The baby quilt shown above was made by Rita Hodge in 2010. She sold it on Etsy and it was sent by Registered Mail from Melbourne, Australia to Milan, Itay on February 15. She was able to track it all the way to Italy, but it never reached its final destination.

On May 1, 2010, Rita reported that the quilt has been recovered! Apparently it spent two months sitting in an Italian Post Office, unclaimed by the recipient. Exactly two months after its arrival in Italy, it was returned to sender, and it arrived on Rita’s veranda in Australia just six days later. The parcel was intact and unopened. Rita says, “It has restored my faith in our postal services!”

This quilt is an original design. It features a wide variety of mainly red and white cotton and linen fabrics. Many of the fabrics are screen printed by well-known Australian designers so they are unique and easily recognizable. It is machine quilted with vertical lines approximately 1-1/2-inches apart, and it is bound with a red and white striped fabric. The back of the quilt features a red and orange single repeat panel by Australian designer Saffron Craig. The fabric features two owls sitting in a tree. The quilt was labeled with a small label sewn into the binding in the bottom left corner on the back of the quilt. The label reads, “Red Pepper Quilts.”