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

Back from the beach

Yesterday we came back from our short holiday at the beach. Here are some of the photos I took - above is a Brahminy Kite; below an Osprey:



The lovely landscape just behind the beach:



And, of course, the treasures I found at the beach:



We had a stressful night when my youngest son discovered that his Bear was missing - he had left it at the shops in the afternoon. We were very happy when we found it there again the next day ('I almost binned it', said the lady at the shop...) Bear has been with Robbie his whole life - we can't do without him!

Apart from that episode it was a relaxed holiday and I feel well rested. Ready to start working very hard to take my business, Blue Jacaranda, to the next level in these three last months of the year. As you know I lost my job at Queensland Health and I am determined to make an income from my shop. I am working on a website, planning a new range of items, writing an article for a magazine and even thinking of writing a book!

If you are on Facebook, 'like' my page to be kept up-to-date with what's happening at Blue Jacaranda!

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 :-).

Aqua and Burlap Pencil Roll

The Burlap Pencil Roll I showed here a while ago quite unexpectedly became a big hit on Etsy - it has been on the front page twice and been viewed more than a thousand times since I first listed it on 12 August! (gasp!)
I have sold so many that it is now a 'made to order' item. It was also featured on the Illustration Friday blog (along with some other gorgeous pencill rolls and cases). Wow! what an experience! :-)



Today I thought I'd try a different design for a pencil roll. I used a piece of burlap that I had threaded with turquoise (thinking I might use it for a quilt but then changing my mind). I also added a 'flap' to fold over the pencils, so they can't fall out.



What do you think? I am quite happy with the latest addition to my pencil roll collection!



(not that I am keeping it - I still have the one that started it all and really, how many pencil rolls does a girl need? So it's up for sale, and remember: you still get 20% off by using coupon code ETSYVERSARY at check-out!)

Walfie

Remember Lily and Gus, the Etsy shop I featured here in March? I got one of their whales for my youngest son, who loves cuddly toys. I gave it to him when he had a migraine and had just vomited all over his beloved Bear...

While Bear was cleaned, Walfie kept him company, and he quickly became one of Robbie's favourites. He took him along when we went to Europe and there a very sad thing happened... We stayed in many different places and somewhere along the way Walfie got lost :-(. Robbie was devastated, and once we were back home I asked Ashley if she could make another whale like the one we had. She could, and did, and it arrived here last week. Robbie was overjoyed, and so was Bear!



Meanwhile, Lily and Gus is a finalist in the Martha Stewart Presents American Made Awards - how awesome is that?! If you click on the link you can vote for them, and go in the draw for the sweepstakes as well!