Curator Loani Prior sat down to tea with 29 of the 55 strong membership of the Wallace House Quilters and recorded the stories of their quilts; which are not about quilts at all, but about loss, and laughter and life.
Photographer Mark Crocker captured the women in their happy place, the rooms and verandas of Wallace House.
And now, the Wallace House Quilters share their stories and themselves with you in this extraordinary exhibition.
It’s powerful stuff, and woven into each woman’s personal story is another one; that of the group.
The WHQ has been stitching together since 1984 and is the largest group under the auspices of the Noosa Arts and Crafts Association.
You might remember the curator, Loani Prior, as the Queen of the Tea Cosies and author of four bestselling Tea Cosy books.
But in 2017, she went to the dark side and began playing with fabric and joined the Wallace House Quilters, soon enough, in their boisterous and creative company, Loani was imagining this exhibition, A Life in Patches, modelled on a previous collaboration with photographer Mark Crocker; Portraits of a Tea Cosy (2013-2015 Queensland regional touring exhibition).
Come and stand in the midst of lives, suspended in fabric and listen to the whispers of mothers across the generations, touch the sadness at the death of a child and feel the force of special friendships.
Every single patchwork quilt is a celebration of life.
The exhibition runs from 31st January to 8th March, to RSVP the exhibition opening go to the Noosa Regional Gallery website or phone 07 5329 6145
