Home again..

*WARNING PHOTO HEAVY* - Well, I am home after spending a delightful afternoon with sharonb and four other ladies - W from Nth.Fitzroy with her grandson A, R from Flemington, D from Cranbourne, G from Eltham, and of course myself... Sharon is a warm and engaging person with a ready smile who immediately put us all at ease. We all chatted away as though we were old friends - not a group of comparative strangers - although I have found from experience - stitching people rarely ever have nothing to say :). Jerry, Sharon's husband was on hand initially and assisted us by holding up her quilt while we took photos... Thanks Jerry!!!

The photos are literal happy snaps as I was so busy trying to absorb all the colour and stitching - major eye candy- my snapping was mostly haphazard but very happy... But you get the general idea from the following photos...

I was in awe - probably because I was seeing first hand things I had only seen previously via the Internet.... I would have been content to just look and look and look - then look some more... Sharon's diamond crazy block quilt was a visual feast -it was full of delicious eye distractions to ohhh and ahhh over. It also attracted the interest of a couple of women who were drawn to the edge of the group to admire it... A bit later on Sharon then unrolled her 'work in progress' a progressive stitch sampler - the explosion of colours, the content and the stitching were just overwhelming... I would have been content to sit and examine each panel as they were revealed these were pieces of sharon's history - her celebrations, her personal losses, and her world at large. This stitching really moved me and I thought how in years to come this piece would continue to give insights. Perhaps some 'as yet to be born' will carefully examine it and wonder at the panel pieces and wonder about its 'author'... Even the young chap who was working in the cafe where we were having coffee made an appreciative comment about her work as it rolled out across the table...

Of course the time flew by and it was soon time to leave but not before R showed us a 100 year old red work quilt that was worked in blue and told us the story behind it... As we held it in our hands and looked at the panels of stitching it again reinforced my ideas about the passage of time... Here was an example of some unknown person who created a quilt without a thought to its future only to its potential usefulness at the time of its making and here we were roughly 100 years later looking at it...

As we said our goodbyes and made ready to come home there was an suggestion that Sharon might be persuaded to come down to teach a weekend workshop if we can raise enough interest. So perhaps today suggests the potential for a new adventure and what a great way to start the new year... :)

Sharon xxx