Two months on (during August) and to my surprise I had almost completed 'my' quilt. I'd also decided to go on my first 'Quilt Retreat' in September - 3 days of time completely spent working on learning new techniques and starting small projects. To prepare for that, I was given information about the projects from which I could choose and then a list of 'things to buy'.

 

One of the projects I chose was a 'Rose Window' wall-hanging  (see http://www.gaillawther.co.uk/v3/workshops/) and thinking on about what I would do with it, a spark of an idea came to me that perhaps I could complete this for my sister. I was about to visit the Harrogate Quilting Show at the end of August, and I knew that the supplier of Japanese fabric I'd used for 'my' quilt was going to be there. Since  my sister had told me she loved the Japanese fabric I'd bought, and that she particularly loved the gold, red and black designs, I linked my 'Rose Window' project to choosing fabrics I knew/hoped my sister would like.

 

Towards the end of September, I went on the quilt retreat. The third of the 3-day course was spent learning the technique of applique and working on the 'Rose Window'. Being a bit of a mathematician and loving symmetry, I decided to cut 2 petals from each of the 6 fabrics  I'd chosen, but not only that, I wanted to make sure each petal 'showed off' a particular part of the fabric design such as a flower or decorative circle. This meant I need to 'fussy-cut' each piece separately, and it took all morning to complete this part. The actual method of applique and stitching was then straight-forward and I managed to complete the applique process before the day was finished. However, there was still the completion of the piece to be done with respect to binding the edges and deciding on how to hang it on a wall. But I was really pleased with what I'd achieved and even if I say so myself, it looked beautiful.

 

So when I returned home after the course, I still had to complete it - and it was at this point that I wondered if I could incorporate the Rose Window into a quilt and in fact complete it for my sister's birthday at Christmas.  Decisions to make, discussions to be had and more fabric to buy!