Photographs of quilt made from fabric circles

Abstract

Photographs of quilt made from fabric circles made by Marjorie Bligh. The “Suffolk Puff”, a small rosette of gathered fabric, is this year making a comeback in the catalogue of British queen of retro kitsch, Cath Kidston. While most people can manage a cushion cover in Suffolk puffs, Marjorie in her heyday could turn out an entire bedspread. In her autobiography, she recalls: “Early March [1978] I started a quilt that took me 2½ months, or 228 hours. First, I cut out 1,368 rounds of different scrap material using a saucer as a guide, felled the edges, then gathered into a small rosette resembling a miniature shower cap. I then sewed one to the other – four joins on one rosette.”(Danielle Wood) “Marjorie Bligh is Tasmania’s queen of the household scene. Often referred to as “Australia’s Mrs Beeton” or “Tasmania’s Mrs Beeton”, she was born Marjorie Pearsall, in 1917, in the Tasmanian midlands township of Ross. In her self-styled career as a housewife superstar, she married three times and produced six books on cooking, home economics, craft, history and gardening. She published her signature household manual under all three of her married names: Marjorie Blackwell, Marjorie Cooper and Marjorie Bligh. A pioneer recycler, Marjorie has for several decades been renowned for her spirited campaign against useful resources being poured into landfill. Famous for never wasting a thing, she has converted thousands of used pantyhose and plastic shopping bags into reusable items. It has long been rumoured that Marjorie was an inspiration for Barry Humphries’ Dame Edna Everage. Marjorie lives in Devonport in a house that incorporates a small museum where she displays her handcrafts, scrapbooks and other treasures. She is 94 years old.” [Danielle Wood 2011]