doing the quilting yourself, refer to
Step 19 on page 80 for instructions
on how to baste the quilt.25
Quilt as desired. Lyn’s quilt
was quilted on a long-arm
quilting machine by Donna Warren
of Quilted 4 You. She worked an
edge-to-edge design of fl owers and
butterfl ies in mauve thread.26
Trim the excess backing fabric
and batting^11 ⁄ 4 in outside the
raw edges of the quilt top.27
Cut the 2^1 ⁄ 2 in strips of tone-
on-tone print fabrics for the
binding into a variety of different
lengths at random. Join them, end
to end, to make one long multi-fabric
strip. Refer to Steps 22-23 on page 80
for instructions on how to use this
strip to bind the quilt.LYN’S BIAS TAPE
TIP Before feeding my bias
strips through a bias-tape maker,
I spray them lightly with starch. I
find that this causes the edges to
fold over and stay in place more
readily as I iron them.LYN BERTRAM
Why this particular craft?I found patchwork
through a friend of mine while living in Wagga
Wagga, NSW, with my family in 2000. First
lesson, I was hooked and I haven’t looked back.
Have you tried plenty of others? I was an
avid cross stitcher before I found patchwork,
but that doesn’t get a look in anymore. Over
the years, I’ve done plenty of sewing and
knitting, as well.
If you weren’t doing this, what else would
occupy your time? Not sure what I’d be doing;
can’t seem to get beyond quilting.
Who taught you your crafting skills? Mum was
a sewer and knitter, so I guess that’s where it
all began, but she was never into quilting. After
moving to Sydney, in 2003, my daughter was
looking for a job for herself and found one in
a patchwork shop for me – my dream job, she
said. I learnt so much from a couple of the
long-time quilters who also worked there.
A year later, I was teaching classes.Any good stories to come from your
developing interest in patchwork? When we
were looking to buy our home, my husband’s
first priority was “does it have a big enough
space for Lyn’s sewing/teaching room?”
What does this craft mean to you?
Everything! I’m sure my family thinks I live
andbreathe it, and I probably do. I love
teaching classes and passing on what I’ve
learnt through the years, and it’s great to
learn new techniques, too. I have made some
wonderful friendships along the way, and
some will be forever friendships.
Is it hard to find time to do your stitching
or is it a profession? Apart from catching up
with family and friends, this is how my time
is spent. I run classes from home twice a
fortnight and teach classes at a patchwork
shop in Hornsby one weekend bi-monthly.
Over the past four years, I’ve jointly run seven
quilt retreat weekends with my buddy Donna.
I’ve also led two quilt tours to England/Europe
and two tours to the USA, where I formed
some great friendships.
From where do you draw inspiration? It’s
hard to say. Lots of times, it’s the fabric that
inspires me. Other times, I may have seen
a quilt that I like parts of and work with that
as an idea. Sometimes, it’s just talking about
quilts with friends and students and
something just evolves. It’s great to toss ideas
around and see what you come up with.
Do you ever see yourself stopping or
diversifying? No not at all. I’m well and
truly hooked.
Where do you live and work? I live in Albion
Park, in the Illawarra, in NSW. We moved here
two years ago from Sydney and just love the
slower living pace down here. I’m very spoilt,
when it comes to my workspace. The house has
a granny flat under the same roof at the rear,
and it can be closed off from the rest of thehouse. I’ve taken the whole lot so I have a
classroom that sits up to eight ladies, with a
small kitchen for morning teas, a separate
sewing room just for me and a storage room.
What’s your family structure? I’m married with
three grown children – two sons and a daughter.
Between them we have eight grandchildren.
Three of our grandchildren live close, so there’s
often sleepovers happening. Rob is a reservist
with the RAAF and a keen gardener. We have
a 10-year-old ginger cat, named Deni.
How would you describe your style? What
makes it unique? I’m a bit partial to antique-
style quilts, but am pretty flexible, and I like a
range of different styles. Needleturn appliqué
would be my favourite method of quilting. I’m
not into art quilts, though. I don’t think I really
have a style, although some of my long-term
students say they can always pick my quilts.
Any embarrassing botch-ups along the way?
There are always booboos here and there with
cutting and sewing strips on the wrong way,
but I think everyone has that sometimes.
What are your favourite materials to work
with? I have discovered Polyfuse in the last
six months, where you get a needleturn finish
without actually needleturning the fabric.
There’s quite a lot of prep time, but once
that’s done, away you go. I use Superior
SuperBOBs for my appliqué.
What’s your advice for beginners? Try not
to let a bad experience put you off. I recently
had a lady join my class who was just about
to give patchwork away, as she’d attended
a few classes where she felt “lost” and didn’t
know what to do. If you find yourself in a class
like that, try a different class and a different
teacher. Not all classes are the same. That
lady has now finished two quilts since she
started and can’t believe she was once going
to throw it all in. It’s great to see the huge
satisfied smile on her face.Gett ing to know ...
01
PROJECT38 Homespun