joy herself) |
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| Midge's blck. Their family love of horses, travelling, my b.i.ls occupation as a drama teacher, my sister's as a librarian. their many pets and the fact they lived by the sea. (Sewn by me) |
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| My Brother Frank's block made by his wife Christine (from the blog Bluebirds and Bumblebees) |
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| My block for my sister Patricia. Her middle name is Daisy hence the daisy fabric. Her boys' dad is from the USA. They are into computers, travel, skiing, reading and sports. |
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| Joy made this block for Doff. |
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| My brother George's block made by his wife Barb, reflecting their family interests |
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| My block reflecting my family's interests |
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| The central block pf the quilt. Mum's faith and her love of music. I wrote the details of her parents, her marriage, her children and her grandchildren |
My sister-in-law Christine had a poem about family that we were going to embroider on the sashing but we ran out of time so instead we wrote it on.
Our family's like a patchwork quilt,
With kindness gently sewn;
Each piece is an original,
With beauty of its own.
With threads of warmth and happiness,
It's tightly stitched together
To last in love throughout the years,
Our family is forever.
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| The back of mum's quilt. I used the fabric I had just learned to dye on the back. The family wrote messages to mum on the back of their squares. Other friends and family who were part of her 80th birthday celebrations signed the quilt around the border. |
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| My mum with quilt. She loved it. |
Lovely memories. ❤️
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