Early this year we, at Niki and the Strippers, made Scrappy Bargello quilts. Participants were encouraged to cut extra strips to make a quilt to be raffle and the money to be given to a local organisation to help others and this quilt is the result. Niki and the Strippers evolved because I thought that there was a place for a fun group in our Arts Council to use strips either from the infamous Jelly Rolls/Bali Pops or most importantly their own stashes to extend their quilt making experience and have FUN.

I run the classes on the last Saturday of the month, and give the opportunity for people to come free of charge and just sew. People seem to become consumed with matching colours and really the one of the ideas behind patchwork was to use what you had to make beautiful, useful items to keep your family warm. The participants had to cut two sets of strips, keep one set and put the other one in a lucky dip box and then go in and take out the same number that they put in. If they baulked at their choices I had some VERY striking fabric that they could have instead. Hmmm.......I wonder why no one took my up on my rather riotous fabric? One of the participant s pulled out the day before the class claiming that she wasn't ready. Later she confessed that it was because we weren't going to match our fabrics and regretted not coming as the results were fantastic and she realised that she really had missed out on a great time. One very dear friend had an ongoing war with her sewing machine, and now after sewing 4x32 stratas together, for her Scrappy Bargello, claims that her and her sewing machine are one. All good fun.

The pattern for this quilt (Scrappy Trip Around the World) and the Scrappy Bargello came from Bonnie K Hunter's Quiltville

The quilting pattern is a new one from Lorien Quilting called Continuous Feathers and I think it's smashing. The thread? An Aurilux variegated that fitted the scrappiness of the quilt. The lustre of the thread adds another dimension