Game for Colour

Spice Market: 2013

You can understand why I was smitten....

The moment I saw Colour Game in Quiltmania (2009 #72), I knew I had to have a go - one day.  Aside from the colours, I saw a fantastic opportunity to use those lovely fabrics I had coloured in 2002 at the dyeing workshop with Gail Simpson in Mittagong.  Great, FINALLY using up fabrics from the stash and especially those not so easy to incorporate - hand dyes.  I also had a small selection of stripes left over from my Delhi Days and they seemed just a perfect fit too.  I think I’d planned to do something else with them but as they say, strike whilst the iron is hot!

At last, in April 2013, I made a start (that's only a mere 4 years later!).  It was certainly challenging, although fun, to scour my fabric boxes for just the right prints to match my Indian stripes and colour wheel hand dyes.  I must add that this quilt was designed by Roberta Horton, who along with Mary Mashuta must be two of my all time favourite quilt (& clothing - sorry wearable art) designers. 

The pattern was just so easy to cut and I used my “design wall” to place them ready for sewing up.  The design wall helped so much because after a while you get a little “same block” crazy and pieces can end up upside down or mirror imaged.  It also helped me with positioning each individual row of colour – this is where most of your time goes.  The fabric I used for my patterned yellow row happens to be from a vintage piece given to me by my mother.  I suspect it may have once been tagged for a dress for one of us.  It was fairly sheer, so I had to back it as well.

Now for some reason, I decided to keep notes on what I was doing with this quilt but only after I’d found myself well and truly into the process.  Never done it before but it was interesting that I’d spent:

• 2 days finishing the piecing after starting in May,
• then a day to baste it, and
• finally to quilt it, 17 hours (roughly calculated) by machine, using 15 bobbins & 2 reels of Signature Cotton Threads (variegated).

To all this, it is necessary to add time to cut, sew and stitch bindings – a couple of days at least, and then an hour or two to embroider on my label.  How long I spent (at the start) contemplating the pattern deciding on fabrics, cutting and arranging them on my piece of beige flannelette (Kaffe specified, of course), I’ll never know.  And this will most probably be the first and last time I take such detailed construction notes.  There is more to life – unless you are a professional of course and charging to make a living.

I can't help but think this would make up beautifully in a collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics too.  I want to be clear here, that I am not a total Kaffe tragic!  Well, maybe not on Tuesdays…  ; )

Finally, here is my version, which I must say I am very happy with:

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 141 x 168cm
Block Sizes: 22cm
Cut in: Apr 2013
Pieced & Basted: Nov 2013
Quilted: Machine Dec 2013
Quilt Type: Modern
Quilt Finished: December 2013
Exhibited: Never
Collection: Home# 057
Pattern Name: Colour Game
Pattern Source: Quiltmania #72, 2009 p65
Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash…
Fabric Design: Prints, Stripes & Hand Dyed
Fabric Style: Brights
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants

(Photos & measurements eventually.  I have to clean up my sewing room first!)

And a little close up to admire the machine quilting

No Quilting Here

2012/2013

I have omitted to put in a little about 2012, a busy year that slipped away without so much as a by your leave.  This was of course, the big “Year of Flooring” when the kitchen, lounge & garden shed floors (about 1/3 of our house space) were re-laid.  That meant significant upheaval, lots of dust and frequent blue language.  So, with no sewing room there was little quilting achieved and with no kitchen, we got used to BBQ’s, salads or sandwiches. 

To add to the misery, I had inadvertently left a window open (for 6 months) and my quilts had taken on that vague and somewhat unsavoury odour of a wet dog.  That meant a serious washing session, which turned out reasonably well with only two quilts shedding dye and another with ripped fabric.  The ripping was not a major issue and easily fixed.  Some black fabric I had purchased for an Amish style quilt was a little “cheap” and probably old, so it showed.  I simply re-appliqued a shape over the tear and no-one was the wiser.  As for the dyeing, the colour run stands testimony to care, selection & pre-washing of hand-dyed fabrics.  Always learning!

Once washed, it seemed silly to put my quilts away before photographing them.  This then, was the prime force in getting a move on with my blog.  So lots of washing, photographing and staring at a computer screen. 

Australia Day 2013

Then came the news that we were to celebrate Australia Day on the Island in 2013.  That meant finding time and a space to complete a few from the UFO box to put out for display. There was also the challenge of Aprons for the Cafe.  Somehow it all came together – after one too many late nights - and we managed to put up a lovely display for our many visitors.

Song Lines

Bush Picnic: 2013  (Started: 2007)

Finished & photographed....at last!

For simply ages, I had wanted to put together a quilt using the Aboriginal fabrics I’d been gathering.  I was fairly particular and had only purchased fabrics by Aboriginal women artists and designers.  Needless to say, some of the fabrics are just stunning; making it oh, so hard to cut into!

I started collecting these fabrics after a visit to Freemantle in 2002.  In a souvenir shop, of all places, I found the most amazing (but tiny) collection of authentic fabrics.  I’ve mentioned previously that I’d found current selections a wee bit stuffy, so this was definitely a “willy-willy” (dust storm) moment.  My initial selections rested in the garden shed for quite some months before I inadvertently found a new (and closer!) supply, also in a souvenir shop, in Berry (NSW) that same year.  So, my stash grew steadily over the years! 

A close up of both hand & machine quilting

However, finding an appropriate design to feature these wonderful fabrics was not so easy and for me, became something of an issue…  I dallied & dithered; again for some years until finally in 2008, I discovered a “Stars over the Rockies” pattern designed by Judie Rothermel. (Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Mar 2007).  This pattern seemed to meet my need for a design with some larger pieces (so as not to destroy the continuity in those bold designs) yet was complex and interesting enough not to be “the same old thing again”.  Mind you, I had already started cutting out pieces for another pattern, until this change of heart.  Oh well!

Cutting out had started in March 2007 and continued on over the next few years until somehow I managed to get a wriggle on with piecing it together.  I suspect the deadline for the Australia Day Exhibition 2013 had something to do with it, but my quilt went public without being properly finished – a little hand quilting needed finishing.  So, one must compromise when deadlines loom! 

Not quite finished for the Australia Day Exhibition, 2013
Bush Picnic (Right) & Margaret's Hexies (Left)
(Textile Artwork on wall by Cath Phillips)

One point I had overlooked however was the provenance of my fabrics.  I had been busy collecting fabrics but missed noting the artists’ names and design names.  I also have a little information on the various symbols used in the patterns, so more is needed.  Just a little more work to do then…

(In case you are wondering, "The SongLines" is the title of the wonderful travel book written by Bruce Chatwin in 1987.  It, rather like "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes (1986) that I've only recently discovered, made me realise how limited my world view has been & perhaps continues to be only seen through the eyes of Australian history and settlement.  In a way, this viewpoint embodies the isolation of our country.  This cover, a Picador edition (1988), features "Red Landscape" by famous Australian painter Fred Williams. )

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 190 x 190cm
Block Sizes: 38cm
Cut in: 17 Mar 2007; adjusted 2008
Pieced & Basted: 2012
Quilted: Hand & Machine 2013
Quilt Type: Judie Rothermel Design
Quilt Finished: Jan 2013
Exhibited: Australia Day, 2013 (part-finished)
Collection: Home# 050
Pattern Name: Stars over the Rockies
Pattern Source: Quilters Newsletter Magazine, Mar 2007
Fabrics Purchased: Special Collection
Fabric Design: Aboriginal Women Designers
Fabric Style: Aboriginal Designs
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants