A Stitch in Time - Update
23rd November 2009
UPDATE ON THE BOOLARRA QUILTERS - From Meg Viney, Project Manager
Over the past few weeks we have had correspondence from afar:
- A woman from Geelong has offered her mother’s vast collection of fabrics;
- A woman in Kyneton is doing a mosaic project on the Kyneton Hall, and would like us to donate fragments to their Project in return for a small quilt expressing their experience; and,
- A woman from Cornwall, in England is coming for a visit, and would like to see our quilt, and will bring a small piece from her group, who call themselves ‘The Material Girls’.
We have continued to meet, funded by Latrobe City, working on quilts for the family in Yinnar who have 3 children under 3 with a rare diabetic condition that requires intense care. Several quilts donated originally were half-completed, and the women, who have achieved a wonderful level of competence, confidence and skill, have enjoyed working on them.
They wanted to learn ‘crazy patchwork’ and we have had so much fun playing with colour and shape, finding creative solutions, and deciding what to make – a bag, a Christmas stocking and so on.
In addition I have taught them ‘cathedral patchwork’ and we are making fabric-covered boxes with cathedral patchwork tops that can be pincushions.
Mayor Lisa Price and Bushfire Recovery Officer Heather Farley have been responsible for ongoing funding. They also decided that they would like the quilt to hang in the Latrobe City Offices, in the stairwell, so it can be seen to best advantage.
We received an invitation to attend a quilt launch and special morning tea at Council, on November 18. We were delighted to see that many members of Council and community were also in attendance. The Mayor had invited several members of their Sudanese community, who have expressed a desire to join our group.
She spoke about the significance of the Project to the group and the wider community, and later emailed ‘…it certainly was a lovely morning and the energy in the room was just wonderful – you tend to get that when you get a room full of inspirational women together!!! I am pleased that we were able to celebrate the significance of the Quilt and acknowledge what an achievement it has been for these women to be able to get to this point in their journey, where there are more celebrations than disappointments in their lives.’
And so it has been. And so, I am sure, it will continue, will grow, and will embrace others who would like to partake of the journey.
Click here to read more about the Arts Recovery Quick Response Fund.
The Quilt at the Courthouse Gallery, Yarram.
