WHAT IT MEANS TO ME TO BE AUSTRALIAN

Today is Australia Day. The day, we as a nation, stop to celebrate who we are and it’s got me thinking about what it means to me to be Australian, and what it means to be an Australian Quilter.

Today I’m going to share some thoughts on that topic (it’s a little like writing a school paper!) and I’ve asked some other Australian quilty types to share their thoughts. You can find out more about that at the end of this post. I’m also going to share with you a fabulous discount code so you can make a little bit of Aussie patchwork fun on this Australia Day.

I’m fiercely proud of our Nation and the things that we’ve done, although I’ll be the first to admit that we’ve got a long way to go when it comes to some aspects of our national conduct, reconciliation and culture. I must confess that I find it hard to write about Australia Day when we still seem so far away from making changes to the way we treat Australia’s Indigenous community and now the way we treat those that seek asylum on our shores, however I make it a point to not talk about politics in this space and to try to keep my face towards the sun and so I’m going to focus on the things I love with this post and try to use the positives to drive the cultural change of the not-so-positives.

I’ve grown up with universal health care, a higher education system that’s supported by the government and a standard of living that most can only dream about and I’ve grown up taking them for granted because they were just always there. But now as an adult (barely) and a parent I’ve had cause to think more about the things that make this country special and the things that I hope we continue to do into the future.

I’m proud of the fact that we have a system in place to try and help those that cannot help themselves, that we have a health system that gives everyone access regardless of their socio-economic standings and that all children have access to a higher education system that won’t leave them bankrupt at the end of their studies. (I know, there’s room for improvement on all these things, but at least we have something. At some point our government, the representatives chosen by the people, made a commitment to helping and that’s something to be proud of and to fight for.)

For me Australia is a place where people will come together to support each other, where we work hard and where we know not to take ourselves too seriously. It’s a country of extremes and unparalleled beauty. I will never tire of traveling in Australia, the contrast between the northern and southern environments is just too sublime. The pure spectrum of colours from the reds, oranges and purples of the Australian outback to the blues, greens and greys of the Australian coast line and rainforests. It’s spectacular and something I wish more of us could see and appreciate.

Australia Day is one of my favourite holidays during the year (did you know that it only became a nationally recognised public holiday in 1994) and it’s probably because it’s a holiday that’s all about having fun with your mates (it’s actually about more than that, but I like to just break it down to the core – it’s about all of us celebrating together as a nation in whatever non-violent form that takes). For me it’s about getting together with friends, playing some street cricket and eating BBQ’d food. It’s the simple pleasures, and I think that’s probably reflective of who were are as a Nation.

When I think about what it means to be an Australia Quilter a few striking things come to mind;

• Our sense of humour. Without fail every time I attend a quilty type meeting it is filled with laughter and the quilts shared tend to have some humour to them, whether it’s in a cheeky use of fabric, the quilt name or the creation story attached to the quilt – there’s humour. We love to have a laugh and we love to share that in our work. (Like to see an example, check out my “Fat Bottom Girls” or anything made by Cat @ Cat + Vee.)

• Our strong sense of colour play. One of the things that I love when I attend quilt shows is the diverse use of colour. I often wonder whether we’re so strong with colour because our natural surroundings are saturated with colour. A lot of my favourite quilts have been inspired by the colours of the Australian wildlife, botany and geography. Brenda Gael Smith is one textile artist who always pops to mind when I think about colour and Australian inspiration. Kim McLean also has a fearless use of colour in her work. There’s countless others – you just have to get out there and see what’s shared on Instagram to know that we’re a nation of quilters that aren’t afraid of colour.

• Our strong sense of community. A great example of this is the response that Joshua (of Molli Sparkles) has had to #SewingforSydney. When our country experienced something that shook our national identity and resulted in the loss of innocent lives instead of turning to rioting and furthering the race/religion divide Australian Quilters sat down at their machines and poured out hashtag block after hashtag block to help make quilts for those directly impacted by the Sydney Siege. I truly believe Australians to be some of the most giving and supportive people around and this shows itself daily in quilting groups both online and in person.

These characteristics aren’t limited to just Australians and Australians definitely didn’t invent them, but we certainly embrace them and make them our own and they’re some of the things that I’m proud of. It’s also not an exhaustive or definitive list, it’s just the three things that immediately spring to my mind when I think about the Australian quilting community and their work. I’d love to know what you think of when you think about Aussie quilters – just leave me a comment below!

I’m only new to the quilting world and my exposure and experience with it is very limited, but I’m really enjoying finding more and more Australian quilters to fall in love with; some well established, some up-and-coming. We have such depth of creativity in our quilting community and I feel so blessed to be able to share in that creativity through social media, quilting groups, quilting events and online groups.

I’m really excited to see where quilting in Australia will head in the next 5, 10, 20 years. The emergence of social media has opened up so many opportunities to people and it’s exciting. It’s exciting to watch, it’s exciting to dabble in it through sharing my work here, in social media and now as my work is published. It’s exciting to see others start to get global recognition and it’s exciting to think that only bigger things are coming.

To mark Australia Day in 2015 I’ve been working on a little Australian animals inspired quilting project using Kristy’s (of Quiet Play) paper pieced patterns. (These are the blocks that are shown in this post.) Paper piecing was on my list of things I’d like to improve in 2015 and what better way then by supporting a fabulous Australian pattern maker and having fun with fabrics.

If you’d like to make your own Australian Animals (the blocks finish at 10″ squared) Kristy is offering a 26% off discount until the 27th January. Just used coupon code Aussie26 at the checkout. You can find the patterns by clicking here. How awesome is that, right? Told you us Aussies are a generous bunch.

Because I think variety is the spice of life, and I want to pick the brains and hear the thoughts of others, I asked the following fabulous Australian bloggers and quilters to wax lyrical about what it means to them to be Australian and what it means to them to be an Australian quilter.

Click the following links to find out more:

– Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts

– Cat @ Cat + Vee

– Gemma @ Pretty Bobbins

– Melissa @ Ms Midge

– Raylee @ Sunflower Quilting

– The Team @ Make Modern

 As much as Australia Day is a time for Australian’s to stop and enjoy our nation, I think it’s also a great time for everyone to stop and appreciate their countries, what they’re proud of, what they’d like to do better, how they’d like to make a difference and how they’re nation impacts on their creative expression.

I don’t think we should use our nationalities (religions, classes, choices, sexes, etc.) as a way to divide ourselves, rather a way to identify how we’re similar, how we’re unique and how when we work together we can make something really beautiful and we must never lose sight of that. Happy Australia Day!