pennejefford.blogspot.com

I lived in South Australia for a time and  used to love to drive along beside the mighty Murray River, the colours so Australian.  The high sandstone cliffs in places towering over the river and rich bird life made it a very special part of Australia.  The rusted and dyed fabrics in this piece are reminiscent of the Murray and that time in my life.  Picnics along  the river banks with my children and then the long drive back to the Adelaide Hills where we lived dot my memories.  Size about 5 ft eight inches long.  I still have to hand turn the bottom of the quilt but that is for another day. 

I lived on my grandfather's sheep property, "Wayford"  while very young.  He and my grandmother had twelve children and raised them near Armidale in New South Wales.  A beautiful home with a long driveway of pines, gardens, tennis court and down the rear was a shearing shed.  I used to visit it and was fascinated with the slats in the floor and how the light shone through them and the smell of the sheep wool.   Along the road it sat on were several properties all belonging to family members including my great grandfather's home named "Blink Bonney' .  As a child it gave one a sense of family and grounding and with a huge family came many cousins, around 24 of them by memory.  Quilts 29 x 27 rusted and commercial fabric, farm stencils.  Machine and hand quilted.