Small Quilts from a Land Down Under

Someone special from Australia has made quite a few small quilts this year.

Marian lives on 2 acres in Tanjil South, Victoria, Australia with her partner Andy and 2 small furry boys - Elmo and Oscar. (Cats - she has four adult children as well).

Her mother was a seamstress and Marian was taught at a young age to hold a needle and thread and stitch a needlework tapestry. Her "mum" also let her sew on her Singer Featherweight and by the age of nine Marian had already made clothes for her dolls. In her teens, she also made most of her own clothes on the Singer. Lucky Marian, she still has that sewing machine.

 

 

 

 

 

Marian has an associate diplioma in Art and Textiles and, in addition to quilting, weaves scarves which she sells through a few local art galleries. I am lucky enough to have been the recipient of one of them!

She made her first quilt, a queen-size log cabin, in 1999 which was hand quilted and finished just in time for the Millenium.

 

 

Love your color combinations here!

 

By 2008 Marian had discovered civil war reproduction fabrics and Jane Stickle’s "Dear Jane" quilt and says she was definitely "smitten." To date, she has made 22 DJ blocks, each sewn by hand, just as Jane’s was.
 

 

(This is from one of my "Schoolgirl Club" patterns )

 

 

(Schoolhouse quilt from Prairie Children & Their Quilts)

Here's what Marian says about making small quilts :

 

"On a sleepless night back in 2010, I stumbled upon your [Kathy's] blog, quite by accident . . . imagine my surprise!! As it happened,  I already owned a copy of ‘American Doll Quilts’ and ‘Prairie Children and Their Quilts’ and here was the author’s blog, what a thrill!! It was while reading your blog that I discovered you had a Yahoo quilt group, so I signed up immediately because although I had never made a doll quilt before, I was keen to get started . . . and I’ve been happily making doll quilts ever since. 

"I love the whole process of making a small quilt, but above all I love to hand quilt . . . it’s such a lovely, relaxing thing to do. I must admit that I’ve enjoyed the Small Quilt monthly challenges immensely. One of the things I’ve discovered while doing the challenges is that I’m really having fun with personalizing the designs, adding my own twist, if you like. I’ve also discovered that I love the challenge of making smaller versions . . . I’ve become addicted to minis LOL!!"

 

 

 

 

 

Inside Marian's studio

 

Thanks, Marian. I've so enjoyed seeing your beautiful work.

Visit Marian's blog at http://marianedwardsdreamweaver.typepad.com  You're in for a treat!