This is my very first applique quilt, made in about 1990. I'd only ever made one applique block in a friendship exchange but as soon as I learnt how to do it I was hooked. I LOVE applique.

I didn't have any patterns, only photos in magazines, so I drew these designs and away I went. I used over 70 different prints in the flowers, something I'd never do now, and worked out the setting after the blocks were done- not much planning ahead.

Because I didn't plan I had to use two different creams for the background of the blocks. ( it's not white, I just had to lighten the ancient photo so you could see the colours) I distributed the 4 blocks with the faintly different cream around the central square so that it was balanced and continued on my merry way.

This was actually a raffle quilt for a friend who was in a fundraising thing, and I had a strict deadline to follow. I went for a visit to Keryn, and the quilt came with me as hand luggage (wouldn't trust it to the tender mercies of Aust baggage handlers) and we both quilted frantically with a hoop at either end. The quilt is queensized, so we had room to stake out our own little patch on it...

Before it was raffled I entered it in the local show (tiny little town, and the judging committee run by women of the Jurrassic period) who apparently took umbrage at my blatant disregard of the rule that all background fabric MUST be the SAME! Some wanted to disqualify the quilt straight away, but in the end I was relegated to second prize (there were only three entries) and the first prize was won by a set of two hexagon potholders. Hmm, I've never been a fan of The Rules and that's possibly why I don't enter contests. Either that or it's just sour grapes!

The quilt raised nearly $3000 for the Crippled Children's Assoc, and I've never regretted giving it away, I had fun doing it and I don't really need to own the quilts once I finish them. The process is the thing for me, I love all of it, designing, drafting, sewing, quilting, binding. Once it's over I'm looking for the next project and starting something else!