The weekend before last I went off to a class at the Australian Quilters Association's weekend symposium. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~ausquilt/memberservices/symposiums.html

Those ladies sure know how to put together a well run event. I even won a door prize at morning tea, so felt especially lucky.

I went to a class called perfecting circles by Margaret McDonald. It was a skill builder class and circles are tricky, so we didn't have a huge output. This Saturday I finished my homework and my first ever spiral block is now done.

I'm ashamed to say the hand stitching is visible in the middle so I'll eventually applique a little 'hub cap' in the middle. I'm thinking about building lots of borders around it in the style of the fantastic IRR posts that I've seen on this board, as they're so inspirational.

The photo shows the spiral blocked on my home-made portable pressing mat, which my DH and I put together before the class. The June Taylor pressing mats cost a small fortune in this country and I'd rather spend my money on fabric.

That is so neat. Thanks for the inspiration. Love it. I would love a quilt done like this. My mind is in a whirl.....

Oooh, that's really cool!

That's really pretty. I love the pattern.

Wow-what a neat pattern. You did a really great job.

That is really fabulous. I sometimes wish I had the patience/desire to hand sew... I don't see being able to do that with a machine without a lot of sailor/truck driver talk lol.

I think you did an awesome job on it :)

Right with you on that one. I had the choice of doing a 12 inch block or a 7 inch block. I went for the 12 inch as I could machine sew the blades together. The only hand sewing required for that larger size was to kind of close up the very centre. And when I did my hand stitches were visible, as I mentioned.

This all makes me glad i don't work with wood or metal - at least fabric can be pulled and stretched and blocked into shape :-)

Very pretty!

Very nice work! Beautiful!

Beautiful!