Pam Holland, a dear friend of The Quilt Show and one of our earliest guests, has won the prestigious Rajah Award in Australia. "This award will acknowledge an outstanding contribution to quilting in Australia, whether it be a contribution as a quilting teacher, designer, author, historian, guild worker, retailer, etc or a combination of work in several of these areas." Click through to read Pam's heartwarming statement about what it means to her to win this award.

From Pam Holland:

"OMG, I just got back to my room after touring and teaching today to find I won the Rajah Award in Australia. I'm gobsmacked, to say the least, and with no internet when I was out all day, can anyone help, I don't even know who to contact. I'll have a Moroccon Sim on my phone tomorrow so I can ring them. Rajah Award. Tears flowing folks. Thank you so much. This award will acknowledge an outstanding contribution to quilting in Australia, whether it be a contribution as a quilting teacher, designer, author, historian, guild worker, retailer, etc or a combination of work in several of these areas. This award is called the ‘Rajah Award’ in tribute to the historic Rajah quilt made by convict women en route to Australia in 1841."

Here is a little more background on the Rajah Award from the Australian Quilt Awards:

"RAJAH AWARD - This is named after the historical quilt, The Rajah Quilt, which was made by female convicts on the ship ‘Rajah’, as they were transported from England to Van Dieman’s Land (now called Tasmania), in 1841. Follow the link to learn more about the significance of this appliquéd coverlet, for it’s relevance to presenting the award, in recognition of the ‘outstanding contribution to quilting in Australia’."

But that's not all, because Pam is not the only Quilt Show guest who has won the Rajah Award. Lessa Siegele, our 2016 Block Of the Month designer, also took home the award in 2007. Winning the award inspired Lessa to create her own version of the iconic Australian quilt. While the original Rajah quilt is held in the National Gallery of Canberra and is 126” square, Lessa’s quilt is 63” square, and after many requests she wrote to the gallery and with their permission wrote a pattern for it. The pattern, which she still sells, has been very popular both in Australia and in the United States.

Learn from Pam here on The Quilt Show by watching her in What is the 1776 Quilt by Pam Holland | Applique Tips from Alex Anderson.

Then, learn from Lessa by watching Block of the Month Quilt 2016 The Rajah Quilt by Lessa Siegele.

Congratulations to both Pam and Lessa for your award and your contributions to the quilting world.