Things are not what they seem

It's finished! And I thought this was a good name for an optical illusion quilt.
I'm not happy about the quilting in the border, but apart from that I think it turned out quilte well.

(in case you're wondering what it's hanging on:


The flag of our bike trailer (that pic was taken almost 2 years ago but we still use it like this) - it was the only thing I could find that was long enough!)

I also made some haiku ATCs with the fabrics I painted on Sunday - I will show them here when they have arrived at their destinations. And a postcard:



The next project will probably be the Connections quilt for Art Quilts Around the WOrld (the online artquiltgroup formerly known as Around the World in 20 Quilts...). And of course the selvedge QAYG quilt is waiting for me to finish it before winter...

Playing with paint

Last week in Cairns I bought a marbling set and some other fabric paints at the Cairns Craft Centre (great shop, wish we had one like that here in Brissy!). Today I had a ball playing with fabric and paint:





After the painted fabric had dried I did some stamping and stenciling:



And in the end I had some pretty pieces of fabric:




I will use them to make the haiku ATCs - they have to be finished this week.
The optical illusion quilt is almost finished, I just have to sew back the binding.
I hope I'll be able to show it hanging on the wall in the next posting!

Video

I just found this ABC news report from July 2008 about the TB-clinics in the Torres Strait, that perfectly shows where I have been last week. Do click on the video-link for a 10-minute video, to see the islands, the patients and the TB-team at work.

Back

I'm back from a really awesome (literally awe-inspiring) trip to Cairns and the Torres Strait Islands. There's a long story about the trip on my other blog - it's in Dutch, but the 30 or so photos will help you understand what I did up there.
On this blog I will just give some visual impressions.

Beautiful Cairns (view from the Esplanade):



I spent a lot of time in the air - 8 flights altogether, 4 of them in small aircrafts, where I got to sit next to the pilot and make lots of photos. Awesome.



In the health centre on Boigu Island I saw this whimsical work of art:



Back in Cairns on Saturday these lovely ladies (Robbie, Vi and Wendy) took me under their wings:



First we went to Rusty's Markets - lots of fresh (tropical) fruit and vegies, flowers and other colourful products - a feast for the eyes!





Then we visited 3 (!) quiltshops and I did my bit for the local economy ;-). After that, they dropped me at the Botanical Gardens where I spent my last few hours before going home. I love botanical gardens!






Thanks for all the comments and emails about 'the new quilt'. I don't have the time to answer all of them, but I really appreciate them! I'm trying to switch back to the mode I was in before I left, to finish it, but at the moment I'm still up there with my head in the clouds...

Quilting the new quilt

I spent a large part of the very wet Easter weekend quilting the optical illusion quilt. This is the result.

I don't like the quilting part of making a quilt. Every time I feel that I am ruining a beautiful top, and this time was no exception. I had hopes of entering this quilt in a show when I finished the top, but my quilting just isn't good enough. I took a leap and free motion quilted all of it. I think the pattern turned out quite well, but the feathers (yes, they are supposed to be feathers) in the borders did not. And the stitch length is very uneven... Oh well, I suppose this is the way to learn it - practice, practice, practice. Here's a view of the back:



Now I only have to add the binding and the sleeve, but that will have to wait 'till next week. Tomorrow I am flying to Cairns, where I will join the team from the Regional Tuberculosis Control Unit on their monthly trip to the Torres Strait Islands. I will be able to observe their clinics on some of the outer islands, where they treat patients from Papua New Guinea who can access health care on the Australian islands as part of the 1985 Treaty between Australia and PNG. There is a lot of TB in PNG and also a lot of MDR-TB (multidrug resistant). As you may or may not know, I was a public health physician in TB control in the Netherlands and I am currently working as a datamanager/researcher at the Queensland TB Control Centre here in Brisbane. I hope to do a PhD in public health/TB control someday. I have also been thinking of making a TB quilt for some time - it is an ancient disease that is still a major problem in the world today. I have some ideas but they have to ripen some more...

Anyway, I am looking forward to this trip very much. On my way back, I have half a day to spend in Cairns and I will meet some ScQuilters there who will show me around. I'm sure I will post some pics here when I get back (and some more on our Dutch family blog) so watch this space! ;-)

The new quilt

I just finished the top of the quilt I told you about in the last posting - the one I had been seeing in my mind for a while now. A nice checkerboard, hmm? Bit boring, you say? Well, in this pic it isn't finished yet - I added this:



Looking better, hmm? Still not finished though - added some more:



How about this one?? Interesting, isn't it?

A while ago, an article in an online newspaper about optical illusions led me to this website. When I saw this illustration I immediately thought of a quilt (wouldn't you?). So here is the top - of course, the big question now is: how to quilt it? (always the hardest part of making a quilt...)
I'll think about that for a bit - suggestions welcome!

Have a lovely Easter break!