Defence Families BBQ hosted by the Caloundra Returned Services League Sub-Branch

Our local Caloundra RSL Sub-Branch held a BBQ and fun afternoon for the local (and some Brisbane) families of Defence personnel who are serving overseas in Afghanistan. Troops from the 8/9 Welfare cell based at Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane also helped out with the day.

A fantastic barbecue was put on with sweets provided by some of the Mums attending. The Sub-Branch provided a clown who showed the kids how to tie balloons into animal shapes, plus a jumping castle which the kids just loved.

Hubby, who is the Sub-Branch President, really loved having the Defence families at the RSL (we were down in the grounds of the Sunny Coast Sports and Recreation Club which is owned by the RSL. It's so nice to be able to show the families of the troops who are overseas, that we all appreciate the sacrifice that they are making, in having their loved ones serving our wonderful country overseas in war-torn countries or as peacekeepers.

Here's a few photos of the lunch and afternoon:

Waiting for the families to arrive at the Sports and Recreation Club (aligned with the Caloundra RSL Services Club).

Frosty the clown (that's not actually his name sorry and even Barry doesn't know the name of this fellow but he gives up his time to "clown around" in hospitals cheering up kids, which is just wonderful). Sorry but I couldn't think of a better name for a clown!

One of the Mums brought along a couple of pinatas which the children really enjoyed trying to break.

Here's a photo of a couple of bi kids, Kath from Sunshine Coast District RSL office and Geoff from Woodford RSL in front of the jumping castle. Try as I might, in between helping out and mixing with people, I just could not get a photo of actual kids on the castle!

 

Now a photo of one of the young Mums enjoying her day out with her little one.

And of course, the wonderful food provided by the Caloundra RSL Services Club and by the Sub-Branch.

8/9 Welfare Cell brought up a Bushmaster which many people were interested in.

ANZAC Day memories

I have to call this post "ANZAC Day memories"  because I am posting this blogpost a month after the actual day itself! So much has happened in this past month, namely a recovery period for hubby and I after ANZAC Day as well as many other things! I refer to April as ANZAC month, because it is not just one day in that month for us, it is much more than that. Hubby (a Vietnam Veteran) is President of the Caloundra RSL Sub-Branch (which organises the local parade and services) and even though arrangements for the next year's ANZAC Day virtually start in the weeks after the current year's ANZAC Day, there are always last minute arrangements to be made in the weeks just before the day itself. For my part, I sell ANZAC Day badges and memorabilia for the RSL Women's Auxiliary and for the Partners of Veterans' Association. I love doing this because one always has some very interesting conversations with people regarding either their service in the Armed Forces or the service of family members.

For overseas readers, ANZAC Day commemorates our ANZAC troops (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp) who landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey early on the morning of 25 April 1915 during the First World War (1914-1918).

I came across this poem by Ataturk in 1934, the words of which are inscribed on a memorial at ANZAC Cove in Turkey:

Those heroes that shed their blood

and lost their lives;

You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.

Thereore rest in peace.

There is no difference between the Johnnies

and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side

here in this country of ours.

You, the mothers,

who sent their sons from far away countryes,

wipe away your tears;

your sons are now lying in our bosom

and are in peace.

After having lost their lives on this land they have

become our sons as well.



Now on to some photographs of the later/second service. First here is one of the last remaining Rats of Tobruk, Maurice Buck. Our Rats of Tobruk, most of whom have passed away, are revered all over our wonderful country.

This is a little bit of information about the Rats of Tobruk (quoted from Wikipedia):

"The Rats of Tobruk was the name given to the soldiers of the garrison who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II. The siege started on 10 April 1941 and was finally relieved at the end of November."

My next photo is of a dear dear lady (and member of our Women's Auxiliary) Helen Wilson, who is herself an ex-servicewoman and something like 93 years of age:

Rarely do you ever see Helen without a smile ...

Here's a photo of 816 Naval Air Squadron who come up from Nowra in NSW each year, specifically for our ANZAC Day services:

 Lastly, here's a photo of more ex-servicepeople marching with our good friend Rod Thimpson (ex Air Force) on the left:

Lest we forget those who gave the Supreme Sacrifice.

More on "A2 10-22" One Hell of a Huey"

Blogspot was giving me trouble before so I couldn't keep typing after inserting the photo of the finished quilt! Hence two posts from me in the one day. Here's a few more photos of the making of the quilt:

Here's my dear husband Barry dividing the  bottom horizontal border for me and pinning it evenly, ready to attach to the rest of the quilt. I would not have finished the quilt in time, without his help.

This map is one from this website:

http://vietnam-war.commemoration.gov.au/combat/battle-of-long-tan_map.php

DH (Dear Husband) wanted me to include a map of the Battle of Long Tan in the quilt. We spent a lot of time on the computer looking for a copyright free map of the battle. No luck ... so then I contacted the Australian federal government to ask for permission to use the map above. After 5 days (pretty good going actually) I did get permission to use the map in my quilt. But ... I didn't figure on the map not printing out at a size that would be able to be read without a magnifying glass, did I? The website settings disallowed copying and pasting from the website, so what to do.

I hadn't taken the name and contact details of the last government officer who gave me permission to use the map, did I? Time was running out so I decided to draw the map on fabric ... after all, I can draw a bit. Then ... no fabric pens in those colours could I find. Drive with hubby "up the road" - a good Aussie term for just a few kilometres away ... say 15 minutes' drive (we tend to think of distance in time taken here in Australia because our country is so big).

Arrived back home, had to use a magnifying glass anyay to work out the symbols. Then had to Google "topographical" features because I couldn't work out the symbol for rubber trees. Any ... way ... here's how the map turned out on the quilt:

I also drew up a key to the symbols on another block. I'm pretty pleased with how the map turned out.

Lastly here is a photo of the quilt being sandwiched. It is a large-ish quilt, 60" x 40":

The A2 10-22 quilt is finished

It's hard to believe that it is nearly a month, yes, a whole month, since I finished this quilt. Since then I have not even touched the sewing machine, let alone sewn on it. This has been because of a combination of sheer exhaustion from working so hard on the quilt, plus developing chronic sinusitis and weekly medical appointments re my hand that is recovering from finger surgery in late January.

However, I digress. I finished the quilt on the morning of March 15 one day before the helicopter Dedication. I had to wait though to get a decent photo of the finished quilt as all of my photos were a little dark or did not show the whole quilt.

Drum roll ... here's the finished quilt called "One Hell of a Huey":

Photo courtesy of Chris Phillips

 

 

Getting closer to finishing ...

Today after a bit of a false start I got the outside vertical borders sewn on the A2 10-22 quilt which I want to finish by Wednesday at the latest. Below is a photo of the quilt thus far, with the outside horizontal borders ready to start on. I have used an old Army/Air Force green uniform as the background for the borders.

I had a helper today with the work on my quilt ... young Nelson, the miniature schnauzer who we are minding today. Sadly he was more interested in having a "sook" and laying on my lap than actually helping with the sewing!

Here's a photo of Nelson looking just so very gorgeous ...

I wonder if Nelson's parents would allow hubby and I to have week-end access to him? He is just such a lovely well-behaved funny dog and loves his pats and nurses on my lap - my kind of dog!

Progress on the A2 10-22 quilt

Finally, finally the inside borders are on the A2 10-22 commemorative quilt! Progress has been slow due to me having to re-size the photos and also because I tend to muck up the unfinished measurement of the photo blocks with the finished measurement! Grrr !!!

Inside border completed!

Now to work on the outisde borders which will comprise photos from the Long Tan plantation on the day or soon after the actual battle on August 18. 1966, plus unit badges for 9 Squadron (who flew the chopper to re-supply ammunition  and 6RAR who were the artillery unit battling the Viet Cong). I also am adding the Sub-Branch logo, the Australian flag and a few other bits and pieces.

Unfortunately I won't be able to finish the outside borders until Saturday as a local embroidery company is taking a bit longer than I had expected to do some embroidery of these things Still I can get the corner blocks printed out and also the vertical outisde borders done. I am using actual army and air force green uniforms for the fabric for the outside borders which the Caloundra RSL's Military Museum gave me. It does help that my husband is the Sub-Branch President, sometimes (except when I need him to do things for me at home and he is at the office)!

I am thinking about including some pieced Flying Geese blocks in the outside border to add a traditional touch to the quilt. It all depends on time especially as I still have the quilting to do and that will involve quilting in the ditch and also quilting around the outside of the photos. Hmmm ... looks like a busy week-end ahead!

Update on A2 10-22 Iriquois commemorative quilt

Most of yesterday for an hour or so on and off, I spent ringing Barry (my husband, who was on his way to Kilcoy) checking one detail after another, because once something is printed out it has to be accurate. I was working on making up a timeline (which did not exist) of the Restoration Project and on typing up, then re-writing/ updating a bit of the history of the A2 10-22 helicopter (the original of which had been supplied to me). Plus at $4-$5 a sheet, the photo printing fabric is not cheap. So far I have used about $50 worth of these sheets.

Original layout of the photos surrounding the Iriquois helicopters on the tarmac at Nui Dat, Vietnam 1966

Today was spent sewing additional frames to the top and bottom of the central photo of the Hueys (Iriquois) to extend the vertical side length of the picture (so that all of the photos and text sections would fit down those sides). Then I was measuring, re-measuring and measuring again the photos to go around the central picture.

I have decided that quiltmaking is not just about the designing of the quilt and the sewing but so much more than I had expected about the maths and making sure I am accurate (the area where I tend to make the most mistakes ... vbg ... ).

Today I will sew the one finished right-hand side (see photo above ) on to the central picture then work on sewing together the left-hand side. More measuring and trimming of photos.

The start of the A2 10-22 Iriquois Commemorative quilt (from the Battle of Long Tan in the Vietnam War

A week ago today, my husband Barry asked me to make a commemorative quilt for the Caloundra RSL Sub-Branch's newly acquired Iriquois helicopter which will be put on display in the Sub-Branch's Memorial Garden. This quilt will be raffled to raise funds for the continued maintenance of this aircraft.

We have quite a few 9 Squadron and 6RAR former members in our Sub-Branch and on the Sunshine Coast, hence the wish to acquire this Huey.

A2 10-22 which is the name of the chopper was gifted by the Royal Australian Air Force to the town of Nyngan in NSW after the helicopter was used in flood relief in the town and area years ago. Someone from our Sub-Branch heard of this chopper being located down in Nyngan and which has HUGE significance to Vietnam Veterans. This chopper was used to provide artillery support to Australian troops, specifically D Company 6RAR on August 18, 1966 in the Battle of Long Tan, which for Australians, was one of the biggest battles of the Vietnam War (or Conflict as it technically is).

To cut a long story short Bogan Council (the local government area where Nyngan is part of) agreed to give our Sub-Branch A2 10-22 if we could supply an exchange Iriquois. This project started way back in 2009 and has meant that the Sub-Branch has had to acquire a replacement chopper, restore that, transport it down to Nyngan (about a 12 hour drive south of Caloundra), then transport the actual A2 10-22 back here, fiannly restoring it to its former glory. Oh ... and that has all cost the Sub-Branch in the vacinity of $50 000. Hence the need for fundraising ...

So now, having chased all over the place for Air Force and Army uniforms, photos of the restoration project and photos from Long Tan during the Vietnam War, gathering unit badges etc, I am ready to start.

First place ... unpicking the uniforms so I can use the fabric, insignia and cuffs, collars etc as part of the front of the quilt, whilst I wait for photos to come in to me, via E-mail etc so that I can start printing these off tomorrow morning.

Did I mention I have a deadline of March 12, which is now just 2 weeks away? The dedication ceremony is on March 16 and several hundred people are expected to arrive in town for this.

Here's a link to our RSL front page which features the Dedication Ceremony date:

http://www.caloundrarsl.com.au/social/

Army and Air Force uniforms, badges, fabric etc

A2 10-22 on the tarmac at Nui Dat which was the closest Australian military base to Long Tan plantation where the Battle of Long Tan occurred on August 18 (which is now commemorated as Vietnam Veterans' Day here in Australia)


Information can be found on these websites about the Battle of Long Tan. Both websites are worth looking at especially the 6RAR one.

http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/vietnam/longtan.html

http://www.6rarassociation.com/battlelongtan.htm

Happy Australia Day!

Hubby and I have just come back from lunch with other Veterans and their wives up at the Caloundra RSL. Normally we have our Australia Day celebrations down at Bells Creek (which flows into Pumicestone Passage) but the parks down there are waterlogged after all the rainfall that we have had in the past few days, hence the change in venue. Sadly our annual thong-throwing competition was unable to be held this year. That's the footwear thong, not the underwear thong! There has been lots of conversation on one of my online quilting groups about Aussies getting strange looks when visiting the US when they mention thong-throwing over there!

We are so very lucky to be living in Australia. Even though there are many things that I would change about the country were I Prime Minister, there are so many positives about our country that far outweigh the negatives so I still believe that we are still "the Lucky Country".

Here's some photos of our very beautiful country taken on various trips around Australia:

Hubby and I up near Cape York several years ago

Flying over the northern coast of Queensland

Magnetic Island, off the coast at Tonwsville, Queensland

A friendly little rock wallaby on Magnetic Island

I know a place in Africa: in memory of Karen Blixen - my first UFO finished for 2012

This quilt which I started many years ago now (10+) is finally finished, all bar the quilt label. My good friend Dolly quilted it for me on her Happy Jack quilting machine. Here's a photo of it on my bed. Unfortunately it is not the best photo as our bedroom is not very big and the quilt is a large queen-sized quilt.

I started off with the following blocks but had to take some out, to keep the colour balance right and then I had to make some extra blocks to make the queen sized quilt that I wanted to make. Most of the blocks that did not make the front of the quilt were added into the backing of the quilt.

Here's my original bock which I sent out in the block round robin:

I just love circular blocks of any sort and adore the sunburst block which I have made many times. It is just such a spectacular looking block and one that looks difficult but isn't. This was the original block that I sent on its way in this swap and I am sure some of the swappers were not used to such bright colours. I tired to incorporate other fabrics from the fat quarters that I sent along with my block, so that it would "unite" the other blocks, which for the most part, did happen. I absolutely loved the feature fabric in this block with it sun or eye.

I bought the original African fabrics from a shop in the U.S. called Unique Spool, over ten years ago. Here's their website: http://uniquespool.com/ . I had six or so fat quarters sent to me each month for about a year, selected by the store staff and I still have plenty to make another quilt with.

To make the quilt into a queen size quilt I added in some extra blocks that I made up, as well as some other African-themed fabrics and some batiks which had prints (like the red and green pineapple block print fabric) which suited the African theme of the quilt.

I named the quilt in honour of Karen Blixen, author of the "Out of Africa" book which I read many years ago after seeing the wonderful film of the same name starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. I also have a great love of lions, being a Leo and also of elephants and I do collect elephant staues, although not in a huge way - they have to "speak" to me in order for me to take one home with me!

Here's another couple of lovely blocks and fabrics from the quilt. I do so love the colours and the designs!

I just love the words in this fabric ...

Dolly's quilting looks fantastic on my quilt! Thanks Dolly ...

Happy New Year and first finish!

Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope everyone has a great year this year. Last year was one tinged with sadness for hubby and I. We bid farewell to two good friends - both entering the next life due to that devil of an illness - cancer. RIP Joy and Geoffrey ...

I have completed my first finish of the year! I have finally finished the second of the two mug mats which I made for a swap in the MA online group of friends which I am part of. Actually I finshed it over nearly two weeks ago now (just have not had much time to blog ... ) and it (hopefully) should have arrived at Bonnie Jo's home by now (although poor Bonnie Jo is not well at the moment).

This is a photo of the completed mug mat:

This is only the second mug mat that I have made. I used the tutorial featured on this website:

http://www.stitchesandscissors.com/2011/03/wonky-starburst-mug-rug-tutorial.html

I do so love anything circular so the starburst design really suited me. I used an old facewasher (flannel I think Americans call them) as my batting as I thought that would be more absorbent. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. Bonnie had asked for bright colours which suits me down to the ground since I just love bright, happy colours.

I actually made two mug mats for Bonnie and I was certain that I had taken photos of the first one, but now that I need it to post on this blog, alas I cannot find it. I shall have to ask Bonnie to E-mail me a photo of that mat when she is better. For that first mat I simply used to very bright orphan blocks, which were tilted squares.

The "spoilt dog" in Spoilt Dog Quilts

There wasn't enough room in my profile to explain the spoilt dog in the name of my blog. The spoilt dog refers to my (dear departed) silky terrier, Minnie. Min has been in doggie heaven now for almost four years but I miss her every day. DH and I could not have children together so Min became my surrogate child.

We were livng in Wyandra, 100 km south of Charleville (about 1 000km west of Brisbane) in 1993 and I was  transferred out to Birdsville in far far SW Queensland. Our previous dog Max, a Smithfield cattle dog, had met an untimely end and we were offered the choice of our neighbours silky terrier pups. I went next door and chose Minnie and she was the most fantastic dog one could ever have.

Min was very loyal and lots of fun. Barry was in and out of a wheelchair for the five years following when we were given Minnie and Minnie stayed by his side all the time. Considering that we were living in the Outback where social services are non-existent, Min looked after Barry during the long hours when I would be at school.

Min loved sitting on my quilts when I was trying to sew them and the first two quilts that I made, both log cabins, were claimed by her. The photo above shows Minnie laying in a basket of quilting fabric waiting to be folded.

The photo above shows Minnie laying on some rows of a row by row that I was working on and hopefully I shall finish that UFO in the next couple of months!

Here's another photo of Minnie, looking very stressed out - not! And yes, that is more quilt fabric that she is laying on, with a dresden plate quilt in the background.

Okay, here is yet another photo of Minnie laying on a teddy bear quilt made for a friend's daughter:

Minnie died of end stage kidney disease, poor little thing. She was one of those dogs with a huge personality and everyone who met her just loved her. I could not do a blog about quilting without including Min, hence the name of the blog. I originally was going to call the blog Killerdog Quilts because an old Aboriginal bloke out in Birdsville nicknamed Minnie Killerdog but someone said to me that that didn't sound like a good name for a quilt design company (which is what I hope to eventually start up), hence the name of my blog now. Old Albert called Minnie Killerdog because she used to bark ferociously at him when he walked past the schoolhouse (where we were living in Birdsville on his way to the pub). Albert's thongs/flip flops used to make a loud noise when he walked past our house so hence Min would bark at him. As she was only small (about 5kg and not even a foot high) she could only bite you up to your ankles, so  the name was a bit of a joke. RIP my little hund (German for dog), Killerdog, mutt, four-legged human ... we called her all sorts of names, most of which she answered to!

Out of Africa quilt challenge finished to the quilting stage

Yesterday my good friend Dolly helped me finish the border of my Out of Africa quilt challenging for my online challenge group, Challenging Ourselves.

The blocks are mostly from a swap I did about ten years ago with my online Southern Cross Quilters group (Scquilters for short). I sent out feature fabric that I had bought in bundles from the Unique Spool quilt shop in the US. These are what I call African tribal fabrics, made in Africa with African themes and bright colours.

My own block that I sent out with the African tribal fabrics is the yellow sunburst block, which is the third block from the left in the second row from the bottom of the quilt. I just love making the sunburst blocks and they are dead easy using paper piecing.

The challenge for me was to "edit" the blocks that I received back in the swap, even though some I wanted to keep in. Unfortunately the blocks with turquoise in them just did not fit, as gorgeous as they were. I then made up a series of square in a square, friendship stars and nin patch to make up for the blocks that I had to take out.

I interspersed the pieced blocks with the African tribal prints and some suitable batiks and I am quite happy with how the quilt has turned out. I will say that I got lots of exercise running around the bed in the guest bedroom, constantly swapping the blocks over to make the colour balance work.

Dolly has now taken the quilt top up to her home to quilt for me as she has a lovely Happy Jack quilting frame/machine. I just have to piece the backing, which will consist of the spare blocks from the front, scraps from the front and also some bright fabric and African-themed print fabric, to make the quilt back. I learned from Adina Sullivan many years ago to try to make my backs match my fronts.

I am going to name the quilt " I know a place in Africa: in memory of Karen Blixen (author of the book Out of Africa)" since I loved the book and the film and more importantly Karen's spirit. The book was written in Karen's pseudonym of Isak Dinesen but I preferred to use her real name in the title of the quilt.

9/11 10th anniversary

R.I.P. all those who lost their lives in, and as a result of 9/11. My thoughts and prayers are with those who lost family and friends as a result of this horrendous act and with those who survived the many attacks of that day.

Quilting Blog contest entry - Vietnam War and PVA quilt

I am blogging about an old quilt of mine for the Quilting Bloggers Weekly Quilt contest. This week's theme is Patriotic quilts and so I thought I would enter my quilt "They Served - We are proud of them". If you like my quilt please vote for it by clicking on the Quilting Bloggers link down the right-hand side of my blog.

I made this quilt for the Partners of Veterans' Association (http://www.pva.org.au/) national quilt exhibition back in 2006 but the quilt was made as much for my husband Barry, a Vietnam Veteran, as it was for the quilt exhibition. It was later published in the PVA-produced book of the exhibition (which travelled around all States of Australia and also New Zealand).

My husband is slightly older than me - thirteen years older in fact - and so I was six years old when he went to fight for Australia in the Vietnam War. The learning curve in terms of living with an ex-Army soldier and Vietnam Veteran has been very steep over the last twenty-plus years - in fact it hasbeen almost vertical. I had never even heard of the term PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) before I met my husband, who has this condition as a result of his war service.

What I have learned during my years with Barry is that those men and women who served (and continue to serve) in the Australian Defence Force did so, and do so, willingly and without counting the personal cost to themselves or to their families.

However, we, the wives and partners, well know, our men and women came back somehow different to the people they were when they left Australia. Even now, after more than forty years on from the Vietnam War, there are many Veterans and their wives/partners who are still discovering just what has caused their loved ones to return aktered in personality, with many wounds not always visible - hence the phrase "Not all wounds are visible" along the top of my quilt.

These wounds need to be acknowledged, not just by their partners, but by the government that sent them off to war and related duties (because it is not just war-related service that can cause PTSD in the Armed Forces), and by the general public.

Several years after meeting my husband I went to a social event run by the Vietnam Veterans' Association of Australia (http://www.vvaa.org.au/) . The ladies there were all talking about their husbands, whose characteristics and personalities all sounded similar to what I experienced with my own husband. For the first time I felt that I was not alone in being baffled by my husband's nightmares, extreme and sometimes unexplained temper, rages, responses to loud unexpected noises ... the list goes on.

It is through the unity and "lack-of-needing-to-explain" found within such organisations that the wives and partners of our Veterans can find understanding, support and help for their veterans and for themselves.

Sadly,war and peace seems to always exist in this world side by side. However, the public tends to attack those men and women who serve their country in the Defence Forces rather than confronting the politicians who make the decisions to send troops

In making my quilt, I have chosen to pay tribute to those men and women who have served and continue to serve in the military. I am very proud to be the wife of a Vietnam Veteran, especially one who continues to give to his country and fellow ex-servicemen and women. For many years Barry was a Pensions Welfare officer, assisting ex-military to gain their rightful entitlements and medical/psychological needs from the government and community organisations. He served as Queensland State Vice-President, then President of the Vietnam Veterans Association (VVAA) for approximately six years, as well as resurrecting the South Burnett Sub-Branch of the VVAA.  Upon moving to the Sunshine Coast in late 2003, Barry subsequently became involved with our local RSL and has been on the Sub-Branch and Club Committees, serving as Sub-Branch President for the last 5 years. This is a big Sub-Branch with over 1 200 members so it does keep Barry busy but occasionally he does find the time to go fishing!

Yes, I am proud of my husband and I was especially proud to stand close to him when he received an Order of Australia medal for his services to veterans and the community back in 2005.

As for the quilt I made, the background fabric in the body of the quilt features wattle blossums, the golden wattle or acacia tree being one of Australia's most beautiful trees and also our national floral emblem. The dove in the centre of the quilt carries a wattle branch in lieu of the traditional olive branch.

The corner fabric is from (the now defunct but very wonderful and creative company) Oz Dye~Art fabrics and quilts. It features our wonderful Australian flag.

The phrases around the outside are mostly well-known phrases to do with war but the phrase down the right-hand side of the quilt "If you were there you'd understand" is one that Barry and I came up with.

The photos all are from the Vietnam War and it was critical to Barry that all three services be reperesented. For those who are interested, my husband served in the Australian Army from 1968 - 1974 as a regular Army soldier. Barry served in Vietnam from 1970 - 1971 in Nui Dat in Headquarters 26 Coy.

Out of Africa quilt

I thought that I would showcase one of my older quilts, "Out of Africa" which I started circa 2000 and finished in 2007. At the moment I cannot think why it took so long to finish the quilt but probably work, a long illness and moving house a couple of times had something to do with it!

I have long had a love affair with African animals, especially lions (I'm a Leo) and elephants. As my stepdaughter Anne-Marie, loves tigers I decided to make a quilt for her which is virtually identical to my Out of Afica quilt except that hers has photos of tigers in all of the windows, where I have all sorts of different animals in the windows in my quilt. Note to self: ask Anne-Marie to take a photo of the tiger quilt that I made for her.

When I was making my Out of Africa quilt I had a large selection of fabrics to choose from (some of my friends say that I have enough fabric to open up a quilt shop but then, they are not quilters and do not realise that one can never have enough fabric ... vbg ... )! I wanted my windows to include different animals but looking at the quilt now I missed out on adding in a lion - something which I must rectify. Maybe I could applique a lion on the bottom right hand corner looking up at the rest of the animals ...

I do so love prints that remind me of Africa so I had a great time playing with fabric and fussy-cutting the elephant, giraffe and other animals. One thing I learned from another quilter years ago was to make my quilt backs related to my quilt fronts so have a look at my quilt label and the backing fabric below. Don't you just love the backing fabric?

I have decided to enter my Out of Africa quilt in the weekly quilt contest at this website: http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/05/23/weekly-quilt-contest-wildlife/ . Do go and have a look at the quilts entered in this competition. I love looking at other people's work and deciding whose quilt I am going to vote for and then I go and have some fun surfing some blogs designed by the entrants in the competition.