Sunshine quilt

Just realised that I haven't shown you this quilt yet! I made it back in July, for the summer issue of Down Under Quilts.



It's a very simple baby quilt - just nine-patch blocks and snowball blocks, made with a bright orange fabric to give it a sunny look.



This is the cover of the magazine - it's available now at newsagents and online.



The quilt is now available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Tomorrow we are going away for a few days; camping in Noosa. I'm planning on making lots of photos to add to my portfolio on Shutterstock, which is growing steadily and starting to generate some income!

Christmas tree skirt

Finally I can show you the Christmas project I made back in May! It is a tree skirt - the first one I have ever made. I'm very pleased with how it turned out and looking forward to using it in December. How lucky that we have just moved to a bigger house, and will actually have room for a large tree this year!



The tree skirt is one of the projects in the Christmas issue of Down Under Quilts (#172), which is now available at newsagents and online.



My equilateral triangles quilt is also in this issue - you may remember I made it back in April.



I really like this little quilt! I used six shades of green, plus four brown triangles to make sure you can see the forest through the trees ;-)



Sadly there are no babies expected in my family or among my friends anytime soon, so I have added the quilt to my Etsy shop. You can find it here.



UPDATE 2016: The pattern for this quilt is now available on Etsy.

Rainbow Diamonds baby quilt

UPDATE 2016: The pattern for this quilt is now available on Etsy.


(Photo by Paul Lewin)

This is the quilt I made last year for our new nephew in Holland. His parents knew they were having a boy this time, but weren't telling us, so I decided to go with rainbow colours (and they liked that idea). First I cut some squares:



Then I made a lot of half square triangle blocks:



Then I played with possible lay-outs:








In the end I decided to go with diamonds:



A black and white binding:



Finished!



The parents and the big sister loved the quilt, I hope the little nephew will as well! (he was sleeping when we handed it over).



The quilt is a project in the kids' issue (169) of Down Under Quilts, on sale from tomorrow at newsagents and online. Lots of great projects for kids inside!

Australia issue of Down Under Quilts

Down Under Quilts 168, our special Australia issue, is now on sale. I am really happy with this issue - we feature Lucy Carroll, whose work I admire a lot, we have some great projects (love that Uluru quilt by Keith Wood) and share quilts from International Quilt Week Yokohama, the Canberra Quilt Show 2014 and A World of Colour.



My project for this issue are these Australia postcards - quick and easy to make, and great for sending to friends overseas!


(photo by photographer and textile artist Jolanta Szymczyk)

The magazine comes with a free fat quarter of this lovely fabric:



I had fun thinking of small projects to make with this fabric. Of course you could also use it in a quilt!

Merry Christmas

Photography by Colin Bushell

Tomorrow we fly to Indonesia where we will spend two days in Jakarta before we travel on to the Netherlands, to celebrate Christmas with our family - for the first time in seven years! I am so looking forward to this trip.

I made the curvy Christmas table runner with matching placemats for my mother-in-law - it is a project in the current issue of Down Under Quilts (168). The wall hanging on the cover was made by Charlotte Scott from New Zealand - isn't it gorgeous?



I'm taking my laptop with me and will try to blog when we are in the Netherlands. I don't think it will happen before Christmas though, so I would like to wish you all Merry Christmas (or happy holidays, if you prefer). Thanks for reading this blog - I hope you will continue to do so in 2015!

Take care,
Linda

A new look and a giveaway

Down Under Quilts issue 166 is on sale at newsagents throughout Australia today! It will be available at Coles supermarkets next week, and you can also order it online (digital or hard copy).
This is our spring issue and it has a fresh new look. To celebrate I have one copy to give away - for your chance to win it just leave a comment here and tell me what you love to see in a quilting magazine. (Australian readers only - sorry international readers!)



My project in this issue is this Stripy Chevrons baby quilt, made with upcycled men's shirts (you may remember I showed some sneak peeks here and here). There are also some gorgeous projects designed by Andi Herman (aka PatchAndi), Anorina Morris and Molli Sparkles, and on their blogs you can also win a copy of the magazine.



Speaking of new looks... I also have one! I decided to go for the short bob again, just in time for my birthday. Today I turned 45, but we celebrated it yesterday, because hubby had to go to Perth:



I am really spoilt, with lots of chocolate, and this gorgeous bag from BagyBags on Etsy (yes, I like chevrons!).



My mother-in-law gave me money to choose something for myself, so I am going to have a lovely time browsing on Etsy. I am thinking ceramics or jewellery (or a combination!). I gave myself Edge of Eternity, part three of the Century trilogy by Ken Follett which has just been published. Looking forward to delving into it!

I have mixed feelings about this birthday. I don't mind getting older (quite the contrary), but I am now older than my mother ever was - she died at 44, when I was 17 - and that is a really strange idea. I guess I'll get used to it...

Kombi Van Sewing Machine Cover

Update (February 2016): the pattern for this cover is now available in my pattern store on Etsy!



I am very fond of Kombi Vans (in Holland they are called VW buses), and the cover we did for Down Under Quilts 161 last year (you can see it here, scroll down a little) inspired me to make a Kombi Van cover for my sewing machine. It is a project in issue 165, which goes on sale tomorrow, so I can finally share it! (I showed a sneak peek here and here)



In Australia the magazine is sold in newsagents; if you're overseas you can buy it through this website.



Here is the cover on my machine in my sewing room - it makes me smile every time I enter the room!

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.

Nautical Chevron Bag

A while ago I showed you some pieced chevrons - actually, that was five months ago! How time flies! Well, I can finally reveal the finished item: this Nautical Chevron Bag!



It appears as a project in issue 163 of Down Under Quilts, which went on sale today. We did the photography for this issue at the Queensland Maritime Museum - the perfect location!



I am really happy with how this bag turned out and had planned to take it with me to the Stitches and Craft Show here in Brisbane today. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well so decided to stay home and get some rest instead. Hubby is in Kuala Lumpur this week (will I be glad when he arrives home safely tomorrow!) so it's a busy week. Eldest son, the gymnast, has his first competition of the year on Sunday - his training schedule has been manic these last months (five 3.5 hour sessions per week plus one 1.5 hour early morning training) and I am almost as nervous as he is... Bring on Sunday!

Presents for little nieces

With the boys still at home (it's summer holidays Down Under) and some work deadlines coming up, I haven't been able to sew much since we came back from our holidays, but I did make this balloon ball as a first birthday present for our little niece in Holland.



I used this pattern - it's a quick make and a good way to use up some scraps. Many years ago my boys got a balloon ball as a present and they still play with it. It's a great gift for littlies.



Here is the birthday girl, one year old now, with the Aussie Baby Quilt I made for her last year:



In August last year another niece was born in Holland - the daughter of DH's youngest sister (we have four nieces now! The boys are outnumbered). For her I also made an Aussie Baby Quilt, as I still had a lot of Aboriginal fabrics and I really liked the design:



This time I quilted it in a different way, with gum leaves in the squares. It looks very nice on the back:



I pieced the back together using some Australian fabrics:



The quilt can be found as a project in the Australian issue of Down Under Quilts, now on sale:



And here is the adorable recipient!

Snakes and Ladders Quilt

Suddenly realised that I hadn't shown this quilt here yet! I made it for the kids' issue of Down Under Quilts. Of course my boys had to try it out first:



They approved of it, and it ended up on the cover, with their bears and tiger! The boys are very proud :-).



(Isn't that pink Kombi Van adorable??)

The quilt now lives in Kenya, where the boys' little cousins are having lots of fun with it. That's what we do it for, isn't it?