This is one of the many baby quilts I made for a customer. Notice that I have hand embroidered the baby's name and date of birth at the bottom of the quilt. This will make it a treasured heirloom for years to come.
Four years after giving birth to my son I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. I found that the love in my heart expanded and I was overwhelmed with joy. There is nothing more precious in life than ones own children and the love for them has no boundies. Again I was lucky enough to stay at home to witness this precious baby girl grow and develope thanks to my fabric business. She is lying next to my old floppy doll on one of my handmade quilts.
I first appliqued a sweater for myself but got so many compliments I started taking orders. Customers could choose their own designs and I would transfer the idea onto a sweater using machine and hand applique.
After making my first wall hanging for my own baby I became inundated with orders from friends and friends of friends. This was the first step to starting a creative fabrics home based business.
I longed for a child and was blessed with a beautiful baby boy. I was not aware that a human being could feel so much love but my heart overflowed. Despite the many broken nights and difficult days with a baby who had respiratory problems and colic, I loved being a mother. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my precious baby. I wanted to be there when he cut his first tooth, said his first word and took his first step. I sat for hours watching his sleeping form and my soul was filled with awe and such an overwhelming love. I decided that instead of returning to work I would stay at home and be a full time Mom. To help make ends meet I started sewing as a means of making money.
I bought a sewing machine not realizing just how big a part of my life it would become. I made clothes and curtains at first but the artist inside of me wanted something more creative. I enrolled in a beginners and then advanced Quilting, Applique and Patchwork course at our local college. This was the beginning of a new chapter in my creativity which spanned many years. I joined a Quilters Club which was not only great fun but full of inspiration and challenges. This is a group quilt with a patch made by each member of the Quilters Club. All of the African heads were hand appliqued and then each patch maticulously sewn together to form this gorgeous quilt. We won 2nd prize. The head I put together is the lady with the yellow scarf on her head (middle right).
This is one of the windows I dressed during my time at Greenacres Departmental Store in the centre of Durban, S Africa. It was a promotion for the perfume Oscar de la Renta. The outfit is a single piece of fabric held together by pins. I copied the style of the outfit in the perfume advert. Amazingly the store had more enquiries from customers wanting to purchase the 'outfit' than for the perfume itself! I won Best Window and the prize was a bottle of Oscar de la Renta perfume.
Beautiful work Gill! Thanks for sharing your blog with me. You are truly talented and innovative. Give our love to Aileen when you see her and Wally when you talk to him.
Gill Robinson fine art and illustration using mediums such as pencil, coloured pencil, pastel, watercolor, mixed media. Photography prints available. Commissions welcome - please contact for details
