Feature – Stitching together a brighter world

Leonie Cecily Gittins stitched together a brighter world, and her husband Les and her children, Rob, Maria, Ashley, Simon and Alice share the joy she brought through her creativity as a fabric artist and community member. 

by Doug Patterson

Much-loved hinterland local Leonie Cecily Gittins sadly passed away from a stroke in July this year. After the funeral service Maria, Ashley and Alice reflected that in preparing their Mum’s eulogy they discovered that there was so much of her life they didn’t know or had forgotten. 

In particular, Alice, the youngest of the five siblings, realised that their mum had a rich life, one that she had not fully appreciated. Between them, they identified key traits that were as important to the community Leonie served as they were to the family. 

“Our mum’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,” shared Alice.

Leonie’s creativity was not just diverse, it was legendary. As a child, Leonie grew up on a family dairy farm at Oakfield, a small community near Tansey.

Maria said, “Mum sewed from a young age, making clothes for her dolls and later for herself. My Grandma, Coral, would have taught her.” Sewing grew from a necessity to a hobby to a career for Leonie, in ways she could not have anticipated.

Making dolls’ clothes led to making porcelain dolls. Sewing curtains led to making soft furnishings, applique wall-hangings, batik tapestries, patchwork quilts, and longarm quilting. 

Leonie had an artist’s eye for material, colour and pattern and, as her hobby became a career move, her developing expertise was recognised by TAFE, who employed her to teach fabric arts and crafts courses. 

Ashley recalled that, over the last 25 years, Leonie has created hundreds of quilts – for sale and to donate to a wide range of charities supporting those in need. She also helped many other quilters, particularly with 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.

Being born and marrying into a dairying family, Leonie 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. 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, Montville. 

Leonie returned to school (TAFE) to learn how to run a shop – gaining certificates in Commercial and Office Studies, Legal Secretary and Dressmaking. This “I can do it – I just have to learn how” attitude became a feature of Leonie’s commitment to lifetime learning. 

This stood her in good stead when she was later employed by Moffats’ Fashion Fabrics and Caloundra Sewing Machines sewing clothes from new materials on new, pre-programmed sewing machines for display.

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 when she purchased a longarm quilting machine. However, the operation of this required fairly specialised IT skills. 

“I was impressed that this did not deter Mum,” said Ashley, “and that she learned those quite advanced 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 - Elanda Point was her favourite spot to visit. Probus members still recall the talk the couple gave over two meetings on the history of Cobb and Co. 

Leonie was a keen gardener, and learned how to improve their garden productivity through hydroponic gardening and aquaculture. Yes, the family learned to eat homegrown fish! 

Leonie also joined the Maleny Arts and Crafts Group to share Applique Artistry and learn more about paper making and glass work. 

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. Ashley vividly recounted his memory of these classes. “It was not unusual to see a pod of pregnant women beached on our lounge room floor with Mum providing instructions, aided by a baby doll and hand-knitted womb.” 

When her children were at school, Leonie supported the main fundraiser of the P&C, the May Fair; baking and sewing for days and nights beforehand. Sue Delaney still remembers Leonie working with Jenny Russell to run the stall that sold all their sewing and baking 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 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.

Following the stroke at home, Leonie was admitted to palliative care at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital. Its policy was to offer these patients and their families a beautiful donated quilt for patient comfort and for the family to keep. 

Almost immediately, daughters Maria and Alice recognised the material, colours and stitch pattern. In a case of moving serendipity, Leonie and the family were given one of her own donated quilts to comfort them. 

It was a wonderful unwitting tribute to the creativity and selflessness of a woman who gave so much to her family and her community. 

Vale Leonie Cecily Gittins – 1949 to 2024 - a Montville Gem.