The QuiltNSW Show committee approached Sydney Modern Quilt Guild several years ago, to see if we would like to contribute a different kind of quilt for the guild’s Annual Raffle.
Of course we would!
Covid turfed our original deadline out the window, but in 2022 our group voted on some inspiration samples and submitted a shortlist to the NSW Quilt Show committee for selection.
They chose an improv cross-cut style block in bright rainbow colours on a grey background. An immediate – if simple – read as ‘modern’.
It also worked well as a study block, with the majority of our members piecing at least one block for the quilt. Many contributed several, pushing themselves out of their comfort zone. True improv block making can be a challenge even for those of us who’ve been following a more modern direction for a while. But a tutorial and demonstration at one of our Sewing Sundays set us off on a properly wonky path. Our group supplied the background fabric (Moda’s Ash Grunge), and members used their own colourful scraps and stash fabric that matched a prescribed rainbow palette.
Almost 200 hundred blocks later, and with a loose idea for an overall design that included a little bit of asymmetry and a bit more negative space (other typically “modern” characteristics…), a core group sat down at our annual retreat and came up with a plan to sling up the blocks on a design wall and invite anyone with itchy fingers to play around with positioning. We had so much fun!
Every block made by a member ended up either on the front, back, or in the bag we’ve made to protect it.
With the help of some of the most precise seamsters in Australia, we trimmed and stitched and pulled our quilt top together, ready for quilting.
Our group has had great success machine quilting previous group projects in the round-robin style. A little bit of forward planning helps, as does working within design structures that lend themselves to the technique; and so seven members contributed their time and significant skill to the finishing of this gorgeous quilt.
And its name? Usually, we have a membership vote to decide on the title of our group projects. But this time one of our retreat attendees exclaimed – as they were pondering in front of the design wall – “what a gloriously colourful cascade!” And the name just stuck.
Sydney MQG is delighted to have designed and constructed this truly group-wide project: the first “Modern” quilt for the QuiltNSW Raffle prize. We had a great time making it.
During the QuiltNSW Show at Rosehill Racecourse in September 2024 the raffle draw was won by Julie Wood. A handful of our members happened to be in the QuiltNSW office on the day she collected her prize.
Kate Shea
(Convenor of SydMQG’s 2023 group raffle quilt project)
