Guest Speaker at Vic Quilters 25th Anniversary Gathering

It was great to meet up with lots of lovely ladies at the Victorian Quilters Inc AGM today.  It was a special occasion because they were celebrating their 25th Anniversay since inception with a number of Foundation members and past Presidents in attendance.

I had the honour of being the guest speaker.  Despite a technical hitch (my PowerPoint presentation would not work!), I talked about my “Journey with Jane Austen” and my passion for history and stitching.

I brought as many quilts as I could fit in two suitcases, as well as some patterns and kits (plus warm clothes).

Here is “Pemberley”, always my signature quilt.

“Longbourne” also made the trip.

Unfortunately, I was unable to share all the slides I had prepared of my Whitecroft Traditional Tours trip to England to walk in the footsteps of Jane Austen.  I did talk about visiting Chawton in Hampshire and seeing “the” Jane Austen quilt.

Jane spent the last eight years of her life here, which was a very productive time for her writing.  Amazing to see the tiny desk where her masterpieces came to life.

And here is me, just a bit excited to see the quilt.

The first time I visited in 2015, a small section of the quilt was on display.

In 2017, more of the quilt was visible.

The colours and detail are very beautiful.  Jane knew how to fussy cut!  She was also very symmetrical!

This is where Jane Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral.

I described all of my other Jane Austen quilts during my talk, they can all be seen by clicking here.

I am looking forward to spending the next two days with some lovely ladies to learn my techniques for making “Meryton”.