Dylan J Stone
Cindy Massey, the daughter of Brian and Christine Evitts, was born in Broken Hill in 1961, and attended Burke Ward Primary School and Broken Hill High School.
As a child, Ms Massey says she “was always a keen sewer and spent time with my friend Barbara Farquhar learning to make my own clothes but as my skills developed, I realised my passions were patchwork and quilting”.
“I joined the Silver City Quilters in 1993, so I’ve been a quilter for almost 30 years!” Ms Massey said.
She and husband Graham grew their family in Broken Hill with children Brock, Rhiannon, and Siobhan, but Cindy moved to Adelaide in 2016 following the death of her husband the year before.
She became a member of the McLaren Vale Patch Workers and the South Australian Quilters Leadership Team.
While she is a well-known quilter, Ms Massey said she was “shocked” when asked to become one of three quilters-in-residence at the Done-to-Denim themed Festival of Quilts in 2022. Her shock was only exacerbated when the cancellation and re-instatement of the festival meant there was only one place for a resident available, and that place was to go to her.
“Not only do I love working with denim and scraps, but I also love talking to people,” Ms Massey said, and so not surprisingly she met the criteria for a quilter-in-residence.
Ms Massey’s work was certainly noticed, with three prizes for her quilts, a first prize, a second prize, and a third prize.
“There was quite a crowd that gathered to chat with me to talk about how to make wonky stars and tree blocks,” Ms Massey said. “I provided more than 250 kits that were pre-made for those keen to learn a new skill, and I was very fortunate to meet a couple of new people while chatting.”
One of the memorable moments for Ms Massey was her meeting with Scott, a returned veteran who was drawn to the quilts after receiving an Aussie Heroes quilt while on tour overseas. Scott told
Ms Massey that he wanted to thank the quilters for the work they do.
“That was really touching for me,” Ms Massey said.
At the festival she also met, “a very cool young man named Alex, who was very keen to make his wonky star right there on the day”. So, the two worked together to make an amazing star block, and
Ms Massey said, “Alex was so impressed with his work that the number seven was added to his block, so he would always remember he was seven when he made this block.”
At the conclusion of the three-day festival, Ms Massey left “with a load of amazing memories, more scrap fabric than I started with and plenty of inspiration to channel into new quilts.”
Christine Evitts, Ms Massey’s mother, said she and her husband Brian were proud of how far Cindy had gone with her quilting.
“It’s great to see her skills which she learned as a child in Broken Hill be put to good use in later life.”
Ms Massey, reflecting on her experiences, says, “it just goes to show, the skills and knowledge you learn in Broken Hill will go with you everywhere.”
