Finished!

The dragon of the sky is finished!



I had so much fun making this quilt. The best part was attaching all the rhinestones:



I free-motion-quilted spirals in the background, inspired by the tail of the dragon. Free-motion quilting is not something I enjoy doing, but I do like the texture it created.



Ernst loves his dragon recreated in fabric. We might do another one together (I have found a very groovy green fabric) but first I have a few other projects to finish. Stay tuned!

Read more about the making of this quilt here, here and here.

Dragon progress

Slowly but surely the dragon of the sky is created in fabric.



His claws are added...



And his eyes (what you thought were eyes are his nostrils!)



The 'spikes' are his wings. They move so fast that they seem to be stationary. The dragon lives high in the sky, much higher than aeroplanes go.



Ready for quilting!

Another antique quilt

A few weeks ago I saw this delightful vintage quilt on eBay. I was lucky and got it for a very reasonable price, and yesterday it arrived. Isn't it cute? I've never seen this block before - tumbling blocks with bows tied around them, how original!



The quilt was advertised as pre-1930s. I'm not sure if it is that old as that hearts fabric looks more recent to me - I think it was probably made in the 1950s. But I love the design and am very happy to have acquired this quilt. It's completely hand-pieced and hand-quilted. The seller told me that it was made in Pennsylvania, US.



There's some damage to a few blocks and some running of the red dyes, but overall it's in a pretty good condition. It has joined the other antique quilts on my antique sewing machine :-)



Stay tuned for an update about the Wild Fabrications quilt this weekend!

Thinking of Holland

This quilt was made in November 2013. It was my entry for Living Colour! but it was not selected. I was very disappointed, as the theme really spoke to me and I knew immediately that I would make a quilt showing the famous flower fields in Holland. Initially I called it Flower Fields Forever, but I changed the name to Thinking of Holland, because it does really remind me of my home country.



We lived close to those fields in the last few years before we moved to Australia and, yes, they really are so vividly colourful! (here are some great photos). I had to add a windmill, cliché or not - they have such an attractive shape and there were lots of them where we used to live. And you will recognise the bicycle as the one I used in my Cycle of Life quilt (based on a photo of my husband and our youngest son).



I used my favourite Aurifil thread for piecing and quilting. The quilt is hanging over our dinner table and I am enjoying looking at it every day. But I am also happy that it is going to travel around Australia soon, as part of the World of Colour exhibition organised by Berry Patchwork. It is even going to Uluru! How I wish I could go and see it there!

My Gymnast

Today I received a cd with photos of my eldest son taken at the Australian Gymnastics Championships and I can't resist sharing a few of my favourites here. All of these photos are made by the fabulous photographers at WinkiPoP Media and the copyright remains theirs.

Parallel bars:



Pommel:



High bar:



Vault:



Floor:



And my absolute favourite photo, rings:



I have asked and received permission to use this photo as the starting point for a new art quilt - so stay tuned!

State of the dragon

This is the current state of the dragon. I found a gorgeous glittery gold fabric that looks great but is an absolutely pain to sew with!



I cut the mouth, glued it to the black background fabric and tried to stitch it in place. It kept moving and distorting... grrr! I have stitched it onto the quilt top now and will use a satin stitch in gold thread to cover the edges later.



The teeth are made from white felt, and only the base is sewn to the background, so they add a little bit of a 3D effect. Ernst loves it and I'm pretty happy with the overall picture as well. Sadly I won't have time to work on it tomorrow, but I hope to get on with it on Thursday.

To be continued!

Wild Fabrications

A few days ago I saw a call for entry for a new SAQA exhibit: Wild Fabrications. I have been making a lot of traditionals quilts and quilted items for Down Under Quilts in the last six months and I really feel like starting a new art quilt project. The exhibit concept reads as follows:

'Wild Fabrications celebrates a world of animals both real and fantastical. Let your imagination run wild as you create interesting and unusual interpretations of animals using unexpected or unconventional materials and adornment, and/or unusual techniques. We are looking for whimsical and creative depictions of animals. Your animals may be common or capricious; odd or ordinary; live or imagined. The key to this call is to have fun!'

That sounds good, doesn't it? I asked my middle son Ernst (9) if he would like to design a fantastical animal for me to recreate in an art quilt. He sure would! He started drawing immediately:



He drew and drew...



... and drew...



... and drew:



(And drew some more, but I won't show you all nine dragons!) It was a very difficult choice but in the end we decided to go for 'the dragon of the sky'. Ernst re-drew it for me on a large piece of paper:



Here it is. This dragon lives in the sky and never ever comes down to the ground. When it is really tired (very rarely) it will sleep on a cloud.



I traced the drawing on tracing paper:



In my stash I found a beautiful handdyed purple fabric. I backed it with fusible webbing and cut out the tail of the dragon. I hadn't realised until after I started cutting that it was going to be the mirror image of the original drawing, but fortunately Ernst didn't mind. Here is step one of the quilt!



Now I need to go and find a yellow fabric - and some more fusible webbing.

To be continued!

PS I asked the curator if it was okay to use a drawing of my son and to post this on my blog. It was :-)

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