Aussie Aviatrix Quilt-Along - Border 2

Firstly a huge thank you to Linden from Vine Lines Quilting for hosting this fabulous quilt along. If this is your first time here…actually, even if you've been here before, Linden will be interviewing me on her blog as a part of this quilt along. Be sure to keep an eye out for that post and learn all about yours truly.

Now down to business. Is everybody else loving this pattern, or is it just me? I'll admit, cutting all the teeny tiny pieces at the start was not my most favouritist activity ever. Once I started sewing though, I fell in love. This pattern is everything I adore about quilting. 

The way these seemingly random pieces can make such beautiful and interesting shapes.

Cute little diamond birdies

The broad range of fabric making it not only pleasingly to the eye, but pleasing to sew (who wants to be stuck staring at the same fabric the whole time...blergh). 

Looooove the variety of colours.

Most of all, I love that I have been challenged with techniques I've not tried before...

Centre Medallion

...I've had a chance to practice simple, but often frustrating tasks (not naming any names Mr Half Square Triangle)...

Border 1

...and I've been able to just kick back, put my feet up and let the 1/4'' foot do all the work.

Border 2

I'm pretty sure this border is my favourite. Not just because it's super easy, but because it's the first time we really get to see our fabric selection in all its glory. 

When I first looked at this pattern I had grand visions of cascading colours and all sorts of other crazy ideas. I'm sure they would've looked fabulous too, but when I saw Zen Chic's Figures, I knew I'd found my range. 

Zen Chic Figures

I was a little worried at first that there wasn't enough contrast within each colour group but, after attaching border 2, all woes packed their bags and promptly moved from my mind. 

It's just too awesome not to show again.

This border is a wonderfully easy sew that gives you a nice rest after that somewhat challenging centre medallion. There are no real tips that I can provide for the sewing, but I can show you how I sorted my fabric to make this border extra fast to construct. 

When I cut the fabric at the start, I organised everything into baggies by colour group and border. I then had individual pieces of paper wrapped around each of the five fabrics for that group. I even did this with the scraps so I could easily find them if when I made a boo boo.

I do love a good sorting

This made it really easy to find the specific pieces I needed. For Border 2, I made little paper wraps (reusing paper where possible, of course) to clearly label the colour group and block.

Sorting colour groups into blocks

 After doing this for each colour group…

All colour ranges sorted

…I was easily able to just pluck out the required blocks and quickly piece them in the order suggested in the pattern.

The best part is watching the pile of empty baggies grow as we progress through the quilt.

Progressing along nicely

Next week we will have Esther from Rehtse taking us through Border 3 and I can't wait! Be sure to tune in for that one. I think you're going to love what she's been doing.

Don’t forget to tag your photos with #aussieaviatrixqal so we can all marvel in the wonder that is the Aussie Aviatrix Quilt Along.