Fabric Love!

The first thing I saw as I pulled into the driveway at Material Obsession last Friday was Kathy Doughty's Marquee Diamonds quilt. The sun was making it glow while a breeze was making it dance.

There are always welcoming quilts lining the way to the entrance. The quilts are different every time I visit.  I always stop for a moment or two to admire the beautiful work.

Inside the shop this rolled up felt looked like fabric fire!! What a great way to light up a corner.

I'm trying to think of the right word to describe this wall of Kaffe Collective fabrics.. I think I'll  make up a new word, how about... Scrumptuliscious!!

On to our Whizz Bang! class. The class begins with morning tea while I talk about the technique of the day. 

There was lots of show and tell of beautiful blocks. These are made by different people but they all look so good together.

Sewing fun! 

 Here are some of the wonderful pieces made during the class. 

This block has such a lovely spring time look to it. 

We all love this mermaid block so much!!

After the class I had the pleasure of chatting to Kathy as she prepared kits.

A simple thing like cutting fabric can be wonderful to watch.

Seeing Kathy pick and choose and admire each pattern of the fabric as she unrolled the bolts.

As I watched I realised the lucky people who receive these kits aren't just buying fabric, they'll be getting care, thought, passion, enthusiasm and all sorts of other magic in their bundles. (I know that might sound a bit strange but compare it to food that is cooked with love.. I really believe you can taste a difference.)

 As for fabric love - this tiger leaped out of the shelves at me. It reminds me of the William Blake poem 'Tyger Tyger burning bright. In the Forests of the night'. I figure if a fabric makes you think of poetry you know you should get some.

 No doubt I'll be a happy monkey when I'm sewing with it.

A piece of this fabric came home with me as well. I seem to be attracted to dark background fabrics at the moment. I like the way colour pops against the midnight colours.

I had a special surprise waiting for me when I got home on Friday. A gorgeous babushka needle book made by my friend Janice and the gorgeous charm pin made by her sister Chris. It's hard to see in this photo but the charms are a thimble, a tiny quilt and a tape measure. Janice obviously knows orange is my favourite colour. These were such special and thoughtful gifts. I know I say it all the time but quilters are the loveliest people!! Thank you Janice and Chris!

I haven't forgotten about the giveaway - Congratulations to Wendy of The Constant Quilter who won a copy of Quilters Companion magazine. The funniest thing happened when I went to email her to let her know she was the winner I saw I had an email from her. She was telling me I'd won a giveaway on her blog!! What are the chances of that happening? Just amazing!! 

I want to send out a special Thank You to everyone who entered the giveaway and for your wonderful comments. I do appreciate each and every comment. 

Knowing that people read my blog encourages me to keep writing my whimsical thoughts and reporting my sewing adventures. 

I was out and about today and saw this floral installation with cotton flowers. I've only seen these fluffy blooms a few times in my life so its always special when I do. It's fun to remember that it's these flowers that make the cotton we make quilts with.

Wishing you a week full of flowers and fabric love.

A wonderful day with the Illawarra Quilters

Last Saturday I followed the ocean breeze to Woollongong for a workshop teaching my Ric Rac Razzamatazz quilt to the Illawarra Quilters.

The venue was the Figgy Bowlo. Isn't that a fun name! It's the Bowling Club in Figtree which quite sensibly explains the name. We had a beautiful sun filled room and lots of space for everyone to spread out and work in.  

I arrived early and found a lot of the class had arrived earlier. I loved that enthusiasm!!

Some of the ladies were shy about photos so I'll concentrate more on showing their colourful work rather than their smiles ( these ladies made me laugh all day with their happy ways) and and busy bee ( they really got down to work!) photos.

Lots of cutting resulting in a rainbow of loveliness..

Matching ricrac colours is a big part of the fun.

Gorgeous purples!!

Wonderful play with patterns and colour.

These look good enough to eat!!

especially with this gourmet ric rac.

I love how dynamic these fabric combinations are.

and how wonderfully the red ricrac pop with these blocks!

 The day resulted in a smorgasbord of happy melon blocks.

We had a sassy super star in the class. Her name was Julie Juu and she rode in on a yellow scooter

This wonderful fabric belongs to Roslyn. Her daughter brought it back from South Africa as a gift for her mum. 

It has so many fun and quirky details. 

You can't help but smile at it.

I love that Roslyn wasn't nervous about cutting into it. She grabbed her scissors and went for it. 

A little while later a quilt plan started to emerge.  Stay tuned for more photos as this fun quilt evolves. 

A big hearty thank you Illawarra Quilters!! You ladies are the best!! I loved every moment of our fun and colourful day together.

A few behind the scenes photos now.. 

In preparation for the class I pulled out my ricrac which somehow has turned into a tangled nest. It's funny how that happens...

I sorted through the colourful strands and looking around for something to wind them onto I thought of my vintage playing cards. I've got zillions of these cards so I could easily spare a few. I'm happy to say my trims are now organised and nestled neatly in a tin. 

I also couldn't resist playing with some of the shapes I cut out..

and soon turned them into a flower.

I'm not the only one making flowers out of different things...

I was out walking one morning and at the bottom of my garden I came across this pretty leaf flower. I looked around and there was not a soul in sight. Try as I might there's no other way to explain it other than fairies.  What a lovely garden gift.

Wishing you all a magical week.

Glossy Pages - and a little giveaway!

Last week when the latest Quilter's Companion became available I raced out to buy mine because they sell out quickly in my local newsagent and I didn't want to miss this edition,

In the bottom left hand corner you'll see my name...

and inside is an extensive article about me and my quilting journey. It covers everything from why I'm called Rachaeldaisy, how I came to patchwork and quilting, inspirations, what it was like for me to win Best In Show, my sewing room and more

Plus there's lots of photos of my quilts. 

It's not all about me of course. The magazine is jam packed with great articles and projects. The cover quilt is by Christine Lethlean and there is also a lovely feature about her in her studio. Amongst the many patterns are ones by Chris Jurd, Deborah Louie, Anorina Morris. There are exhibition overviews and product reviews and all the regular columns. 

Sending out a big thank you to Michelle Marvig, Quilter's Companion Magazine for featuring me and to Erica Spinks for making my colourful ramblings sound coherent. 

On the other side of the world in a French magazine called Les Nouvelles. Katell Renon has written a wonderful article all about Pine Burr quilts focusing on US quilter Betty Smith and her traditional pine burr quilts and then my contemporary approach to the blocks through my Whizz Bang quilt.

Gorgeous cover!!

From the traditional

 Flip the page

To the modern..

The magazine is in French but as they say "A picture is worth a thousand words". The many pictures definitely say a lot! The articles focus on a wide variety of styles from modern, traditional, red work, Japanese quilts. I've been thinking I should work at translating them to learn some French.

Sending out a hearty Merci beau coup to Katell for including me in her article and to Les Nouvelles for having an interesting feature about Pine Burr quilts. 

The Giveaway is now closed. I want to send out a special Thank You to everyone who entered the giveaway and for your wonderful comments. I do appreciate each and every comment. 

Knowing that people read my blog encourages me to keep writing my whimsical thoughts and reporting my sewing adventures. 

Congratulations to Wendy of The Constant Quilter who won a copy of Quilters Companion magazine. The funniest thing happened when I went to email her to let her know she was the winner I saw I had an email from her. She was telling me I'd won a giveaway on her blog!! What are the chances of that happening? Just amazing!! 

(Now for the giveaway part. I have an extra copy of Quilters Companion to send to a lucky reader. Just leave a friendly comment and I'll include you in the draw. The giveaway is open to everyone in the universe. Beware of being a no-reply commenter, if you're not sure put your email address in your comment. I'll pick a winner randomly next Thursday 25th May, 5pm Blue Mountains, Australia time. Good luck!! )

You know I always like to squeeze in one last photo... Today's pic is in response the lovely comments about the sunny scene of my lounge room in my last post. I was playing around with my iPad and somehow took this photo. I like to think the kaleidoscopic view is a bit "Alice in Wonderland".

So keeping with the theme I'll wish you a happy, colourful day and with a swish of a quilt I'll disappear down a rabbit hole!