Rainbow Quilters 25 years

Rainbow Quilters, Rotorua, decided to do a commomorative quilt for their 25 years Anniversary, that represented all the members - called Circle of Friends.  The background would be grey / silver, and the rest would be made from scraps.  Over 20 members started the quilt project, and 12 finished theirs for the quilt show.

I have only been quilting since 2007, and I don't normally do patchwork piecing and applique, I usually do quiltings,  whole cloth quilts, and thread painting, so this was a whole new experience for me. This was way outside my comfort zone.

 The group started last year in June, but I was a late start due to other commitments.  I started in August. Each month, on the first Tuesday, Jill from Cottage Flair would give us the next part of the pattern. 

 It was a work in progress, and none of us had seen the final design, as Jill hadn't finished it!  Each member's colour choices were a reflection of the quilts they had made in the past.  Brights, pastles, browns, pinks, blues, purple, and batiks were all represented in the quilts.

 The inside star was the first installment. The pattern reminded me of a sunflower, and so I chose oranges and yellows as my colours, and decided that I would use orange as my scrap theme thoughout the quilt.

The dancing ladies were the next month's installment.  I chose Red skirts, Orange and Green tops, and yellow shoes.

Squaring off the quilt was the next months installment. I chose Orange roses and green leaves.  Very traditional, but this would probably be the only traditional pieced and appliqued quilt I will make.

 The pieced circle and squares where the next months installment.  I wanted the colour to move from light in the center to darker on the edges.  Yellow, Orange, Red, and Green/Brown were my colour ways.

The 4 wheels were next.  I foundation pieced mine, and chose orange for the centres, yellow for the inside spokes, and red for the outside spokes. Dark green held the wheel together.  I chose more orange for the roses, to carry the colour through from the rest of the roses on the quilt.

 The final pieced border had over 200 petals, and I wanted to create movement with colour from yellow to dark red.

 The final border, I pieced all the dark red and black fabric scraps I had, and that was the border.

For the binding ,I used the brown/black maori patterned fabric that were part of the green/brown circle and squares. 

Circle of Friends

The quilt glowed like I hoped it would and I was really pleased how the quilt turn out.  This project gave me a greater appreciation for the skills used for traditional patchwork, and I would not have been able to create my quilt, without the amazing support and encouragement from all the members of Rainbow Quilters, thank you.