This African wax print from Magie Relph was chosen because the colours reminded me of the green and purple of Scottish thistles. It is one of only two printed pieces since all of the other fabrics used for Yurt panels were plain cottons or silks. It had to be made longer so a freestyle triangles border was added to the bottom edge. It was quilted at Festival of Quilts 2011 while I was demonstrating longarm quilting and there were many interruptions to stop and chat to the visitors. The random freehand zigzag design did not really show up on the busy fabric so I decided to paint into alternate areas to create a greater contrast. The crochet flowers were added to make the border more fun.

This piece started off as one of The African Fabric Shop’s mudcloth lengths. It has almost been treated as a whole cloth quilt except for the addition of some spare pieced strips to make it long enough. I decide to echo the blended paint effect from "The Hare" panel around the central motif which afterwards, I confess, made me think of female anatomy.

I could not resist using this piece of African wax print since it features thistles, albeit in a highly unlikely combination of colours. An asymmetric border of earthy coloured squares extended it to the standard Yurt panel size of 30" x 54”. The panel is quilted in a wavy criss-cross pattern seen on the printed thistles then random lines of decorative stitches were applied to look rather like streams and rivers on a map.

This Courthouse Steps panel was one of the first to be pieced and one of the last to be quilted in time for the inaugural exhibition in 2010. It is a very regimented design and required formal, controlled quilting with traditional feathers. Kay was a novice quilter at the time when she agreed to help me meet the Loch Lomond Quilt Show deadline after my extended stay in the USA. Unknown to both of us at the beginning of the project, Kay had bought my original starter quilting machine 3rd hand on Ebay. I happened to have her contact details since she had enquired about APQS longarm machines so I simply asked if she would like to participate in the project. Kay has gone on to become one of the UK’s best quilters, winning numerous awards and she is also now one of my best friends!

This is one of only two repeated panels so that one version could be sent to the USA and the copy could remain in the UK. Celtic Circles was one of the original, simple panels that work so well. The basic patchwork of simple squares is enhanced by more complex quilting; it uses the circle motif that is so central to the entire project. Some of the rings are filled with Celtic inspired motifs. This version varies slightly from the original in that it does not have side borders.

This panel was created in January 2011 when there was not much colour in the landscape. I chose fabrics that made me think of the granite dry stone walls surrounding most of the fields in Aberdeenshire. I decided to experiment with loops of bias tape that I had created so that I could make a circle without a join. It was quite challenging to make the circles of bias tape lie flat. I used a curved longarm ruler to form curved quilted lines inside the “stones” and quilted pebbles freehand in the background squares. I have hidden my backtracking stitches underneath an interesting complementary bobbly yarn. Winter can last a long time in the North East corner of Scotland – there is not even a hint of golden sun (gold lamé) in this unusually subtle piece.

In order to complete the quilted yurt project in a timely fashion, I soon realized that I had to design some simply pieced panels as well as some more complex ones. I chose not to line the rows up in a conventional way using such challenging, stretchy fabrics so I offset them slightly. The quilted circles add softness to the hard, sharp lines.

Yvette pieced this panel using her collection of Oakshott fabrics and the odd bit of gold lamé. It is a simple but striking design of bordered squares. The deep colours are like those often to be seen in a dramatic Scottish sunset. I decided to quilt double overlapping circles on this regular, geometric piece forming the traditional pumpkin seed or wine glass design. Some circles have been highlighted with a berry coloured paint to make them stand apart from the rest. The idea of squares and circles reminded me of the formations in some Scottish folk dances so I decided to name it “Petronella," after one of the wild reels.

The inspiration for the strip pieced wavy sections came from a visit to an incongruously trendy country pub that Mo, Tania and I came across on our visit to the tweed mill. There was an outrageously patterned carpet and a vast plasma screen TV in a place where the clientele would probably have preferred a more conventional tartan decor. We had been looking forward to a large jug of coffee and slabs of shortbread but instead we were served tiny petit fours and undersized cups of coffee. The plain sections have been intensely stitched and look rather like carded wool. The addition of crochet doilies was a whimsical homage to beer mats.

This panel was assembled like an inaccurately pieced Drunkard’s Path. Oversized templates were used then the blocks were trimmed down afterwards. The geometric quilting motif was chosen to juxtapose the curves and it is a motif that is similar to the maze design found both on ancient Celtic carvings and also on Mongolian felt-work.

These lopsided triangles were my first attempt at freestyle rotary cutting. It is a technique that I initially found almost as challenging as paper foundation piecing. The colours remind me of heather, bracken and birch bark. I quilted wobbly diagonal lines in the triangles since I always enjoy quilting something a little less obvious inside geometric shapes than simple straight lines.

This panel is a remake of Celtic Knot since I always felt guilty at the sweeping colour changes that I made to the original by stunt quilter, Sharon Spingler. I realized that there is actually a lot of bright yellow gorse and broom blossom that grows amongst the “brucklebog” area near my house. I traced the design straight off the original quilted panel and attempted Celtic style appliqué for the first time The raw edged pieces of fabric were bonded onto a dyed yellow background and then fine, adhesive ribbon was attached. It was not as sticky as it should have been and there are rather a lot of places where the ribbon had to be tucked under or over the bonded pieces. It was a fiddly task using invisible monofilament thread to attach everything down securely. I used trapunto designs from a silver brooch to frame the celtic knot then quilted random swirling feathery designs in the background to make the piece one of the most complex pieces of the whole Yurt. The title comes from an old Scots folk song.