On display at Magnetic Island , this is part of the show running for several weeks at Amaroo on Mandalay. A quilt which sold soon after the opening is destined for Washington .
Ms. McLean's involvement with quilting goes back to her mother who first began making quilts about 40 years ago in Tasmania , ran quilting classes . In 1983 an old barn had been scrubbed out and a successful quilt show was staged.
While Sue had a fulltime career in teaching , quilting was a creative outlet. Poems she wrote relating to quilting, which give the impression they could have been composed by Clive James , are spread about the exhibition.
The 35 quilts on display include Amish style, Irish chains , a Japanese Kaleidoscope . Bags of men's shirts bought from op shops years ago were used to make covers called In the Red, I'd Rather be Fishing , Shirty Strips, The Mathematical Quilt - the last two based on a Kaffe Fassett design .
Explaining the history of quilts, she said they had traditionally been bed covers , made from handy material -old clothes , old blankets and flour bags. Some early Australian quilts had been made from possum skins.
Continuing , she pointed out the social class of the quiltmaker could easily be determined . Pioneer white settlers in Australia and America randomly cobbled together whatever they could find in order to keep their families warm .
When they had more leisure time , they became more creative and made patterns out of their fabrics , indulging artistic talents. Upper class ladies usually made quilts from silk , satins and velvets , more as decorative or status items .
One quilt in the island exhibition , called Tribute , (below ) is based on cotton fabrics designed by Indigenous women .
Near a Tasmanian quilt , made in the Amish style , is the following associated poem.
One prized work on display , Pippa's Quilt, was made more than 35 years ago by Sue's sister , Pippa Jacob-Miller , shortly before she died from cancer . Another of her quilts, View from Woodbridge Hill , featured in Quiltmaking by Susan Denton and Barbara Macey , l987.
 |
Pippa's Quilt is shown above . The Moon is the subject of four hangings; an afternoon on the Columbia River inspired Oregon Mountains and Island Waves is based on the " Japanese Waves" by Nerida Benson .
|
