First Lady of Afghanistan.....

Last year, the then Australian Gender Advisor in Kabul, COL W, asked me if it would be possible for us to make a quilt for her to give to the First Lady of Afghanistan who she worked with in her role.   I rarely take on requests to make quilts for non-Australians but I decided that this was a pretty special case and also quite an honour. 

I asked Vivienne, and the wonderful ladies from the Krazy Kwilters, if they would consider making the quilt and thankfully they were more than happy to do so. A team of four, including Margaret T, Lyn R and Brigitte W, worked on the quilt under the leadership Vivienne.    All these ladies (I am advised) are grandmothers, all bar one are over seventy and they all have several grandchildren.   The ladies were assisted by 84 year old Albert A who checked the embroidery programs and made sure the embroideries were the right size and colour.  

The end result, as you can see, was a stunning quilt featuring Australian State flora and fauna and other Australia icons. 

Unfortunately, on the day that COL W had an appointment to meet with the First Lady of Afghanistan to present the quilt, operation circumstances prevented her from doing so and she was due to leave Kabul before another opportunity would present itself. 

The presentation was completed by COL W's replacement in the job and I am told that the First Lady was really was very touched by the gift, and spent some time going over the design, as evidenced by the photo. 

These photos will give you a better look at the detail. Sorry about the resolution but I have to use Low Res photos in the blog to make it accessible to all. 

A huge big thank you to COL W for trusting us with such a task and to Vivienne and her team for their beautiful workmanship. 

Till next time...... keep spreading the word and happy stitching!

Jan-Maree xx