As with most of the quilts I seem to make these days, this quilt was made to celebrate the impending birth of Dawn and Eric’s first baby. It has turned out to be a much loved quilt – a sentiment I’m very pleased to hear – and I hope that Luc (now 3) will share the quilt with his new baby brother Oscar, who was born in early April this year.
The quilt itself is a simple design – a 3 x 3 squares of ‘wonky star’ 9-square blocks, separated by approx inch-wide sashing. The fabric I used for the squares is a favourite – a thick yellow fabric with lavender coloured flowers. The outside border is a dark purple and the quilt itself is quilted in the ditch. Not terribly complicated itself but simple enough to make the quilt look good by the fabrics and colours selected. I was worried that the quilt was a bit ‘girly’, given the fabric colours I’d chosen (always hard when you don’t know what gender the baby will be) but Dawn assures me that it is well loved despite its appearance.
Most quilts these days, as I’ve said, are generally for babies, and this one was no exception. The friendship I share with Luc’s mother, despite existing these days by brief and sporadic emails, is enduring. It seems to be one of those friendships which don’t require a lot of work and no matter how long it’s been between communication, or meeting face-to-face, one feels that it can continue to flow easily and in good spirit.
I first met Dawn about 10 years ago. We are both fans of Crowded House and as such, are members of a fan mailing list known as Tongue In The Mail, or TITM as many know it. (The name itself refers to an obscure lyric in a Crowded House song). The mailing list was a lot more active in those days and Dawn had posted a message saying that she was on Melbourne’s shores, and did anyone want to meet up? I responded, and we met near Luna Park in St Kilda. We seemed to click from the get go and a friendship blossomed.
From then on, we would meet up and visit places, from Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill to spending Easter at my cousin’s place in Traralgon. We visited several Crowded House haunts and at one point attempted to find a house to move in together in inner Melbourne with another CH fan, which didn’t eventuate.
After several years of living in Melbourne and later New Zealand, Dawn returned to the UK. In 2003, I visited England for the first time and Dawn went out of her way to do some sightseeing with me, from walking around London, visiting Hampton Court Palace, going to a radio comedy show, organising a memorable weekend trip to Bath, Stonehenge, Avebury, Cheddar and Glastonbury. Seeing the Cerne Abbas Giant and walking right up to the Uffington Horse have stood out over the years.
At that time, Dawn introduced me to her Dutch boyfriend Eric, later husband, whom she’d met whilst living and travelling in New Zealand. They married and we later caught up in New Zealand in December 2005 – she on her honeymoon and I with my fiancé, on my own Kiwi adventure prior to my wedding. Despite the years between seeing each other, we easily slipped back into our friendship and enjoyed several days of doing touristy things in Rotorua like Zorbing and getting lost in a mediocre maze.
Dawn and Eric’s ‘European’ (first) son, Lucas, arrived in September 2006. Since then, Dawn and I have corresponded mostly by email. Mostly these have usually been about the big events in our lives – getting married, having children and so forth – but I’ve always found Dawn’s succinct descriptions of news and events quite supportive, amusing and informative. She often provides me with reassuring advice and even though the music of Crowded House may have led our paths to cross, it has featured very little in our conversations since. Despite the distance, I treasure her presence in my life greatly and I feel fortunate to think of her as one of my dearest friends.
I first met Dawn about 10 years ago. We are both fans of Crowded House and as such, are members of a fan mailing list known as Tongue In The Mail, or TITM as many know it. (The name itself refers to an obscure lyric in a Crowded House song). The mailing list was a lot more active in those days and Dawn had posted a message saying that she was on Melbourne’s shores, and did anyone want to meet up? I responded, and we met near Luna Park in St Kilda. We seemed to click from the get go and a friendship blossomed.
From then on, we would meet up and visit places, from Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill to spending Easter at my cousin’s place in Traralgon. We visited several Crowded House haunts and at one point attempted to find a house to move in together in inner Melbourne with another CH fan, which didn’t eventuate.
After several years of living in Melbourne and later New Zealand, Dawn returned to the UK. In 2003, I visited England for the first time and Dawn went out of her way to do some sightseeing with me, from walking around London, visiting Hampton Court Palace, going to a radio comedy show, organising a memorable weekend trip to Bath, Stonehenge, Avebury, Cheddar and Glastonbury. Seeing the Cerne Abbas Giant and walking right up to the Uffington Horse have stood out over the years.
At that time, Dawn introduced me to her Dutch boyfriend Eric, later husband, whom she’d met whilst living and travelling in New Zealand. They married and we later caught up in New Zealand in December 2005 – she on her honeymoon and I with my fiancé, on my own Kiwi adventure prior to my wedding. Despite the years between seeing each other, we easily slipped back into our friendship and enjoyed several days of doing touristy things in Rotorua like Zorbing and getting lost in a mediocre maze.
Dawn and Eric’s ‘European’ (first) son, Lucas, arrived in September 2006. Since then, Dawn and I have corresponded mostly by email. Mostly these have usually been about the big events in our lives – getting married, having children and so forth – but I’ve always found Dawn’s succinct descriptions of news and events quite supportive, amusing and informative. She often provides me with reassuring advice and even though the music of Crowded House may have led our paths to cross, it has featured very little in our conversations since. Despite the distance, I treasure her presence in my life greatly and I feel fortunate to think of her as one of my dearest friends.
I've yet to meet the recipient of this quilt, but I'm confident that our families will meet again sometime in the near future!
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