Quilting Groups

Thank you for all your lovely comments - both about my quilt and about blogging, it is really encouraging.

The internet seems a great way to share our great passion for quilts and the online festival has certainly brought a lot of quilters together.

There are lots of online groups too, I belong to British Quilt List http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BQL/

which is a very active group and has an exciting monthly challenge. I joined recently and wasn't too impressed with my first challenge quiltlet on a handbags theme- tried to do too much but learned to KISS (keep it simple sweetheart) - but it's great to see everybody else's interpretations of the challenge.

I also belong to the KiwiQuilters

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kiwiquilters/

where all the talk at the moment is of the Symposium, the New Zealand quilt show which was held in Wellington this year.

At present I'm learning what I like to do in quilting and what I'm not so keen on. I really enjoyed the foundation piecing process for the BQL challenge but wasn't so keen on the applique aspects!!

Norfolk Quilt

Well, what a fantastic idea an online quilting festival is and I'm really enjoying looking at all the exhibits.

This is my first foray into blogging so please excuse any errors - that applies to my quilting too but it's all about enjoyment and learning.

The quilt I am exhibiting is entitled "Norfolk" and was my first attempt at a quilt using blocks. I chose the fabrics to reflect the colours of the North Sea - from steely grey to turquoise blue depending on the weather and the tide. The blocks all have a link with the county of Norfolk: Old Windmill, Nelson's Victory, Bird In The Air and Sailboat. The quilt was backed with a brushed cotton fabric to make it a cosy lap cover for those chilly evenings by the sea.

As well as being a novice blogger I'm very young in quilting years but after trying lots of crafts have found it is the thing for me. I love everything about it, getting the ideas and pondering them, design, finding the right fabrics, threads etc, cutting, sewing, quilting....all of those in almost any order...and finally, after a bit of self-criticism, enjoying what I have created.