GROUP QUILT - IS IT TOO COLD FOR THE TOUCAN?
Beverley, Mary, Lynne, Penny

Beverley: Inspired by colour, landscapes and seascapes, I decided to use strips in these quilts as a continuing theme. I chose the four seasons as my starting point. I made four pieces of patchwork using colours to suit the seasons. I then cut each piece in two, which gave me two springs, two summers, etc. Stitching one of each season together resulted in two panels, one for me and one for the group. I stressed that this was only a starting point. 

Mary: When I received the strip-pieced panel, I had just read an article about how global warming might disrupt the seasons, so I attacked her panel with the rotary cutter and inserted strips based on the pattern storm at sea, using sea and mud colours to represent the floods we were experiencing at the time. 

Lynne: I added stitched and appliqued leaves randomly on to the surface of the quilt. I wanted to emphasise the leaves as a part of the changes occurring in our seasons, especially leaves changing colour and falling from August onwards. 

Penny: I was inspired by the words that Beverley sent regarding ice, water and flooding. So I them made up blocks in cool blues and greys, in crazy style, and aded them to one side of the quilt.  

Beverley: When the piece came back to me, I cut it up into rectangular patches, adding strips to three sides of each patch. The quilt was then quilted by hand using space-dyed threads. 

I spotted the toucan in some of the added fabrics, and posed the question, 'Is it too cold for the toucan?'

INDIVIDUAL QUILT - FOUR SEASONS 

Beverley: For my own quilt, I decided to add borders of random strips in cream-coloured fabric. I used space-dyed threads for the quilting, continuing the stitching into the borders. I added little squares of coloured silk secured with a bunch of threads for embellishment.