WHEN Michelle Lewis started to look for meaningful gifts to give to her friends’ babies, she soon realised that she had to make them herself as retail items weren’t going to cut it.
“I was in my mid-thirties at the time, looking for gifts for babies. I wanted to give my friends gifts they would remember and treasure. Someone gifted me a quilt about 24 years ago when I had my first child, and I still have it, so I thought, let me learn how to quilt,” said Lewis.
She then spent the next two years learning how to quilt by watching YouTube videos, which she says didn’t do her any good.
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“I finally admitted, in 2017, that I needed to join a guild or go to a class as I needed someone to show me how it’s done. Learning from someone’s experience is way better than learning from videos or trying to do it yourself,” she said.
She’s been a member of Quilters by the Sea since then – a group of quilters with a well of knowledge about every stitch and trick there is to know about the craft.
Quilting became Lewis’ therapy – her happy place – and has remained a constant in her life although she has a few unfinished projects – she’s had them for about two years now – but says, with a chuckle, that she will definitely finish them when the time is right.
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“The wonderful thing about sewing quilts is that you have no idea how it will actually turn out. You have to trust the process. Each quilt is made with love. Hours of a person’s time that go into each quilt – something you can never put a value on,” she added.
Lewis, and thousands of other quilters from around the world, will be attending the South African International Quilt Festival which takes place from July 4–9 in Pietermaritzburg.
“I’ve been on the committee for this event, and I’m looking forward to meeting new people and learning whatever I can from the different workshops,” she said.
“The festival committee has pulled out all the stops to ensure that this year’s festival is filled with some awesome hobby and craft. We encourage everyone to attend and support the event,” she said.
For more information on the festival and for the day programme, visit https://saquiltfest2024.co.za.
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