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...

Birthdays and more

Last week was a terribly busy one - my baby turned six, I turned forty-something, it was the last week of school with Letterland Day for the Preppies, on the weekend we had Robbie's Olympic birthday party, and today and tomorrow my eldest son is competing at the Gymnastics State and National Club Championships in Caloundra (guess who's chauffeuring). I got a lovely, handmade birthday present: this donut pincushion from my friend Kate (and a new smartphone to Instagram it with, yay!).



It has been getting quite warm here in Brisbane in the last few days, which inspired me to make another Burlap Beach Pillow. And I put a kookaburra in a hoop:



On Wednesday we are going to our caravan at Wooyung Beach for a short holiday. I am looking forward to it soooo much! See you next week :-).

Home again

We are back from a lovely, very relaxed holiday at Wooyung Beach. I am still sorting the hundreds of photos that I took, but here is one of a shell that I found.

Today is hubby's birthday. I baked him a Dutch appeltaart (apple cake):



It tasted as good as it looks! The recipe can be found here.

I reopened my Blue Jacaranda shops and made a few small things today to add to the Etsy shop. This week I hope to start on a new quilt...

Happy days

After the last posting I received an email from Cherilyn Martin, an English quilter living in the Netherlands. She had read the article about me in the Dutch Quilters Guild magazine and asked if I would like to meet with her as she was flying to Brisbane two days later! Of course I would, and I found Kate and Alison willing to join us, so we had a lovely lunch with some show and tell on Friday at South Bank. Thanks ladies, I enjoyed it very much!



Cherilyn is now teaching a workshop in Townsville and will be in Sydney after that.



Today, on my birthday ;-), I received an email congratulating me with the sale of my Balance 3 quilt in the SAQA Benefit Auction. It sold for $150 - I am very proud and happy!

Bunting

Today we celebrated Robbie's and my birthday in our local park (he turned four last Wednesday). I made a chalk and oil cloth bunting using the last bits of the Dutch oil cloth. (actually there are 3 separate buntings)



These buntings (strange word!) are definitely not for sale but this chalk cloth and polka dot oilcloth one is, in my MadeIt store. I love that you can erase the message and write something else for the next party! (or garage sale, or whatever)



This is all the sewing I have done in the last week. I am a little quilt-tired... or rather, tired in general, and looking forward very much to our holiday in Noosa one week from today. I intend to do a lot of reading and playing with my new camera! After the holiday I hope to start on a new quilting project with new energy. Unfortunately I have to finish the Doors quilt for Art Quilts Around the World before we leave... I have made a start but I am so not inspired, even though it is my own theme...

Thermofax screen, postcards and ATCs

After our very busy weekend I finally found time to do some screen printing - yes, more gymnasts! Sally in Hobart, Tasmania, made this thermofax screen for me (thanks again, Sally!):



She has set up a Thermofax Shop and will burn your images for you. I am sure I will make use of her services again!



In the last week I have received four cards from the Dutch Fibermailers. This gorgeous Mother and Child card is from Hannie.

And here are three birthday cards, from Ellen, Evelyn and Olga:



And an ATC from Janet in Canada - her very first one! I think it turned out great:



Here are my ATCs that are still available for swapping (the top ones are made with silk paper, the bottom ones with a thermofax screen):

Postcards, cards cases and tie-dyed shirts

I have received my first birthday card from the Dutch Fibermail group, from Hannie. Isn't it gorgeous? I can't wait for the other 18 (!!) cards to arrive!



I made this card for the current swap - the theme is Mother and Child. The image I used is the International Breastfeeding Symbol, designed by Matt Daigle. (I was a volunteer breastfeeding counselor in the Netherlands before we moved to Australia, so this is a subject close to my heart)
The card was made in reverse applique, and I used the cut-out piece to make another card, which is now for sale in my MadeIt shop. A nice gift for a new mum!



Also for sale are these business card cases (you may remember I made one before, see here):



and this tie-dyed shirt (size 6) and onesie (size 0):



Of course I made shirts for my boys as well:



They love them!

Yes, I have been busy. I have an idea for a new quilt (maybe for the SAQA New Frontiers: Beyond Comfort exhibit) but am procrastinating, doing all this small stuff... Or maybe I am just letting my idea ripen... ;-)

Polka dotted backpack

It must be at least two years ago, when I was in the middle of my bag-making phase, that I asked my best friend Hylkia (she of the famous Dutch Apple Cake) if she would like me to make a bag for her. She would, and could it be a backpack in polka dot fabrics please.



It has taken me those two years to make that backpack, but yesterday, on her 40th birthday, it arrived at her address in the Netherlands. She told me she loved it and so did her three daughters (who are roughly the same age as my three sons). I'm glad, because this is the first and last backpack I will ever make! (I started out with a pattern in this book, but gave it my own twist) No, seriously, it was a pleasure to make something for her - she once knitted a beautiful jumper for me, with cables! Backpacks are just not my thing... And I am really glad she likes it - just in case she didn't I also sent her another present; The Household Guide to Dying, one of my all-time favourite books, by Australian author Debra Adelaide.

Meanwhile I have almost finished one of the gymnast quilts; will show you some pics in the next posting. I really need to get started on the Flora quilt for Art Quilts Around the World, but seem to be stuck... The initial idea I had for a lino cutting didn't work out and I am not too sure about the second... Maybe I need to try something else - only 3 weeks to go!

Len's Quilt Top

Today is DH's birthday (39!) and his quilt top is almost finished. I want to add a wider border in a black and white fabric, but do not have time for that today. However, the most important part is finished - and you can be sure I will not ever make this quilt again!

Tomorrow DH and I fly to Melbourne, while the grandparents mind the boys. We will be there until Tuesday and look forward very much to a weekend strolling around the city, having leisurely meals at restaurants, visiting museums etc! On Sunday we are having lunch with the Melbourne members of Art Quilts Around the World at the Observatory Cafe at the Botanic Gardens. I'm really looking forward to that as well!

Quilt retreat at Lake Moogerah

Last weekend I was at a quilt retreat near Lake Moogerah. I had a wonderful time (it is great not to have to cook for a whole weekend!) and have been very productive. On Friday evening I finally put together the top of the play quilt for Robbie, with the blocks I got for my birthday two (!) years ago:



On the green fabric in the centre I am going to applique some roads for Robbie to ride his cars on. I think I will use a world map panel for the back, as I did with Hugo and Ernst's quilts - so he can see where we live now (in Australia) and where we are from (the Netherlands).

On Saturday I made a bag with the fabric I bought in the Netherlands:



When the bag was finished I worked on three small quilts for Colours of Africa, a Belgian/Dutch initiative to raise funds for an early childhood centre in South Africa. I will show them here when they are finished, which should be later this week.

There were about 25 ladies at the retreat - and this one male visitor!



It was a great weekend - thanks Julie for organizing it! I'm already looking forward to next year's retreat.

40

Today is my 40th birthday. The 40 years have mainly been good (especially the last 8) and I am looking forward to the next 40!
The postcard above is from Marloes, I sent her a Dutch Houses postcard and she sent me this beauty, just in time for my birthday. Thanks Marloes!



This is a sneak peek of the gymnasts quilt I am currently working on. It's going well, but I still don't know what it will look like when it's finished!