Orange Quilts Overseas

   Definitely Floored by Ann Visman, Orange, NSW

Two friends from Orange, NSW are selected as semi-finalists in the prestigious American Quilters’ Society Quilt Show in Paducah, KY and decide to go and see their quilts hanging among the best in the world.

Ann's Story
My name is Ann Visman and I live in Orange with my husband Chris and our three children.

Patchwork began for me in 1978 with hand piecing and making smaller items. This was very slow and tedious for me, especially with a young family. Returning to work full-time and part-time study put patchwork on the back burner. On completion of the Advanced Fashion Retail Certificate, I was offered part-time teaching and one of the subjects I was asked to teach was patchwork. So I was off in a new direction.

With the closure of Fashion in the TAFE system, I opened Ann’s Pincushion in 1992 and began teaching various fashion subjects as well as patchwork. I completed the Accreditation programme with the New South Wales Quilters’ Guild and in the past seven or eight years, I have been teaching seven three-hour classes a week. It has been my pleasure to assist other patchwork teachers to gain their accreditation. I have exhibited quilts in several shows including the Canberra Quilt show and, in the last few of years, in the Sydney Quilt show. This experience has allowed me to inspire my students to try new skills and prepare them for exhibition also.

Eighteen months ago, Belinda Betts of Eucalypt Ridge Quilting, Julie Cox (my daughter) and I, tossed around the idea of a group of quilters attending the AQS show in Paducah. Plans were made and set in motion and there are seven of us joining a tour from Nashville to Paducah. Badgered by Belinda, I decided that it was the right time to try to make a quilt using a photograph of a miniature circular parquetry floor that I had taken a few years before. My quilt, Definitely Floored, was created (image courtesy of the artist).