Post script to Essence of Australia

You remember last time, I was showing you the process of making my quilt, Essence of Australia?  Well, it turns out that those iconic words by Dorothea Mackellar are still in copyright.  Thanks to Brenda who alerted me to the fact.  I sent an email off to request permission and quite quickly I heard back - as follows:

"I’ve heard from the executors, one of whom is a quilter herself.  They think you’ve done a lovely job and, as the sale is for a good cause, are happy for this to proceed without charge. 

We usually ask for some type of acknowledgment to be included (such as on a tag), however, we do understand if this isn’t possible.  The standard acknowledgment is By arrangement with the Licensor, The Dorothea Mackellar Estate, c/- Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd."

So, I've updated my post to include the acknowledgement and will see if SAQA can include something with my quilt.  Life is interesting!

Essence of Australia

My quilt was inspired by the tree at the front of my house.

 It has gorgeous bark

and it so happened that I had fabric in similar tones.

Because the colours and the tree are so iconic, I wanted something iconic to go with the fabric, so I chose the verse of Dorothea Mackellar's famous poem, "My Country"*. I think just about everyone in Australia knows the words that start "I love a sunburnt country..."  I wrote the words out on a 12 inch by 12 inch sheet of paper, just to make sure they would fit.
*By arrangement with the Licensor, The Dorothea Mackellar Estate, c/- Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd.

I rewrote them on the quilt sandwich itself, using a Frixion pen.  Then the quilting started.

I knew I wanted to use the leaves in some way.

I happened to have some used (and dried) tea bags.  Ah!  Bush tea is a combination of very strong black tea, swirled with a gum leaf for flavour.  I scattered the leaves over the quilt top, then laid a tea bag on top and stitched around each leaf.

I cut around the leaf shape.

These are real, untreated leaves.  As I stitched, I got the scent of the eucalyptus - and as they dry out and crumble, there will be only the shape left - hence "essence" in both cases.

I did a faced finish rather than a binding, as I wanted a clean edge.  I slightly rounded the corners.

Finished!

Check out the following blogs/posts for more creative inspiration!

15 August             Linda Stokes                   linda-stokes.blogspot.com
17 August             Robyn McGrath               SAQA Oceania blog
21 August             Felicity Clarke                 bearlytherecreations.blogspot.com
24 August             Susan Mathews               susanmathews.info