Serendipity and the Art of the Quilt

Brenda writes: The SAQA Oceania Blog Hop is nearly at the half way mark and it is my pleasure to host this post by Canberra-based textile artist Beth Miller. Take a look through her studio and be sure to pop over the Beth’s website to see Beth’s creations.

Beth writes: Welcome to my studio on a sunny Autumnal day. The studio was built in 1997. Originally it was a pergola between the house and garage but it was always cold and therefore rarely used. Now it is warm and used almost every day. The room is rectangular in shape measuring 9 metres long by 4 metres wide. This doorway is the entrance from the garden.

The studio has a street entrance as well as the garden access. This was very useful when I was conducting classes at home. I had 10 double power points installed in various parts of the room. Some are now in difficult places to access because of the placement of the furniture, however, the most useful one is the one in the ceiling. This was to keep the electrical cords off the floor and it would be the best bit of advice I can give anyone designing a work room.

This photo looks back towards the garden where the double windows and door allows the light to flow in. There is also 2 skylights in the ceiling which helps with the natural light in the middle section of the room.

The cutting table is close by the sewing machine and can be opened up if necessary. Next to it is a small moveable design board covered in flannel. At the moment I am playing with newspaper and stitch.

A 4 metre design board runs down one side of the studio. This is made from Caneite, covered in flannel and screwed into the wall. I use this as a notice board to keep track of all the things I am meant to be doing, inspiration ideas and working on quilts.

The threads are easy to see in this rack and are protected from the dust by a very fine mesh. When I was first given the cupboard I thought I would never have enough thread to fill it. I didn’t realize I was going to become such a collector and now it holds only one type of thread. All the others are stored in boxes in another cupboard.

Thirty odd years of collecting that is sort of colour coded. Under the table is all the hand dyes in their plastic boxes and everything else that doesn’t have a home and needs to be hidden. The table is a table tennis table with a solid wooden sheet on top. Great for spreading your work out and for basting your quilts.


This is the paperwork end of the studio and for playing inspiring music or not. The completed quilts are stored in the chest and the cabinet whilst all the wool and thicker cotton threads are stored in the colourful boxes.


The display wall runs on the opposite side of the room to the design wall. This is where I hang quilts, posters or anything else I find interesting.

A movable storage unit originally bought to store all the patterns. Plastic boxes were purchased from the $2.00 shops as they are stackable to maximise the space and to keep the patterns in their correct order.

The bookcase fits nicely behind the front door when it is opened and plenty of room to select or browse through the books when the door is closed.

Most of my dyeing, painting, stamping etc is done on the deck if it is hot or in the garden if the weather is nice.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour around my studio. The next studio to visit is Sally Westcott on 15 May and here is a full listing of blog hop participants:

• Mel Forrest (1st May)
• Sue Dennis (3rd May)
• Lisa Walton (5th May)
• Linda Robertus (7th May)
• Dale Rollerson (9th May)
• Averil Stuart-Head (11th May)
• Beth Miller (13th May)
• Sally Westcott (15th May)
• Ali George (17th May)
• Pam Holland (19th May)
• Felicity Clarke (21st May)
• Brenda Gael Smith (23rd May)
• Alison Lawrence (25th May)
• Jenny Bowker (27th May)
• Sue Domeney (29th May)