tania’s colorful journey (part two)
The following is part two of a story written by my Instagram friend, Tania Mills, about her ‘Anna Maria (Anna Maria Horner, now Parry) Ice cream Sundae’ quilt which was born out of the pandemic, where, she states, in Victoria, Australia, they endured some of the longest and strictest lockdown conditions in the world. If you missed part one, you can find it in my February, 2026 blog:
When I began to applique the blooms to the backgrounds, I shared my progress with an English Paper Piecing Facebook page, not asking for opinions, but receiving many. The traditionalists were mortified that I’d chosen to applique, but if I must, then at least add them to a soft cream or warm white, certainly not a patterned fabric! “There’s no where for your eye to rest.” This kind of terminology grates on me and fuels my rebellious creativity. Catch cries of the less adventurous, convention clutching, rule imposers. Tell me I can’t or I shouldn’t and that’s exactly what I will do, and do my best to make it work. I always have a pang of doubt when I come up against these opinions. I question what I’m seeing when I hold fabrics together. But over time I’ve come to trust the electric explosion that goes off in my brain when pattern and colour converge.
12 whole months of fussy cutting, English paper piecing, and applique saw me with a finished quilt top. This quilt was huge by my standards, and I wanted to hand quilt it. It was daunting being so big, so I folded it, clipped it on a pants hanger, and slipped it over the door handle at the back of the sewing room door. Each time I was ready to start a new hand quilting project, I’d go to the sewing room and select the next top in the queue. Each time I would slip the Ice cream Sundae into second position from first, and pretend that I was ok with it. This went on for two years.
In 2024, I admitted to myself that I was never going to quilt Ice cream Sundae myself. I was shattered. Up until now, I had quilted every one of my quilts myself, either by machine, or a mixture of machine in the ditch with hand quilting details. I felt like I’d given up on this one. I had to overcome ridiculous feelings of this quilt not being mine if I had someone else finish it for me, that I was somehow cheating. A lovely friend with a long arm machine, edge to edge quilted it for me, and although I might not choose the same quilting pattern again, I was ecstatic that it was finished and I could finally put it on my bed.
I want to thank Tania for this delightful and insightful story. You can see from the image below that her work is colorful, fun, and imaginative. If you aren’t following her on instagram yet, you can do so @mrsmagillaquilts Her posts are wonderful, as she is unafraid to share her vulnerabilities and her confidences. I delight when I see her flashes of color appear in my feed. That is truly “hopescrolling.”
Have you had a quilt that has changed you in some way? Are you ready to tell your story? If so, my book, The Story of Your Quilt may help to get you started. It’s available here today. If you’re ready to share your story, I am working on a second book and I’d love to include it. Email me below because I’d love to start a conversation!
Photo courtesy of Tania Mills