Anne Sushames

detail Fragrant Threadbare Stars

I have come from a sewing background and have always sewn for as long as I can remember. As a child I had a toy sewing machine that sewed a chain stitch that was quite functional which I used to make dolls clothes. I soon graduated to sewing on Mum’s treadle and made lots of dolls clothes for my younger sisters and later my own clothes.

My first introduction to patchwork was through the story of Milly Molly Mandy who made a patchwork tea cosy. I could clearly see in my imagination this crazy patchwork tea cosy and wanted to emulate it, although I never did.

My aunt was a trained home economics teacher and made hexagon quilts from dressmaking scraps in the 1960’s. When I was in early high school I made my first patchwork from ~4” squares of dressmaking scraps sewn together and lined as in the early coverlets. I used this as a bedspread while at university. I subsequently made a bedspread from left over curtain material patched together with coordinating gabardine, again a coverlet not quilted.

When pregnant with my first son I made my first hexagon coverlet as a cot cover again from dressmaking scraps. Several hexagon quilts later I found patchwork and quilting groups and attended my first quilt retreat in 1986 at Minden in Queensland (I lived in Brisbane at that time) where I discovered to my delight a whole world of other people who loved to sew and quilt. To me the social aspect of quilting is what I enjoy most, sharing and meeting with other quilters.

Today I am a bit of a patchwork junkie, regularly attending groups from Victorian Quilters, a state wide body to several smaller groups meeting in each others houses so sew and share the ups and downs of our lives.

Up until 2008 I hand quilted all of my quilts. I really enjoy the quilting process which adds another dimension to the patchwork giving it extra vibrancy. In 2008 I purchased a longarm machine and now have the pleasure of working on lots of different quilt tops finishing them for other people and speeding up the quilting process considerably. I still enjoy hand quilting but machine quilting gives a different look and finish that is achieved much more efficiently.

Most of my quilts are traditional but I enjoy choosing my own fabrics and changing things slightly to make them my own. I have always been driven to keep going to “see how it looks” and to start new projects. Like many quilters I always have lots of UFO’s (Unfinished Objects) or PHD’s (Projects Half Done) as I can’t resist starting another new quilt.

This year I have become involved in the Snuggly Quilt program organised through Victorian Quilters and the Wrapped in Love program at the Royal Children’s Hospital where we make and distribute quilts to sick children. I enjoy the process of making quilts as much as the end result. It is so rewarding to be able to give quilts to children who are in such a vulnerable situation and experience the delight they can give to children and parents alike.    

Fragrant Threadbare Stars

Hand pieced and hand quilted Engllish paper piecing

177cm w x 191 cm h

2011

This quilt was made in response to a challenge issued by Victorian Quilters in 2011 to make a quilt based on a quilt featured in Annette Gero’s book Fabric of Society about Australia’s Quilt Heritage form Convict Times to1960.

I chose to base my quilt on Frederica’ Josephson’s Quilt of Diamonds and Hexagons. At the time I did not own a copy of the book and drew up the pattern from a picture I had in an earlier book of Annette Gero’s “Historic Australian Quilts” and used templates I had to hand piece my quilt over papers using the English Paper Piecing method. The first contact with quilting I had was my aunt making a hexagon quilt back in the 1960’s and I made a hexagon coverlets for my first baby back in 1979, so making this quilt was a return to my quilting roots. I used to hand quilt all my quilts but since purchasing a longarm machine had done very little hand quilting, but I felt that this quilt deserved to be hand quilted in keeping with the times although the original quilt was a coverlet and not quilted.

I used fabrics purchased from The Fragrant Cottage in Warrnambool and Threadbear in Castlemaine with vouchers I had won at a previous Victorian Quilters Showcase Exhibition, hence the name Fragrant Threadbear Stars.  

DOLLS'S BED QUILT

English paper pieced hexagons, hand pieced and hand quilted Liberty tana lawn cotton with pellon wadding

51 cm h x 44.5  cm h

2012

I made this quilt in 2012 when I gained custody of a family heirloom doll’s bed that had belonged to my grandmother. When the bed came to me it had no bedding so I made a mattress, sheets and pillow with pillowcase and of course there had to be a quilt.

I agonised for some time over a suitable pattern but when a friend suggested a miniature hexagon quilt I knew that it would be just right. I used liberty fabrics and pellon for batting. Again hand quilting seemed appropriate for this small project. My granddaughters now enjoy playing with this remarkable doll’s bed.

detail Fragrant Threadbare Stars