My teaching assignment at Rags to Riches in the Hunter Valley yesterday prompted reminiscences on several fronts. David and I first met in connection with a project in this area so it is very familiar territory. When I suggested that we head up a day early to do a spot of wine tasting, David didn’t need much persuading. We nabbed some slightly spartan but thoroughly clean and comfortable motel-style accommodation at super-cheap standby rates through www.wotif.com.au leaving some pennies left over for more important things like food and replenishing our wine supplies. We visited some of our old haunts together with some new wineries. Thursday was for tasting only and David returned for buying while I was teaching on Friday. (An added bonus is that the wine cases make ideal posting boxes for quilts.)
Alison keeps an interesting range of fabrics but it was the “vintage chenille” that caught my eye. Throughout the store, there are examples of all sorts of projects incorporating these bedspread remnants. I grew up with cotton candlewick bedspreads and dressing gowns so these bundles were very evocative of my childhood. More significantly, I can trace my first exposure to patchwork back to candlewick. My bed had a white candlewick bedspread and I learned that I was not to lie on it wearing dirty clothes or shoes. Instead, I had to lay out one of the [single layer] patchwork covers Mum had made with 5-6inch squares from her dressmaking scraps. My mother’s wardrobe from the mid-60s included an abundance of sateeny, sparkly fabrics with interesting colours and textures. Many an afternoon nap was spent studying the patchwork covers and tracing the shapes in the fabrics. Alas, the patchwork covers are no longer around but the memory lives on…
Judy says
Hi! Brenda,
Sound like a great trip. Memories of Chenille dressing gowns? Now that take me back a long way.
Judy