Thanks everyone for your positive comments around my new website. Website related tasks are different to those of making a quilt, but so enjoyable in a very different way to the designing,  fabric selection (and shopping), drawing, making, re-designing, editing, photographing, quilting, binding, labelling, pattern documentation and did I mention shopping for fabric and tools.

The creative processes of making a quilt for me is so dependent on the initial inspiration that sets me on a path of a new quilt. Whether I am working in a series or an unrelated quilt, every piece of my work begins at a specific point that can be as diverse as: a memory, a photograph, a specific fabric, a traditional pattern or even an unintended play with an idea.

Today’s quilt began because I collect fabrics, all sorts of fabrics and textiles. Do you collect fabrics too?

As I was packing up my sewing stuff for a house shift almost 10 years ago, I rediscovered a box of fabrics that I had saved/collected from my own garment making and a few that had been generously gifted …. as I might have a use for them. This resulted in a very eclectic range of scraps aka treasures that were from about 4 decades starting in the 1960s. So, what to do with these treasures that were so different?

Textiles tell us so much about our history and I decided that these treasures needed to be used in my quilting. Take a close look at the photos and you can see evidence of changes in the manufacture of cotton fabrics, weaving techniques, printing techniques, even fashions over time, print scales, and dominant colours. But could I get them into a cohesive quilt design as a means of preserving the fabrics as a part of my history?

About 6 years ago, I decided to tame the collection by cutting as many diamonds as I could from each scrappy treasure and discard the small leftovers. I have used the diamond shape regularly in my traditional quilts, so I cut each diamond individually. I shared some of the cut diamond with a fellow quilter who made her quilt much quicker than me.

In 2021, as a part of my ‘finishing-off projects year’ where I focussed only on started projects, the diamonds found their way to the design wall and ‘4-3-2 Chronicles’ was created. It is a simple quilt created to record a little part of my story. Layouts were played with (check back on my Instagram). The addition of the indigo inserts helped contain the busyness of the diamonds and enable me to piece units with three different fabrics in a 4, 3, 2 ratio. Basically, I created diamond blocks and then rearranged the diamond blocks to get a balance.

The backing was pieced from fabrics of the same era with a bright yellow 90cm wide (1960s) almost bark cloth textured fabric through the middle of the backing. Susan of Rowdy Flat Quilting completed the long arm work for me with a great diamond shape over the diamond blocks and swirls on the indigo sashing. Now the binding & label to go, with more on that in a couple of weeks after I meet a couple of other timelines.

In my garden, the succulents are doing very well, everything else has that wintery look.