Ta-da : a Rainbow Finish at last!

You might remember I showed you this on the design wall last March?

It's my take on Rachel Hauser's Bottled Rainbow quilt.  I made it as a sample for a ticker tape workshop I was doing with the Cork and Dublin branches of the IPS,  I completed the centre section fairly fast to show the concepts and had orange, yellow/gold and chartreuse panels made.  Only this past weekend did I get around to finishing it and get it off the design wall and ticked off the to do list! Better late than never!

I quilted the little pieces directly on to the top and wadding and as Rachel suggested used a wide seam to sew the blocks together.  Pressed open it's not too bulky and all looks good from the front!

I did make a mistake in the backing fabric though!  I had just enough of this lovely music scale fabric from Ikea to cover the back and was looking for an excuse to use it really and didn't stop to think.

The pressed open seams can be seen through it!  Doh!  After sewing it down all the way around right sides together and turned it out like a bag I haven't the heart to un pick it all through the wadding so I am living with it! 

This is a quilt I made that served a specific purpose and will look lovely and bright in our living room throughout the winter months when the light is low in the sky so I can ignore the mistake and use it happily (and not look too closely at the back!)

As soon as I had it all sewn and stitched in the ditch to hold the backing to the quilt, I was eager to take a photo and call it done, so I dragged Gordon outside to hold it up for me.  He did question if there was enough light and I said - yes there's tons of it, come on and give me a hand!

Of course, he was right!  The setting sun did mean it was pretty dark and the dogs radar picked up it was evening walk time and they would not budge from the front gate.  Charly on alert, always guarding.  Maggie and Wilbur oblivious, trying to magically open the gate with their thoughts!

Maggie is bigger than Wilbur now at 1 year old.  She used to fit through those bars when we got her as a puppy!  She was the runt of the litter and smaller than her siblings and somehow now is on the tall side for a Basset.

Still low light and all, this one's done!  Onto the next UFO... after we walk dogs that is!

Aurora

Every two years the Irish Patchwork Society and the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild have a co-exhibition called Hands Across the Border.  This year the theme was Aurora and being chairperson of the IPS I had to make a speech! 

Some people are naturally good at public speaking, some people would rather run 10 miles than stand up in front of family and friends and talk!  I find myself somewhere in between, nervous and over preparing in the run up to the thing but then a let's get it done attitude seems to win out and blink, it's over and I'm asking myself what was all the fuss about - until the next time!
 

It was fun to see all the interpretations of Aurora:  Roman goddess of the dawn,  in Ireand she is Brigid, also a Disney Princess Sleeping Beauty, Northern & Southern Lights (Aurora Borealis and Australis) and even the Dawn Chorus of birds that somehow in our neighbourhood start singing an hour before dawn, which these days is about 4am!

The venue was amazing, right in the centre of Dublin called the CHQ Building.  2 walls for hanging and 2 glass walls so the passer's by could see all our work, filling the space with colour!

While they were all beautiful the three that stood our for me were these by Tomomi McElwee, Ethelda Ellis and Olena Pugachova.  Forgive the exposures I have it set so you cans see the amazing quilting and detail in all three.

Tomomi McElwee

Ethelda Ellis

Olena Pugachova

 The exhibition was shown in Lisburn as well as Dublin and ended last week so I hope if you didn't get to see it in person you enjoyed this little bit of it!