Make yourself a cup of tea, settle in and get ready for another one of my marathon posts... I'll be sharing pictures and details about The New Quilt Exhibition and my upcoming solo exhibition, 2 new patterns and some teaching photos, but first, lets start with some flowers...

With Valentines Day floating around I thought it would be fun to share a blog post I did in 2015. I was still working as a florist then and for a little while I would start each month with a flower inspired post. This was my post for February, 2015 ( that seems like such a long time ago now).



Today is the first of the month and I'm giving February a hearty welcome with a shower of rose petals. It's the month of Valentine's, after all, with it's romantic rosy ways and messages of love.

So armed with a bag of rose petals I set out to see what petaliscious photos I could take...

Rose petals are like floral whispers, so utterly romantic and luxurious. They make me think of exotic faraway places, aromatic perfumes, Cleopatra's bath, English garden weddings, turkish delight, scented tea...

I used the petals to make new little flowers. 

And then a heart, with a rose at its heart.
Love is in the air

Eventually I took my petals outside

and scattered them on the grass 

and made a fun surprise for Mr Daisy

It made him laugh, in a lovely, hearty way.
A little bit later he mowed the lawn and the whispering petals mingled with the grass to make to make our garden a little sweeter. 

So Happy February to one and all, and I hope this post is a friendly reminder to take time out to smell the roses. 

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The New Quilt, an exhibition of contemporary art quilts from selected artists around Australia is on show at the Hawkesbury Regional Art Gallery, until April 11th. 

My work "Sheer Joy" is a wall of floating tulle Yo-Yos and transparent bubbles. Longtime followers of my blog would remember that I was playing with Tulle Yo-Yos years ago, around 2012. When the call for submissions to the New Quilt were open I decided it was time to finally create a proper work with them, and here it is.. 

To give you an idea of the size of the Yo-Yos here is a picture of me working on it.

And a photo of it looking right at home hanging in my loungeroom.

I'm also very honoured that 'Sheer Joy' was chosen for the cover of the catalogue. 

For those wondering whether it really is a quilt, the guidelines for the exhibition were for works of 2 or more layers, quilted. I've sewn the YoYos onto 2 layers of very sheer tulle and quilted big circles through the layers. The YoYos are actually just the embellishment. I could imagine a mermaid quite happily using this as a lovely floaty bubbly quilt.

I will be at the Gallery as part of the Meet The Artist program next Thursday, Feb 25th from 1-3pm 
Also on Sunday for a Meet the Artist event from 11am to 12midday.  Bookings are essential , Call the gallery on Tel: (02) 4560 4441 gallery@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au 


For those who cant make it in person  there is an online gallery and links to Facebook Videos at the QuiltNSW website here

Here are a few photos to show you how the quilts look in the gallery.








We had to supply a head shot for the New Quilt promotions so I took some selfies with tulle to match my quilt.  Its all about having fun!




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For those planning a visit to The New Quilt, you could also visit my exhibition INTO THE FOLD at Braemar Gallery, in Macquarie Road , Springwood. It's just a 35min drive from the Hawkesbury Galley so its great timing to make a trip to see both exhibitions. 

My show will be a mix of older quilts and new, a great chance to see some of my more unusual quilts and to also to see them in a gallery setting which is always a bit special. 

INTO THE FOLD runs from March 18th until April 11th. The gallery is open from 10-4pm Thursday-Sunday. I'm hoping to be there as much as I can but will be away some days due to teaching commitments, If you'd like to make sure I'm there then email me at rachaeldaisy@gmail.com. 

I'll do another post leading up to the exhibition. It's only really sinking in that the opening date is quite soon. This year is already moving along at a fast trot. 
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New Patterns!!!


For those of you who like my Ric Rac quilt patterns I've made a new pattern with fan shape blocks. The pattern includes the requirements for 2 versions.

A stash busting, happy, scrappy version,

And one made with one fabric for the background. I've used a mix of pretty Liberty fabrics.

I've called the quilts " Tickety-Boo",  meaning "Everything will be fine", or the very Aussie " She'll be right, mate". It's that sort of quilt, easy to sew and easy to put together. An easy going friendly quilt. Plus "Tickety-Boo" is a fun word, it makes you smile when you say it. 


My next new pattern is Big Happy Daisy.

This is a much expanded pattern from the "Blue Mountain Daisy" pattern in the Whizz Bang Book. I've had a lot of requests for this to be a stand alone pattern, so here it is! The pattern is a A4  (or US letter size) booklet and has colour photo step by step instructions for the big daisy, as well as the sunflower. It has different leaf shapes to choose from and also different ways of assembling the grass. I like to give the maker different options so they can personalise their flower. 


I taught Big Happy Daisy as a workshop at Quilt Encounter last year. Here are a couple of the flowers that were made in class.



And a big happy garden!!

All my patterns can be found at the best quilt shops, or at my pattern store, Rachaeldaisy Designs here. 

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I recently went on a driving, teaching trip to the Shepparton Sewing Center, and then on to Whatever Where-ever Craft in Howlong. Here are some happy snaps from my travels.



































In the end we had to travel back early because Victoria suddenly went into lockdown. I was very sorry to miss teaching at Sewn & Quilted in Melbourne, but I'll be back one day. In the meantime all my classes and workshops are a bit closer to home. You can keep up with where I'll be at my calendar page here, or email me at rachaeldaisy@gmail.com.

I've also been enjoying doing some Zoom trunk shows and will be teaching via zoom soon. If your guild is interested in having me share my quilts and their stories, email me. I think its wonderful that we can cross the oceans through zoom.


And I'll finish with a heart, and wish you all the hearty best until I write again.