Slow Start – Quick Finish

My True Colours, 27 ¼” x 27 ¼”, November 2022

Hi There,

 

In 2019 I decided to bring a hand-sewing project on my summer holiday, something to while away the waiting hours at airports and occupy me when enjoying the sun.

I wanted to do all of the top assembly by hand and based the design for this project on the pattern ‘Rainbow Colour Wheel’ from the Make Modern Magazine Issue 30. So I packed a bunch of different coloured fabric scraps and a pile of cream fabric and off I went.

Inspired by the local fauna of my holiday destination, I added a Gecko to the design. Appliqueing with so many stops and starts, was a slow process, but that suited me just fine, as it meant, I didn’t have to look for a new travel project anytime soon!

However, Covid hit and that meant no travel for a while. I only picked up this project again in the summer of 2021, when I travelled in a hurry to see my mother, who’s health was failing. Following on to this, I kept working on the quilt top, every time I travelled somewhere. Needless to say, that by doing so, I stitched countless memories into this quilt.

The top was finally done during my summer holiday in 2022 and had become very dear to me.

Therefore I decided to do ‘a something bit more’ with the quilting and took inspiration from Karlee Porter’s work. Each of the 12 sections of the central applique design is surrounded by quilting designs in the corresponding colour thread. And the Gecko was brought to life with some quilting additions, too. The finished quilt has now pride of place in my living room.

Take care,

Rita