Leonie Gittins died on the 17th July from a massive stroke. At her funeral, she was remembered by her husband, Les; and her children, Rob, Maria, Ashley, Simon and Alice who shared the importance of her caring role as wife, mother and grandmother in the family. However, in preparing their eulogy celebrating Leonie’s life, they realised that their Mum had a much richer life than they had fully appreciated. Between them, they identified key traits that were as important to the community she served as they were to the family. Leonie’s creativity, resilience and strength, and a lifetime of learning led her to become a leading member of a wide range of diverse communities on the Sunshine Coast.
Leonie’s creativity was both diverse and legendary
Making doll’s clothes led to making porcelain dolls. Sewing curtains led to making soft furnishings, applique wall-hangings, batik tapestries, patch-work quilts then longarm quilting. She had an artist’s eye for material, colour and pattern and, as her hobby became a career move, her developing expertise was recognised when she was employed by TAFE to teach courses in fabric arts and crafts. For the last 25 years, Leonie has created over a thousand quilts – for sale and to donate to a wide range of charities supporting those in need. She also helped hundreds of other quilters – particularly through the use of the computerised, longarm quilting machine. Amongst all this, one of her lesser-known accomplishments was sewing the Montville Flag from a winning design by a Montville Grade 6 student, Joe Adkins.
Leonie was born into a dairying family and married into a dairying family. She developed her strength and resilience the hard way but it manifested itself throughout her life. In the early years, she relied on the Montville Book and Yarn Shop for ideas, patterns and materials, so when it closed, she had a supply problem. She solved it by opening her own shop, Leonie’s Craft Shop in the Connemara building on Main Street. She went back to school (TAFE) to learn how to run a shop – gaining Certificates in Commercial and Office Studies, Legal Secretary and Dressmaking. These stood her in good stead when she was later employed by Moffat Fashion Fabrics and Caloundra Sewing Machines.
By the early 2000s, Leonie faced, and faced down, ovarian cancer. Her children had all left home and she had the time and studio space to take her quilt-making to the next level by getting a longarm quilting machine. However, the operation of this required fairly specialised IT skills. This did not deter Leonie; she learnt those skills and became the premier quilter on the coast.
With more time on their hands, Les and Leonie joined Probus and the Coast Along Caravan Club. Probus members still recall the talk that they gave over two meetings on the history of Cobb and Co.; while they travelled all over Australia with Coast Along friends. At the same time, Leonie, a keen gardener, learnt how to improve their garden productivity through hydroponic gardening. Leonie also joined the Maleny Arts and Crafts Group to share and learn more about Applique Artistry and lace making.
Leonie always shared her talents with the community.
After the birth of her first child, she volunteered to take childbirth classes for the Childbirth Education Association. When her children were at school, she supported the main fund raiser of the P&C, the May Fair; baking and sewing for days and nights beforehand and then working with Jenny Russell to run the stall that sold all their contributions. She took a leading role in the last days of the Montville Branch of the QCWA, supporting both local and State charities. Initially, Leonie donated quilts directly to hospitals, refuges, and like charities serving the most needy and vulnerable and later worked closely with Sunshine Linus, a not-for-profit group providing support to these right across the Sunshine Coast.
Leonie was admitted straight into palliative care at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital. Its policy was to offer palliative patients and their families a beautiful donated quilt for patient comfort and for the family to keep. Her daughters, Maria and Alice recognised the material, the colours and the pattern. In a case of moving serendipity, Leonie and the family were given one of Leonie’s own donated quilts to comfort them. It was a wonderful recognition of the creativity and selflessness of a woman who gave so much to her family and her community.
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