Helen's Quilt

My mother-in-law Helen holds a strong connection with family dear to her heart. She has three siblings and its very important to her that her children are close with their aunties, uncles and cousins. To celebrate this connection and to commemorate Helen’s 60th birthday, I coordinated the family to sew squares for a quilt. It was 2020 and we were in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so it was good for us all to have a project to keep us busy. We worked together on a really special project which had a big impact on everyone involved.

Helen’s parents migrated from England to Australia in the 1950s, as part of the £10 ticket scheme. They migrated on their own, without knowing anyone, to try and build a better life for themselves and their children. Helen grew up as one of four children, and had no other family close by. Feeling this lack of extended kin deeply, Helen was determined that her children would know connection with theirs. As a result, my wife Anna grew up surrounded by cousins, all living nearby in the same regional city of Bendigo. Over the course of their lives, however, many of the cousins had moved away to bigger cities and lost some of this closeness.

Perhaps the most important thread was not the kind holding the patches together, but rather the message thread where everyone discussed, shared ideas and encouraged each other. Reaffirming a closeness which had been missing from our busy lives. Some people had never sewn before and others offered them tips and support. The project was a chance for everyone to get to know each other while celebrating someone we all care deeply for. We were all surprised by the quality of the end result, with many of us learning new skills.

We communicated online and through the post as we couldn’t visit. Each household received a parcel filled with threads, fabric, interfacing and needles in order to come up with a square representing themselves and/or their relationship with Helen. I made and found videos and instruction sheets to help show everyone how they could make their design a reality. The result was a gorgeous, queen-sized quilt in her colour scheme: red, brown and gold. This project represents a feeling of joy through the incorporation of three key elements; giving happiness to others, connection to family and of course, the pleasure of creating something with one’s own hands.

We used applique for the main part and the process included these steps: 1. Draw a simple design: 2. Trace the design onto tracing paper to use as a pattern: 3. Use a good pair of scissors to cut out the design in the chosen fabrics and fusible webbing: 4. Carefully iron the fabric pieces together by placing the webbing between the pieces: 5. Blanket stitch around the edges. Even though some people found the process daunting, everyone had a go and, with help from the group, each household was able to create something to be proud of.

The first square is by a nephew who works in robotics and features a smiling robot. Next to the robot is a design from Anna’s childhood. A “doggy thinking of a bone” which Helen had knitted into matching jumpers for herself and Anna. Helen shares an interest in lapidary, prospecting and jewellery making with another nephew and this is depicted on the third quilt square representing him and his family. Next up is a message from Helen’s dear sister saying “Side by side, or miles apart- Sisters will always be connected by the heart.”

On the second row of the quilt, there is a sprig of gum leaves and flowers above an aboriginal art pattern arranged by Helen’s sister-in-law and brother. Next are some Chinese lions representing another nephew and his family. This nephew performed a beautiful lion dance at Helen’s wedding. Next along is a piece by another sister-in-law and brother, with a flower to represent each member of their family and a silhouette of their dog in the middle. The last piece on this row is from Helen’s husband and is based on a special photo with Helen.

The third and final row begins with a design by a niece who is a vet nurse. Next to that is a square by Helen’s son and his partner who share a love of plants with Helen. They chose to depict Helen’s favourite flower, the lily, as well as their favourite, succulents. Helen’s mother made the next piece, another floral design, featuring some family history depicted by a Scottish thistle, an Irish clover and Australian wattle. Last, but not least, the quilt is completed by a piece from Helen’s other daughter and her partner, who created a lavish curtain with draping swag and the family cat, Jay, standing in the window, scratching the curtains. A terrible habit of Jay’s which annoyed Helen no end, but which never stopped her from loving him.

Putting the quilt together involved repeat watching YouTube tutorials, a new quilting foot, a lot of patience and many meters of bias binding. I attached the individual pieces into rows, and then sewed the three rows together. Each square was separated by a length of bias binding. Along the sides of the quilt, I created strips by sewing different sized squares and rectangles of the quilt fabrics together to create a mosaic pattern. I’m not super great at cutting things in straight lines, so it was really important to have a good pair of scissors to help with getting all the pieces to line up and look good. Once the front and back pieces were prepared I sandwiched them together with a piece of batting between and pinned it all together with safety pins. Starting in the middle of the quilt, I slowly and meticulously sewed along the lines of the bias binding, continually needing to unpick and resew when the fabric bunched up. All the while having the huge, now queen-sized, piece of fabric slung over my shoulder as I forced it through my sewing machine.

Mailing the packs and then the finished pieces stretched out the timeline and of course resulted in a mad rush to try and get the whole thing put together as quickly as possible (or preferably quicker). It was hard work, but fun and worth it. As we were in lockdown, we sent the gift to Helen and all got together on Zoom to watch her open it up. She was so pleased and now keeps the quilt on her bed. The project brought me joy and even better, it brought our family closer together.