This here's the wattle, It's the emblem of our land
you can stick it in a bottle, you can hold it in your hand.
Monty Python

Not only is it the first day of spring in Australia but the first of September is also Wattle Day.
Wouldn't you agree that wattle is the perfect flower to welcome spring with it's flowers that look like sunshine.

I have to admit I hadn't heard of Wattle Day until I read Rebecca from Needle and Spindle blog post about a beautiful Wattle Day Cardigan she designed and named after the day.
It turns out Wattle Day is a day to wear a sprig of wattle, greet each other with "Happy Wattle Day" and organise a picnic, lunch or BBQ with friends or family.

I'm going to celebrate by meeting a lovely friend and going to not just one but two quilt shows!

Labours of Love - Australian Quilts 1850- 2015,  at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery. I've been hearing lots of great things about this show. I'm not sure If I'll be allowed to share photos but we'll see. The show is on until 5th of October but we've picked a great week to go because...


... there's a second quilt show at the same gallery. Evolution Change Challenge,  a contempory show organised by the NSW Quilt Guild. It's showing until the 8th September.

For any quilters thinking of a visit to Sydney to see these shows don't forget there's also the War Time Quilts exhibition with quilts dating back to the 1800's. I haven't made it to see this show yet but it's next on the cards.

To follow continue with the Australian theme I've been enjoying the wonderful blog posts that Carrie Nelson of Moda's Cutting Table blog has been doing about Aussie Quilters. They have had interviews with Australian quilters Jen Kingwell and Quilt Jane and a post I was particularly impressed by was one with an impressive and comprehensive guide to all the great books by Aussie Quilters. If your book shelf has some space on it it's a great post to check out. A huge Thank You to Moda for highlighting all the great patchwork and quilting going on down under.

One more link to share... the one to the original post about my Bubbles Quilt. 
Thank you for all the wonderful congratulations about my Bubbles quilt being on the cover of Simply Moderne.  I've learnt a lot from this quilt and it's unexpected journey. It was one of my experimental ideas that didn't quite work and became something else instead. A fairy tale story of an ugly duckling that turned into a swan. 
I haven't shown much of the quilt because it was all in a blog post I did about a year ago, but for those who are interested here is the original post. 


I've been thinking how the pattern could be made with different fabrics or colours. Here are just a few ideas I jotted down. ( can you tell I'm a list maker?)

Circles of stripes, all going different directions
Corduroy circles, once again play with the wale going in different directions
Sew pretty sticheries on some of the circles.
Fussy cut big flowers, cute faces, farm animals...
Vintage fabrics, using a vintage sheet as the background.
Solid colours, or shot cottons, yum!!
Bright colours on a black background,
Repro fabrics on cheddar yellow

The possibilities are endless, that's the beauty of quilts and all things creative.

I'm off to to catch a train, I have places to be and quilt shows to see.
Happy Wattle Day to one and all!!


Added 2nd Sept- We couldn't take photos of the exhibition but here is a short film of the curator talking about the quilts.