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!

oh wow!! Is that all hand pieced? It is just beautiful!

I love it!! Very pretty!

Wow, very nice!

Ooooo that is a stunning block! You did a wonderful job on it :D:D:D

Terrific job!

WOW!!! :shock: That's wonderful!!! :thumbup:

You've done a great job!

Thanks to all of you who have made kind comments about my spiral block and to those who have visited my blog.

I noticed from my blog stats that some of you had done a search for the Moonbeams pattern so I rang Margaret and asked her if it was available anywhere. She told me that Threadbare Patchwork and Quilting sell it, even though it wasn't listed on their site when I visited earlier today.

http://www.threadbear.com.au/

They ship outside Australia apparently. If you want to get your hands on this pattern you might like to contact them.

I found it on there -- "Whirling Twirling." It cost $25.00 and is a pattern for an 80 x 80 quilt.

I, for one would love to see a tutorial on this block! Keep it in mind, please. Beautiful block!

Great job :thumbup:

mosaicthinking, Thanks for sharing the pictures of your Symposium. I enjoy seeing what everyone is doing. The Spiral gave me an idea for our quilt club President's block. She requested a 10 1/2" block in reds and white. Thanks, Eiltcoq.

Very nice!!

Wow very nice.

Interested in your block from the M McDonald quilt.Does the pattern give specifc instructions in how to make the points match. I am interested in this technique and can't find any instructions.

Holice

Holice, here are *some* construction instructions in the pattern, but they're not super detailed.

The main trick is to sew the wedges from the centre out and to start the seam a quarter inch in from the centre (which is why you have to hand stitch the centre of the spiral together at the end.) She also taught us to put a tiny snip to mark the mid point in each blade seam, just to help check that the two pieces of fabric are aligned.

This is a picture of the spiral in construction - it might give you some hints if you're a visual learner like me. Looking at your avatar, you seem to be an expert already though :-)

I'm making a big spiral circle for a middle of a quilt and I have a pattern piece for the little spiral and I now know why it volcanoed on me so I'm going to try it again to see if I can get a decent one made. I want to get that mini spiral onto my big circle today so I can rest for a spell. Thanks for showing the comtruction of it. Huggies, Fay

Glad this helped Fay. Post a pic when you're done. It would be fun to see yours.