The Jane Austen Society of Australia

I was privileged to be asked to be the guest speaker at the JASA Christmas luncheon last week.

I had a fabulous day presenting “My Journey with Jane Austen”.  I can certainly attest to the fact that Jane Austen has changed my life.

My love of Jane Austen and her brilliant writing has afforded me many wonderful opportunities for teaching, speaking, travel and life long friendships.

The luncheon took place at Club York in the heart of the city of Sydney.  There were 163 guests present.

The room was buzzing with conversation and celebration of Jane Austen’s birthday (which was on 16 December).

I presented a PowerPoint slide show detailing information about the coverlet that Jane made with her mother and sister.

I have seen this masterpiece on two occasions.  It is housed at the Jane Austen Museum at Chawton in Hampshire.

Here I am, just a little excited to see the quilt.

Here it is on display in one of the upstairs rooms at Chawton.

Gorgeous detail.

I was also happy to share my Jane Austen Quilt Collection with the audience.  I have now made ten major quilts, featuring English paper piecing and hand appliqué, and named after houses in Jane Austen’s novels.  It was very gratifying to receive so much interest in my quilts, my designs, colours, techniques and process, even from the majority of non-Quilters in the room.

Thank you so much to my son, David, who accompanied me on this special day and was most helpful in every way.

I had the chance to meet the amazing President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia, Susannah Fullerton.  

I fondly remember attending lectures given by Susannah on Jane Austen when I was in my twenties.  So lovely to meet her again.

Thank you so much for inviting me to your Christmas event, I had a fantastic day.  Thank you also to Jenny for your kind thoughtfulness throughout the day and to all members present for your interest in my work.

Here is the link to JASA’s website, if you are interested to learn more click here.

If only I did not have to work so much, I would love to attend all of their fabulous events.