Close Shave

Well, I had all the items put together for my baby bundle commission, when I decided to add a little embellishment to one of the bibs. How sweet it would be, I thought, to machine embroider something around the neckline- a little animal, perchance. So I chose a design stitch on my Bernina and set to work. Oh, it looked so cute. I was putting the bundle together and took another admiring look at the bib. I broke out in a cold sweat - what was I thinking of? The animals were pigs!!! The father of the baby is a policeman!!!

Back to the drawing board. I quickly made another bib.





Whew! Much better.

I did manage to finish a little sundress which will be in my Etsy shop tonight.



And I was overjoyed when I checked my PO Box and discovered a parcel of fabric had arrived from the States - some beautiful Anna Maria Horner delights which I can hardly wait to get stuck into.

But the highlight of the day was at Schoolhouse Quilters (I was off medical duty for a couple of hours). One of our members, Mollie Millis, had been persuaded to talk on the historic trip she took last October to Belgium. Mollie's uncle, John Hunter, had been killed in the First World War and thanks to Mollie's DNA, he had been positively identified as one of five World War I Australian soldiers whose bodies were discovered during some excavation work. Several of us had heard Mollie talk of her trip, but not in great detail. So today was really special. She spoke for over an hour, but the time simply flew by for us. Now, Mollie is over eighty and a great-grandmother, but not your usual great-granny crocheting quietly in a corner. Mollie plays comp tennis and whips up quilts like they were going out of fashion. You can read something of the story on:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/diggers-nameless-no-longer-thanks-to-dna-match/2007/09/04/1188783236807.html.

On the day of the re-burial ceremony, attended by the Australian Governor General and the New Zealand Prime Minister, Mollie was advised that the BBC wanted to interview her. By this time she was a regular media tart. She wandered into the BBC tent, but was surprised that no one came near her. Eventually a young man said, "Are you Mollie Millis?" "Yes, I am." "Oh, I'm so sorry - we were told to be on the lookout for a lady in her eighties. I've got a couple of aunts in their eighties, and they sure don't look like you!" She was justifiably chuffed.

I only wish that you could all have been there to hear her remarkable story. We have pleaded with her to have it recorded on film, so that not only her family, but the rest of us can benefit from hearing the remarkable part she took in our military history.

As a footnote, a mutual friend was in the States last October and arrived at the airport to travel home. She glanced up at the TV screen to see the evening news, and there was Mollie!