Crafting of an Australian Citizenship Quilt NSW Contributions

“Dad would smother the porridge in brown sugar
and full cream milk that was usually delivered in
bottles every morning by a milkman to our door.
Forty years later I still love porridge, but my poor
sister turns pale when she thinks of it. She’s
never eaten porridge again.
ID047
Gibbs-Carson, Felicity
Ulladulla NSW
What it Means to be an Australian Citizen
“I am a sixth generation Australian of English
and Irish descent. Most of my ancestors came
to New South Wales in the 1820s. Some were
looking for a better life and some were convicts.
“I was born in 1959 and I suppose that is when
my Australian citizenship begins. I grew up in
Orange on the Central Western Tablelands of
NSW. Growing up in Australia in the 1960s was
a very interesting time. I have a vivid memory
of listening to the wireless reporting the
disappearance of our then Prime Minister,
Harold Holt. I remember watching the Moon
landing in glorious black and white, and growing
up listening to my parents reliving the horrors of
‘their war’, World War II. It didn’t seem long
before our boys were off to Vietnam and my
generation’s war.
“ In my quilt I have tried to represent the
memories that stand out the most to me as a
child growing up in Australia. For breakfast
every day my Dad made Uncle Toby’s Oats for
my sister and I. He was hard working and loved
our family and it was his way of helping Mum
while she got ready for work.
“Billy tea also played a big part of our growing up
in Australia. I had the most wonderful
grandmother who made the best afternoon teas
with fresh pikelets, strawberry jam and cream.
Nan had a beautiful large pink teapot and I was
always told ‘one spoonful of tea for each person
and one for the pot’. Years later when Nan was
very old and after the amazing invention of tea
bags, that beautiful teapot sat on the side board
in the ‘good room’. That’s where Nan kept her
secret money. I remember Mum going to her on
occasions when times were tough and there
were bills to pay. Nan would quietly go to her
teapot, take a note from it, and slip it into Mum’s
hand. What would we have done without our
Nan’s generosity?
“Aeroplane Jelly was Mum’s favourite and she
always made raspberry jelly for a special treat.
Mum always tried so hard to make everything
special when we were growing up. ‘Any colour,
as long as it’s pink’, she would say. That went
for food, clothes, or flowers, she just loved pink
and she was wonderful.
“These three very important people are gone
now, but they will never be forgotten. They are
the people who taught me what it is to be
‘Australian’. So what is so special about being
an Aussie? I would have to say our loyalty, our
generosity, our sense of humour, our fierce
determination, our larrikinism, our sporting
achievements, our fair play and always watching
out for the under dog. We are so fortunate to
live in this wonderful country. Our way of life and
our history, born here or not, is what makes up
proud Australians and we are all Australian.”