25th Anniversary Rainbow Quilters

My quilt made from based around orange fabric scraps

 Rainbow Quilters started 25 years ago at Rainbow Springs, in Rotorua.  We meet every first and third Tuesday of the month.  We even have a Facebook page if you would like more info.
  Rainbow Quilters Facebook

 To commemorate the occassion, several of the members all made the same quilt. We started back in July 2014.

 We didn't know the final design. It was called Circle of Friends, and represented the ladies of Rainbow Quilters.  Every month we got the next installment.  I had never made a quilt like this before.  Foundation piecing, applique, and patchwork blocks.

The spotty fabrics in Jenny's border was fabulous.

 The grey background fabrics and pattern were supplied each month from Cottage Flair.  It was a scrap quilt.

 I decided to work in yellow and orange, as I had lots of scraps left over from previous projects in that colour range.  Red and green made an appearance as well.

 I found it interesting that the scraps we used, reflected the other quilts the ladies had made, and the colour ranges they liked to work in.

Some months it was difficult to make it all fit in, but with the groups help, and lots of technical support from the lovely members, I managed the traditional piecing, and applique.

 I am not sure, that if in the beginning, I knew how big the project was going to be, and how much time it would consume, would I have done it?

By the December, we were putting the 4 triangle sections together, I had an admiration for the hand quilters of time gone by.  No electric sewing machine, no electric irons.  Lamps and candles to stitch by.

 The final petal border was presented at our first meeting in 2015.  This gave us time to finish the piecing, and do the quilting.

The quilt took a whole year for me to make.