Back from Melbourne

I had a great time in Melbourne - my son and his team did very well (they won bronze in the team competition) and I really enjoyed watching some high-level gymnastics. When I was not at the HiSense Arena, I wandered around in Richmond (the suburb close to the Arena where I was staying) and took photos of the street art. This mural was my favourite; for more photos check out this posting on my photo blog.



Lots of inspiration, both at the gymnastics championships and in Richmond. I'm hoping it will lead to some new art quilts!

Off to Melbourne

Last week was pretty hectic here - getting a magazine ready to go to the printer and a son to go to the Australian Gymnastics Championships! Therefore the only sewing I did was this luggage tag for Hugo; in the most maroon-ish fabric I could find in my stash (maroon is the colour of Queensland). He flew to Melbourne yesterday with the Queensland State Team, I am going down tomorrow morning to watch him compete in the afternoon. Very excited!



Here is the athlete - so proud of my boy :-)



PS My Etsy shop will stay open while I am away, but all orders will be shipped on Monday 26 May. In the meantime, use coupon code CHAMPION for a 25% discount!

Denim Argyle Cushion

I made this denim cushion for the blue and white issue of Down Under Quilts, which goes on sale today. I used jeans that my boys had grown out off (the dark patch is from a very cute size 3 pair), a pair that my husband had discarded and some of my own that didn't fit so well anymore... The white patches are from a denim skirt bought at the op shop, as I don't own any white denim items!
The back is made from one of my husband's old shirts:



I love new fabrics as much as the next quilter, but it does add something extra to a project when it is made from preloved textiles. Plus, as you know, I love the idea of upcycling!



PS The pattern for this cushion is now available in my pattern shop on Etsy.

Felted sweaters projects

I am writing an article about upcycling woollen sweaters (jumpers) into useful items, so have made a number of mouse pads/table toppers/trivets in the last week. Most of them have been (or will be) donated to friends and colleagues :-).



The finished Argyle Table Runner that I showed earlier:



I tried to 'loosen up a bit' in creating these free-form coasters from scraps of felt:





And this might become a new project... A wonky log cabin quilt in felt:

Wordless Wednesday

Sneak peeks, upcycling and kids' art

I have just finished two quilting projects - can't show them yet but here are some sneak peeks. The first is the quilt made out of men's shirts; the binding is also a striped shirt! The second project is this one; cool hey!



Today was a rainy day here in Brisbane and I decided to have another play with my felted sweaters. This is a mouse pad for a colleague. The camera on my mobile phone had a hard time capturing the orange...



My second son Ernst (9) had his first art class with Brisbane artist Kylie Farrelly yesterday and loved it. This term's theme is 'Paint like the Masters' - can you guess yesterday's Master?