In amongst all the excitement of the Sydney Quilt Show we had a Whizz Bang! Friday class at Material Obsession. It was an extra fun day that started with a delicious homemade cake to celebrate class member's Marissa's first place win in the Combined Applique and Pieced Category at the Sydney Quilt Show.

Here is Marissa's wondrous I Spy quilt. It was made last year in classes at Material Obsession using Chuck Nohara designs taught by Lorena Uriate.

It was the first time Marissa has entered the show so it was extra special to win a blue ribbon. I'm sure there are many more to come. 

After cake it was onto making the block of the day.  Fiona decided to hand sew her star.

It became this perfect glowing star. The colours are so fire and ice!

Here's another of Fiona's blocks from the previous class. It's hard to see in this photo but she has done lots of embroidery stitches in the center fabric. I love the retro look this block has.

Bernice brought in some special printed African fabrics to create wild blocks with.
I know I say this all the time, but I love that we get to see everyones different tastes and colour sense. It's one of the reasons it's great to do classes. We learn so much from seeing what others use.

Jane's star has such a pretty Liberty look.

Here's another one of Jane's blocks. I love that she incorporated so many layers, points in and points out, trims, circles within circles. It's a block with the lot!

Heather is usually in the Tuesday class but joined in with the Friday party. It works well at Material Obsession that if you can't make your usual class you can make up a class on another day.

Talking of other days. In response to requests for a weekend class for those who are busy during the week I'm having a 1 day workshop on Saturday 29th July. Come along and learn the traditional Pine Burr block. It might be a traditional method but you've seen how you make it modern with fun brights or soften it with pretty fabrics, make it square or round, big or small, make it as a cushion or let it be the beginning of your own Whizz Bang journey. 

If mid week suits you better, we can always fit more people in on the classes held on the second Tuesday and 4th Friday too. 

Join in the fun by emailing Material Obsession:
classes@materialobsession.com.au 
Or phone 02 9819 6455


I realised I only ever showed a glimpse of a Pine Burr Quilt I finished earlier this year.

Why is it that when you pick a day to take photos of a new quilt the wind decides to join in and play games? I couldn't hold it straight for even one photo.

The rocks came to the rescue as the perfect backdrop. 

The wind still joined in by flipping up the corner to show off the wood block printed fabric from India that I used for the backing.

I went through my whole stash to find the right setting fabric. There were lot of acceptable options but this vintage curtain fabric just sang when I put it on the design wall. I like the large scale of the flowers paired with the small scale prints in the Pine Burr blocks. The fabric reminds me of the Outback Wife range by Gertrude Makes that is popping up every where now. 



I know I usually come up fancy names but the name that has stuck with this quilt is simply Five Pines because of the 5 pine burr/pine cone blocks. 

Isn't the beach wonderful for quilt photos!!



Onto another folded fabric creation - but not made by me this time!
My friend Michelle from Buttontree Lane ( @michellethequilter)  recently went to Fiji and while she was there she spotted these colourful mats. She found a stall selling them in a market and kindly brought one back for me. 

It's made with wonderful Fijian fabrics, with all the folds radiating outwards so that it looks like a giant tropical flower. 

I realised it was hard to tell it's size from my photos on the grass so I jumped into the photo. 

When Michelle saw the photos I'd taken she said she was surprised how bright it looked, she said that when it was in the setting of a colourful market it just blended into the scene of many bright things. So lovely to think of it's exotic origins.

For the final photo of the day - my lovely Slipper Orchid has started to flower. These are one of those plants I can ignore all year round because I'm too busy sewing, but it still rewards me every year with an abundance of these special freckled blooms.

Wishing you wonderful times until the next colourful blogpost.