Well, sort of. You see, I fell in love the with the Rajah quilt and its story at the Making of The Australian Quilt exhibit. And very soon after, I heard about the AQC challenge theme – Made In Australia: Flora and Fauna. A light bulb went off in my head! Why not make a modern medallion quilt using fabrics either made or designed in Australia?! After all, Emma Jean Jansen has the perfect range of modern fabrics featuring Australian flora and fauna, and then Jen Kingwell has her Behind The Scenes neutral fabrics to use as backgrounds, and… So I started collecting scraps and bits and pieces of Emma’s fabrics. Gifted, destashed, new. I even picked up some perfect prints from Maze And Vale when I visited their stall at Finders Keepers.
My plan was always to make it in January, during the summer holidays. I almost forgot about it until I grabbed a little more of Melba off one of Emma’s destashes and that jigged my memory! But the fear, oh the fear! Putting myself out there like this is a Big First for me. Big gulps, step by step, taking my time to make sure that I’m happy with each step of the design. I even sat down with the fabrics, graph paper, coloured pencils, and scissors to design this quilt in a very hands-on way, something that is very new to me.
I’ve started cutting to get done what I’ve worked out so far, and then I will see what the quilt needs once I’ve finished the first half. I’ll be sharing peeks along the way on Instagram – I’m @blossomheartquilts – and as it’s due February 10th, it’ll be happening fairly quickly!
Susie says
This is going to be fabulous. Can’t wait to see this at the end.
Alyce says
Thank you, Susie! Me too 😉
Melody A. says
looks wonderful, I am sure it will be amazing when you are finished. take care and Happy Sewing, from Iowa
Alyce says
Thanks, Melody!
Serena @ Sewgiving says
I find it really scary sewing and creating for guild challenges too! I hope you enjoy making this quilt, you have beautiful fabric to work with … Ps how good was that exhibition?! It turned what I thought I knew about modern quilting upside-down.
Alyce says
NOTHING IS NEW!
Margaret (margiestitcher) says
I am sure ou will enjoy this challenge and finish it in time
Alyce says
Nothing like a deadline to motivate, haha!
Ioleen says
Your fabric picks are awesome and I’m sure your quilt will be amazing.
Alyce says
Thanks, Ioleen! I hope so! 😉
Alanna says
What is a Rajah quilt ? I love the fabrics and I am curious about the process and how it is different from designing other quilts?
Alyce says
It’s a quilt made by convicts on their way to Australia in the 1800s. It’s a medallion quilt that includes animals and flowers. So essentially, I was inspired by that quilt to make a medallion quilt for this challenge.