my fabric treasury

Last weekend I visited my mother on the Gold Coast for a few days. As the acclaimed exhibition, Quilts 1700-1945, is on at the Queensland Art Gallery we decided to drive up to Brisbane to see it on Saturday.
The original exhibit, Quilts 1700-2010 Hidden Histories, Untold Stories, was put together by the Victoria and Albert Museum of London and shown in 2010. It was one of the most successful exhibits ever shown at the V&A, with visitors coming from across the UK and around the world. Although, some visitors were thwarted in their efforts to see this wonderful exhibition by the eruption of the Finnish volcano in August 2010, closing down air travel around Europe and delaying flights from the Southern Hemisphere for over a week.
The volcano had been threatening to erupt for months, first spewing lava in March that year. It chose to erupt the day I was due to fly to England, with a group of 17 quilters, to visit the annual Festival of Quilts and Birmingham, Pour l'Amour du Fil in France and various other significant textile destinations, including the exhibition at the V&A. Due to the clouds of ash, all flights were cancelled and we were turned away at the check in counter.
To be able to see the smaller, curated version presented exclusively in Brisbane was a dream come true. It's always fun to see quilty things with my mother, whose been a quilter for more than 30 years!
My memories, plus the book, will be permanent additions to my textile treasury!  (At only $39.95 the book is great value!)

I was lucky enough to further enhance my textile treasury with three quilts that mum gave me...

Amish Thousand Pyramids

She made this Amish Thousand Pyramids in the early 80s. It hung on her walls for more than a decade, spent a decade or so in storage and now it's come to my house to adorn my walls.

It's a cutie

And she gave me this little cutie for safe keeping.

Family Favourite, hand pieced and quilted Whirly Gig

This much-loved family favourite was entirely hand stitched and quilted. I am going to sleep under it for the rest of winter, at least.

Thanks for spending time with me mum, and sharing quilts and enriching my textile treasury of memories, experiences and quilts. Oh, and thanks for sharing some of your stash to go with the new fabrics I bought at East Coast Fabrics (Burleigh Heads), for only $7 a metre!

what a treasure!