Rosalie Quinlan’s dream of producing a book has |finally been realised.By Casey Neill
UPWEY craft queen Rosalie Quinlan used her battle with breast cancer as motivation to follow her dreams.
Ms Quinlan launched her book of patchwork patterns, Gift, at Belgrave’s Glenharrow Gardens last Sunday (29 June).
“Glenharrow’s a bit of a second home for me. I’m quite close to the owner there, Marg,” she said.
“She’d been through the breast cancer as well and three years into her treatment I found out and we were very close friends and we were fabulous support mechanisms for each other during that time.”
The patchwork pattern designer has more than 220 different patterns that are sold in more than 15 countries under her label Rosalie Quinlan Designs.
“I’ve wanted to do a book for a long time,” she said.
“But when I became ill two years ago with breast cancer I decided to do all the things that I’ve dreamt about doing so that I got them done.”
The first thing was to go to the Houston International Quilt Market which she and younger sister Melanie did in October last year.
They plan to return this year with patterns from Rosalie Quinlan Designs and their joint label, Melly and Me.
“I think there’s something like 18 million quilters in America so that’s a fairly exciting marketplace to try and be part of,” she said.
Ms Quinlan’s third goal is to design fabrics.
“I haven’t started on that yet, I have to get one thing done at a time so the book’s done now so the fabric’s next on the list,” she said.
Ms Quinlan started out selling hand made dolls and quilts in craft markets in 1992.
“But the income you can make from that is really limited because it’s as much time as you can put in and if you’re putting in really good quality materials you’re not making much back on it,” she said.
Then someone asked her where they could buy the patterns for her creations.
She began writing patterns in 1996 as a stay at home mum with three young children, now aged 15, 17 and 18.
“I have a very crafty grandma and even though she lives in Holland I think it’s filtered through,” she said.
Ms Quinlan said the gift of creativity passed on from her grandmother helped to inspire the book’s title.
Gift also refers to the 15 projects in the book, which she hopes will be given as gifts.
“And then finally I just see this part of my life as a gift after breast cancer,” she said.
Gift features the Pink Ribbon Day symbol on the cover, with 50 cents from every sale of the book to be donated to the Cancer Council.
Ms Quinlan also included a thank you to the nurses and doctors at the Maroondah Hospital breast clinic and day chemotherapy ward in the book.
“They’ve also been part of the process because every time I was in there having surgery or chemo I’d always have some hand work with me,” she said.
“They’d always make jokes because I’d be sitting there and I’d get upset if I couldn’t do stitching.”
Gift retails for $35 and is available from patchwork and craft shops.
