By CHELSEA CLUGSTON
ANYONE who thinks that quilting is a lost art should think again because the Mount Evelyn Exhibition Space is showcasing a quilting comeback this month.
On display are a range of miniature quilts that have been hand-crafted by a group of women called the Morrison House Quilters.
One of the pieces is titled, Jewels Under the Water.
Fashioned from exotic fabrics and metallic threads, it is the design of local mum Jo Goodwin.
She has been a member of the Morrison House Quilters for about six years and still remembers being invited to join by the woman who founded the group.
“She said to me ‘if you can sew in a straight line, you can come along’,” Ms Goodwin said.
A full-time mother of three and part-time volunteer, Ms Goodwin has little spare time for hobbies.
But she finds her monthly quilting sessions both socially and mentally satisfying.
“It’s one of those things where it gives women the opportunity to get together and enjoy each other’s company.
“We teach each other things as well,” she said.
“You get the opportunity to do something you enjoy doing without interruptions.
“At home, there is always a child or a husband to interrupt.”
She does not call herself a temperamental artist.
In fact, she doesn’t think it possible to be a temperamental quilter.
“If something goes wrong you can usually fix it,” Ms Goodwin said.
“At worst, you can always cut it up again and use it for something else, like any form of sewing.
“A lot of people look at quilting and think it’s complicated, when in actual fact there are tricks to make it very easy.”
She said it was as basic as starting with “a piece of material” and getting inspiration “out of a book”.
Yet when put together, it is “sewing an art form” – one the Morrison House Quilters display annually at the Exhibition Space.
“Last year was portraits,” she said.
“This year, because some people found the portrait thing rather confronting, we did an easier one – miniature quilts.”
Miniature quilts are, as the name suggests, a smaller version of the bedspread that can be framed and hung on the wall like a piece of art.
“There are 19 different miniatures framed on the walls, showing different techniques that people would use to do a quilt or a wall-hanging,” Ms Goodwin said.
“One woman has done a pieced one, with 152 pieces of material in it.
“It’s great as an art form.”
The miniature quilts will be on show at the Mount Evelyn Exhibition Space until the end of June.
