Madeira Celebration, Pastels and Hand Dyes

Sheila, with what will soon be Sappho's quilt.
Last week Sheila had been telling us of the search she was on to find a piece of fabric with a banana, or at the very least some tropical fruit, of course we all wanted to know what she was working on, Sheila always designs her own quilts, so knowing that another one was on the production line we all wanted a peek, and as promised, today she bought the flimsy along.

The quilt is for her Grand daughter Sappho, who was born on the island of Madeira, Sappho was only a toddler when her family came back home so Sheila has designed the quilt for Sappho with memories of her birth place and also of the visits Sheila and her Darling made to the Island.

The mauve's and purples for the mountains, and the lush greens of the tropical vegetation splashed with the vibrant flowers frame the central slash of Broderie Anglaise.

Sheila then features some of the many memories of Madeira amongst the lace piecing, the wonderful markets and abundant produce,waterfalls were everywhere and the most amazing treks along the irrigation canals,
Wine making of course, but another product Madeira is famous for is wicker, baskets and furniture and of course the beautiful lace making.
Then there is the thrill of daily survival, seriously folks, you should see the pics Sheila bought in, almost vertical mountain sides with the roads wending their way down, with the ocean below, far, far below. Oh and the Airport!, first time Sheila flew in she was surprised when the passengers applauded at the landing of the plane, then she found out why!

Wendy was inspired by Sue to try the four patch kaleidoscope, this quilt design has really taken hold with a few more in the pipeline, hopefully they will all be finished for the Christmas Fair, coming up soon.............real soon only 77 more productive days to go girls..........yikes......
although, I did google days to Christmas and found one website - Santa's Warehouse - that promised it was 693883 days to Christmas...........that I like, don't care if it is a computer conniption, I like it and I'm keeping it.

Lorraine made this beautiful quilt for her niece. Now I ask you, isn't it beautiful? Lorraine is adamant that this is the first and absolutely the last pastel and polka dot quilt she will ever make. Not a pastel lover our Lorraine.
However, I have to tell you the temptation to just snaffle that quilt and bring it home to love was almost overwhelming, only the thought of the tears and tantrums saved the day........oh not the nieces tears and tantrums, Lorraine's!
The flimsy on the table is also Lorraine's work, she was all set to do the workshop last week but an S.O.S. from her Darling saw her driving off to Brisbane, back almost home again, turn around, back to Brissy and finally home, now that is almost above and beyond. Lorraine promises to bring it in for a 'proper' pic when quilted. Proper? maybe I need to be forgetting the machine quilting and get back to the photography lessons..........oh these learning curves, almost too much for a body to bear.

Thankfully there was a rather yummy distraction in gallery room, The lovely and industrious ladies from the Palmwoods quilters group were visiting with us. Selling their luscious hand dyed fabrics.

These ladies are raising funds for their building fund via their hand dyed fabric sales. The credit card facilities were activated for yesterdays visit and I definitely saw smoke arising from the credit card machine, wow, girls, you really do know how to shop!
And you can see why, not only luscious fabrics, from the prettiest pastels (yep, got some) to the most vibrant, but also patterns and kits including some for table runners and various bags.
Just look at that beautiful burgundy bag above, the pic just doesn't do it justice.
And this tote, how cute is that!. Lovely fabrics, fantastic inspiration. Thank you Ladies for a wonderful visit.