UPDATE...Aussie Aviatrix Quilt Along...The Time Has Come

I am very excited to announce that Linden, from Vine Lines Quilting, has released the Aussie Aviatrix Quilt Along competition winner and guess what??? It was little old me :D  I am so over the moon right now that I honestly have no words beyond Thank You. Thank You to Linden for hosting and to everyone else involved. This was such a great experience. 

In case you missed my final Aviatrix post, here it is...

I know you've all been eagerly waiting for this day to come...and here it is. The Aussie Aviatrix Quilt Along is complete and we can finally reveal our creations.

Firstly, I'd like to send an enormous Thank You to Linden, from Vine Lines Quilting, without whom I would never have created my personal masterpiece. You can see Linden's own incredible quilt in her Aussie Aviatrix Quilt Along Wrap Up post. She has also taken the time to interview the beautiful Emma Jean Jansen. If you haven't seen Emma's pattern or fabric ranges yet then definitely add it to your list of things to do today. You won't be disappointed. You might even find yourself Supporting Local.

You may vaguely remember my post from the early days of the quilt along (Aussie Aviatrix Quilt Along Border 2). Well this bad boy just kept growing and growing. I hit a bit of a creative brick wall around Christmas, but picked up again in the New Year. I did discover one very interesting thing with such a large quilt.

Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this?

Anywho, that's probably enough babble from me. I know you're just dying to see the quilt top.

Isn't this fantastic? This photo shows the colours the best...

...and this one shows a better view of the layout. 

This just looks really funky.

Unfortunately I'm unable to quilt it at this stage, but how awesome is this backing fabric that I found? Sure, it doesn't match the quilt, but Little Poppet is going to go nuts when she sees it. She's already claimed the quilt so I may as well add a backing that she'll enjoy.

Backing Fabric

Thanks again to Linden, the other blog hop participants, and to you, for making this such a wonderful experience.

Don't forget to jump over to Vine Lines Quilting and see all the other great quilts as they're linked up throughout the week.

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.

Aussie Aviatrix Quilt-a-long

I promised you big exciting things in quilty blogging land and here it is!!!

I am so excited about this project that I have barely been able to keep it to myself.

Linden, over at Vine Lines Quilting, has been working super hard organising this event and the bloggers involved. Oh, did I mention? I will be one of the bloggers participating in this quilt along. How fantastic is that?!?!?

Click on the image below to read more about this truly awesome project. Don't forget to leave Linden a comment to let her know how great she is.

So who's keen? Will you be joining in or just watching from the side lines? Comment below and share my excitement :D