Chris Johnson

I went to a very interesting lecture/trunk show last night at Inspiration Fabrics!  Chris Johnson spoke on Aboriginal fabrics and artwork.  She was born and raised in New Zealand but worked for many years in Australia.  She worked and lived among the Aboriginal people, so she knows what a lot of the designs in the fabric mean, and about their artwork.  I found her story very fascinating and learned a lot!

One of the reasons I was interested in going is because I have collected a fair amount of Australian fabric and wanted some ideas for how to use it! My husband lived in Australia for a couple of years, way back before he met me!  That sparked my interest in the fabric in the first place and I would like to make him a quilt using the fabric.  Chris gave a lot of great ideas on how to use the fabric (which can be very busy prints) most effectively.

I could make something as simple as this disappearing nine-patch.  She said some plainer fabrics and batiks are good to throw into the mix, so it's not overly busy.

She had some interesting framing and hanging ideas too - like the quilt framed in an old window frame (above) and the branch quilt hanger (right).

A close up of the Disappearing Nine-Patch quilt (which she gave us the pattern for!)




The art piece below is actually a painting, but it looks a lot like some of the Australian fabric in my stash!


Great lecture - interesting evening!  I'm inspired to make that quilt using my Australian fabrics :)