Miscellaneous

This quilt has travelled to many galleries in Australia as well as to France and Japan as part of an invitation International Exhibition. The theme of the exhibition was ‘Nature and the Environment’. This was my response to LAKE. ‘Salina’ was made in 2005

‘Salina’ means ‘Salt Lake’ and this is where the inspiration behind my quilt originates. The Salt Lakes of inland Australia consist of large flat areas of red earth which are edged with Samphire, a salt loving plant. After rains these areas hold water but very often they appear dry but are soft and muddy to walk on. As they dry out there is a white salty residue left which is spectacular against the red earth.

I have used commercial and hand dyed fabrics. Colour has been transferred from painted Vlisofix. This has given the crusty finish. Machine quilting, hand embroidery have added accent.

While travelling in SW Queensland we experienced a dust storm. The wind blew and the air was filled with dirt. It was inside and outside, on our skin and in our eyes. There was a general feeling of melee. I have tried to depict these feelings with cotton threads, hand dyed cotton fabrics, burnt and torn edges, hand embroidery, machine and hand quilting. Made in 2005.

Stretching from the Great Australian Bight to the coast of Queensland, the ‘Dog Fence’ is an historical fact of inland development. It runs for 5,300 kms and is the longest fence in the world. The layers of distinctive hexagonal wire netting are designed to keep dingoes out of sheep country.

This textile piece has been made from hand dyed cotton fabric as well as synthetic and pre-loved cotton fabric. Hand printing in a hexagon pattern, machine and hand quilting along with frayed and burnt edges complete the design. The binding is whipped with a heavy thread.

This quilt was juried into the Exhibition called ‘Under Flynn’s Wing’ which was displayed as part of a celebration of Eighty Years of Flying Doctor Service in Australia.

John Flynn’s dream was to provide a ‘Mantel of Safety’ over the people who live, work and travel in regional and remote Australia. I imagined a ‘Safety Net’ over all of the inland, over the sand, trees, rivers, grasslands and wherever people may roam. To represent this I have woven a ‘safety net’ over photographic images.

To achieve this I used hand dyed cotton, hand dyed and commercial threads, machine quilting and appliqué, photography and knotting of threads.

This piece was inspired by the Flinders Ranges where the mountains surround you with their ruggedness and distinct outlines on the horizon.

At times they actually appear to be in layers as they fade into the distance with varying light at different times of the day.

The mountains have been stenciled using fluid chalk.

The tiny rubbings were taken from rocks found along the valleys within the ranges themselves. Hand quilting has added texture.

This quilt was juried into the ‘My Place’ exhibition which travelled Australia and overseas.

‘Allawah’ - I camp here, this is my place, under the blue skies of Australia.

The desert especially offers a place of freedom, a place of peace and beauty.

The weather lines in the sand and rocks are dominant around me and against the blue of the sky. My feelings are of the simplicity of nature and my thoughts ensure that I tread lightly amongst the litter of sticks, leaves and animal foot prints.

Hand dyed and printed cotton fabrics were embellished with both machine and hand stitching.

This wall hanging was juried into the exhibition ‘Dwell’ developed by the Wangaratta Gallery in 2008. It is now part of the Gallery collection.

My ancestral roots are intrinsically woven into the country here in the north east of Victoria. My great grand father settled land in Greta in the mid 1800s. At a similar time my husband’s great grand father settled in Milawa where I now live.

There is a significant ‘Living Spirit’ within me, to know that my Great Uncle and my Great grandfather, so long ago, travelled the country where I now dwell. There has been a continuing family line farming in Victoria’s North east since that time.

Three rivers - the Ovens, King and Murray dominate the overall landscape of the area along with the natural landlines of undulation .

Farmlands and roads have developed over the years as well as some natural changes in the landscape.

The pre-loved silk pieces were dyed with natural products found on the banks of the Murray River. The tonal variation in these pieces differentiates the paddock grasses.

I have used machine stitching, hand quilting and stitching, and bush dyeing of a variety of pre-loved silks which show different tones when hand dyed. Hand dyed cotton, silk and cotton threads complete the work.

For several weeks after the Black Saturday fires of 2009 the sun set through thick smoke. It was a breathtaking site. Too bright to look at but with a demanding magnetism. The sun was blood red and gave a special aura to the land and hills each evening.

Hand dyed cotton fabric has been appliquéd to represent the Warby Ranges, west of our home, over which the sun sets.

Texture has been added with machine quilting, appliqué, transference of colour from nappy liners and an application of foil to give the red of the sun.

Inspiration came from an inland desert scene. The first impression is the overall vastness of the land and the sky. When you look more closely there are many details of interest, like stones, water lines, dried earth, fallen debris, animal marks and the odd scrap of man made debris.

The fabrics used were hand dyed and commercial cotton fabrics, synthetic velour, polyester chiffon scarves and eco dyed cotton string.

Embellishments of rayon, metallic and cotton threads were added to the machine quilting and embroidery. I also did burning with a soldering iron and heat gun, then rubbed with distress ink and treasure gold and gold Shiva stick.

‘Desert Fragments’ was made in 2009.

Rusty old farmyard equipment always inspires me, especially if the property has been deserted. It tells me of unrewarded work and the sadness and disappointment the family would have felt at that time. The rusting process follows and brings a new life to the shapes of the equipment.

Cotton fabric has been marked with discarded pieces of rusty metal.

Rayon and cotton thread was used to quilt the three sections by either hand or machine. After quilting the three sections were joined with a piped accent.

Inspiration for this hanging came from the work of Korean artist Chunghie Lee. I applied the lovely ’kekki’ seams to a polyester organza overlay which hangs over eco dyed cotton which has been machine pieced and hand quilted.

The piece was accepted into the 2011 exhibition for the Beechworth Fibre and Fabric Award.

A trip through a river gorge of inland Australia is a really beautiful journey. A river gorge has been worn away by many eons of water travel. Droughts leave these gorges dry but the wet season often leaves large lagoons of water in which the towering rocky cliff is reflected.

A series of deconstructed screen printed pieces were used for the design which was machine quilted.

The work was made in 2012 and has been juried into the exhibition ‘Australia Wide 3’

All the pre-loved silk in this work has been ‘bush’ dyed. 'Bush' dyed fabrics have been dyed over a camp fire using leaves, bark or fungi in the dye pot. My love of bushlands inspired me to do Eco dyeing outside. Many pieces for this work were dyed while camping on the banks of the Murray River.

The design has come from the beautiful marks and the colours on the silk. The name ‘Moorundie’ is an aboriginal word for Murray River.

I have used both variegated rayon and cotton threads for hand embellishing the work.

This quilt has been accepted for the Victorian Quilters

'One Step Further' Exhibition 2012.