DivaDale

Anne Marie Serrano

Kansas, USA

Hi, I'm Anne Marie Serrano and this is Cooper, our Rescued Airedale and Bean Sidhe in our garden in Benton, Kansas . I am a part-time adjunct lecturer at a local college. I love reading, gardening, and now after starting this wall hanging - quilting.

Bean Sidhe (pronounced Banshee) just turned 10 on St. Patrick's Day and we have had her since she was a puppy. We think Cooper is 11 years. He was adopted shortly after our other female Airedale and BS's best friend, Terra, died suddenly. A few years later, Galen our 16 year old male also died.

My significant human, husband Fergus Thornton, had an opportunity to work in Australia for a year so all four of us packed up and moved to Canberra, ACT, Australia in the spring of 2008. It was there that I met Sue Forrester and Jenny Patience and during one of my last visits with them the seed of Wall Hanging was planted.

Each block highlights iconic images of the Australian landscape. I created "Diva-dale" singing near the Sydney Opera House. She is serenading us with her middle of the night howl.  A playful dolphin takes a peep to see what all the commotion is about.

I also made, "Aires Rock".  Momma looks on while the Uluru kangaroo nanny takes over. We all know what great mothers Airedales can be but every mom needs a break once in a while. A kindly kookaburra looks on and in the background is Uluru - Ayers Rock.

In the western part of the country is "Pearl-dale". The area is famous for its pearls and wild flowers so our mischievous Pearl-dale, in classic terrier fashion, is pronking through the flowers with her newly acquired adornments.

I stitched all of our blocks together to create "Airedales Downunder". This wall hanging has been so much fun to work on. It has helped to cushion the blow of returning to the USA and missing my new Aussie friends, it kept me busy and in contact with Jenny and Sue. This is for all the Airedale friends, the furries and the pinkies. It was a labor of love.