An Island Off an Island

It will come as no surprise to most of you that the first group I became involved with when we moved was quilting based. In fact I was invited to join before we’d even left Orange through a serendipitous online conversation.

At the time I was enrolled in the University of Tasmania’s Diploma of Family History and, purely by chance, began a dialogue in one of the chat sessions with the wonderful Liz Nicholson who lives across the water from Bruny. When I explained that we were moving to Tasmania, apropos of nothing she asked if I was a quilter. It was kismet, and I have been a member of Channel Quilters ever since.

We meet in each other’s homes every second Tuesday and it has been a great way to learn the layout of the land up and down the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. The welcome is always warm and the morning tea delicious. CQ has also been ‘the’ place to gain intel on all things local. Often there’s more talking than quilting but that’s par for the course.

I must admit to getting lost a couple of times in the early days, giving up and driving home defeated, packed lunch still unwrapped. I mention this inability to navigate unmarked roads as if I don’t Michelle Maunder and Adele Casey will – they will both sometimes send a message on the relevant Tuesday to make sure I got there.

About the same time I joined CQ I also joined the Tasmanian Quilting Guild which is the parent body for quilting in this space. This entitles me to enter quilts in the annual ‘Island Quilt’ exhibition but I had never done so – until this year! Must admit having a quilting buddy who is heavily involved in the Guild is an ‘impetus’ ( thanks Pip!), but once I was ‘in’ there was no stopping me.

I decided to enter ‘Not the Levens Hall at all’, a quilt I started in a workshop at Bathurst with legend Marg Sampson-George in 2013. I had made the central medallions in the months following but then it was packed away until we moved to Bruny. There it was resurrected as adding the successive hexagons was perfect hand sewing to take to a CQ meeting. Once I got to the many borders I was on a roll and I finished it in 2023 a mere 10 years after I started it ( I love it when people ask me how long it takes to make a quilt!). I then sent it back to Orange and my amazing friend, Belinda Betts, to be quilted

The process of putting a quilt exhibition together is huge and hats off to the team who do it. A couple of weeks ago I volunteered to be a quilt handler at one of the judging days, parading the quilts past the jury just like the Archibald Prize. It’s a great chance to see them up close and to marvel at the work. When your ‘section’ is being judged you are required to absent yourself!

Today I popped into Island Quilts and it was thrilling to see my little number hanging amongst the other entries. Belinda too had entered a quilt and hers was displaying a coveted rosette for 2nd in her section (Modern Professional). I posed in front of it pretending it was mine (call me shallow).

Home now, sitting in my sewing chair and thinking about my next project. A big shout out to my many quilting buddies here in Tasmania, in Orange and elsewhere. It’s a brilliant community where we come together to make the world a warmer place, one stitch at a time.