Merry Christmas

This lovely fabric postcard was made by Ellen from the Netherlands - thank you Ellen, I love it!
I thought it was the perfect photo for the last posting of the year. As we are getting ready for our summer holiday at the beach, I would like to wish you all a merry Christmas / happy holidays with your loved ones. Hope to see you again in 2013!

Wordless Wednesday

Burlap Bowl

Today I finally made something I have been wanting to make for a long time: a fabric bowl. Of course I used coffee sack fabric! (and heavy-weight Fast2Fuse for the interfacing)



I used this tutorial to make the bowl and found it a quick and easy job.



This one is to keep the loose bits and pieces on my desk organised, but I might make some more Burlap Bowls to add to my Etsy shop. And maybe use some of the gorgeous quilting fabrics in my stash to make a few more for myself... ;-)

Wordless Wednesday

T-Shirt Print Cards

The other day a friend asked if I could make something for her. She had some old t-shirts she wasn't wearing anymore, but did not want to throw away because of the memories attached to them. Last year I had given her one of my Kookaburra Word Art Cards and she was wondering if it would be possible to make a card like that with those t-shirts.



I thought that was a brilliant idea! I cut the print out of the t-shirt and fused it to a piece of Fast2Fuse (what I always use to make fabric cards). For the back I used plain calico (that's muslin in the US) - she will be able to write some memories on it with a Sharpie or felt pen. I finished the edges with a satin stitch in yellow thread:



Her husband had this polo shirt from the university where he did his Masters degree that he wasn't wearing anymore:



I cut out the pocket and made this card:



She had some more shirts that I haven't photographed, but you get the idea. I think it's a brilliant way to keep the memories associated with those old shirts - and much less work than making a t-shirt quilt! (something I plan to do with Hugo's gymnastics shirts one day)
I am going to have a dig in our wardrobe soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Burlap Coffee Sack Apron Tutorial

Just wanted to let you know that I have posted a tutorial on how to make an apron from a coffee sack on my  Blue Jacaranda blog. It's the first time I have written a tutorial and I would love it if you would check it out and let me know what you think!



If you are in Brisbane, you might consider coming to the Inspired event at Kylie Farrelly's studio in Teneriffe. It's promising to be a lovely afternoon, with high tea, raffles and great Christmas shopping!

Snug-a-licious!

Last Saturday a big box was delivered on our deck... and in it were three Snugs!



You may remember that I mentioned in March 2011 that I was designing some new animal calligrams that might end up on children's pillows... It's taken a while, but Suzie from Snug-a-licious has created a gorgeous range of baby and children's products, featuring my calligrams. I am very proud to have been involved in this!



Suzie kindly sent each of my boys a Snug - they are lovely soft blankets that fold into a pillow, beautifully made and finished;





The boys love them - thanks Suzie!



Snug-a-licious also has lovely sleepwear and playwear for littlies - sadly, my boys are too big, but I think I know what their new cousin (due in January 2013) will get from the rellies in Oz... (aside from a quilt, of course!) These Hippo PJs are just too cute!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Queensland Quilt Show 2012

On Wednesday I was at the Queensland Quilt Show, at the 2QAQ table with Glad, Sue and Jane. We demonstrated some techniques - I made this piece of burlap:



People kept asking 'But what will it be?' - I don't know yet!



The quilt show was amazing; there were more than 500 quilts! The red and white quilts from the Mount Isa region looked spectacular:



I had entered two quilts; Wooyung:



.. and my Zebra, which had been folded and looked terrible :-(



I discovered that The Final Round was also at the show, with the other State of the Art quilt 12 quilts:



I had planned not to buy anything but couldn't resist this book - I have been wanting to read it for quite a while:



I have almost finished it and will post a review soon!



I took something else home: Cycle of Life, which has been at a number of exhibitions and even a visit to the SAQA/SDA Conference in Philadelphia! It's been away for 18 months and I am so glad to have it back home! It is my favourite of all my quilts.

I had a lovely day at the show - unfortunately I had to leave early to pick up the boys from school. Hubby is in New Zealand at the moment, so I am temporarily a single parent. I had forgotten how much time and energy it takes when you have to do it all by yourself... which of course shows how much hubby usually does!

Wordless Wednesday

New: Blue Jacaranda Newsletter

One more Blue Jacaranda message: I have set up a newsletter (whew, what a lot of work that was!) that will come out once month and keep you up-to-date with what's happening at Blue Jacaranda and other things you might like to know (such as that it is now jacaranda time in Brisbane!). If you sign up, you will automatically go in the draw for a beautiful Blue Jacaranda prize each month; this month the prize is a set of three Burlap Christmas Cards. And you get to choose the text on the cards!



You can read the first newsletter here, and also sign up on that page. Or use the form in the sidebar on the right.

On Wednesday I'll be at the Queensland Quilt Show - looking forward to that! Two of my quilts are hanging there. Will show some pics soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Lunch with the MOB

Today I had a lovely lunch at the riverside cafe of GOMA with the MOB - the SAQA Members of Oceania in Brisbane. Sue, Kate, Mel, Janet and I enjoyed our cool drinks...



... nice food...



... and inspiring discussions about art and quilts :-). Mel showed a beautiful mixed media piece:



After lunch we walked to the Queensland Museum to see the Dressed by the Best exhibition (no photos allowed).



It was a lovely day - thanks ladies! I am so inspired to start a new quilt now...

Blue Jacaranda website and blog launched

Today I am happy to announce the new Blue Jacaranda website! I have been working on it on and off for the last four weeks and finally decided it was good enough to launch it - although it is still a work in progress.



I have also set up a Blue Jacaranda blog, where from now on I will post most of the BJ-related stuff. I hope that those of you who are interested will follow me there! This blog (the one you are reading now) will continue to exist for my textile art, but probably be updated less frequently as I do not have so much time to make art quilts now that I am trying to make a (modest) living out of my Blue Jacaranda shop. Both blogs will have the occasional personal touch - things that I would like to share, such as beach photos, kids' art, gymnastics photos etc.

Including my photo blog and our private family blog I now have four blogs... Surely that's not too many?! ;-)

Mini Zebra

Yesterday I finished this mini zebra quilt (9 inch/23 cm square). I used one of the original prints I made for the Animal Kingdom challenge in June 2011.



This small piece is now for sale in Galleribba.

Wordless Wednesday