Colouring in

Have you succumbed to the latest fad yet - colouring-in books for adults? I came across this book the other day and couldn't resist it: Fantastic Cities by Canadian artist Steve McDonald.



It's filled with gorgeous drawings of cities all over the world - Amsterdam, Melbourne, Paris, New York, Tokyo, you name it. There are also some mandalas created from the citiscapes. I can see myself spending quilte a few hours immersed in this book!



I've just finished a large quilt (will show it here soon) and as always after a big project I felt like making some small items. I had just sold a few pencil rolls to my first customer from Russia (!) so decided to make some new ones to add to my Etsy shop. One from this funky transport fabric:



And two from beautiful Aboriginal fabrics:





They would make a great gift for someone who loves colouring in!

Wordless Wednesday

2015 SAQA Benefit Auction

Just a reminder that SAQA's 2015 Benefit Auction starts tomorrow (on my birthday!) - you can see all the quilts that are for sale here and read how the Auction works here.



This is my contribution, Escape - it is part of Section 2.

Back in business

Last Sunday I finally got to unpack all the boxes in my sewing room. It felt so good to start up my sewing machine again! I made this block, which will become part of a new quilt:



Sadly this week my husband is in Canberra, so I am even busier than usual taxiing the boys around town (he usually picks them up from their gymnastics training at night). With a work deadline looming as well I don't get to do much sewing, but I'm hoping to find some time on the weekend...

Moved!

We have moved! The new house is lovely - large, full of light, and in a very quiet street, with our back gate leading to the Kedron Brook. I have done a lot of unpacking in the last week and most of the rooms are now free of boxes. I love our new bedroom!



Sadly my sewing room is not ready yet - it is waiting for a new bookcase (bought at Ikea yesterday) to be assembled. I hope to do that in the next few days...



In the meantime I have started a new crafty project that can be done at the kitchen table - a t-shirt shag rug. I've also dug up the jar quilt that I made back in 2007 - our first year in Australia. The boys still love it!

Another PTT Post Bag

It has arrived in the Netherlands, so I can finally show it here: another PTT post bag, made from a vintage Dutch post bag.



I made this bag for a good friend in Holland, who saw my bag when we visited her in January and exclaimed that she would love to have one like that :-)



Well, I had bought two more vintage post bags when we were in Holland... Today is her birthday and it arrived yesterday, perfect timing! She told me she loved it :-)



I have now made three PTT post  bags:



The first one (left) in November last year, for myself. The second one (middle) earlier this year, for my friend who was living in New Zealand at that time. And now this one, which will be the last one as I have no more vintage post bags (and no desire to buy any new ones!):



I do have some scraps of the fabric left and may use them to make a cushion - once we have moved and settled in the new house. This is what my sewing room looks like now!

Marimekko binding

This is the binding for my Marimekko quilt. Today I finished the top, but now it'll have to wait a while - we are moving to a new house next week, so I will be busy packing and unpacking, not quilting sadly!

However, the new house is larger than the current one so the boys will each have their own room and I will still have my sewing room! It's also on a very quiet street near the Kedron Brook. We're all really happy about that - the street we live on now is very busy with lots of traffic noise.

I hope to be back soon but it may be a bit quiet here for a while...

Kombi Van Kolour Wheel

As you know, I love Kombi vans. I have made a Kombi Van sewing machine cover and a Kombi Van art quilt (and a Kombi Van pencil case), and I have also made photos of every Kombi van I came across in the last 2.5 years (when it was safe to do so, of course). Yesterday I finally had a chance to photograph a green Kombi - I had seen one a few times while driving but never been able to get a photo. Now I have one, and my Kombi Van Kolour Wheel is complete!

:-)

Scandinavian fabrics

It's very quiet here - that doesn't mean I'm not doing any quilting or sewing, just that I can't show it yet. But I can show you the fabrics I'm using. Over the last few months I have been collecting Marimekko fabrics (most come from Finnish Etsy shop OttaBag) - more specifically the Unikko (Poppy) fabric in different colours. I have always loved that design, and decided to make a quilt with it. Half of the top is done so far. The selvedges are to die for - still thinking what to do with them:



I used the fabrics below to make a bag today (a project for a magazine). The chevron is a quilting cotton, the fern print a home dec fabric called Stockholm from Ikea (another Scandinavian fabric!)



More will be revealed in time...

Lone Star Quilt

If you have been following this blog for a while you may remember that I made a Lone Star quilt top in 2013. I had a go at quilting it, but didn't like the result at all, and put it away.



A few weeks ago I finally dug it up again and unpicked all the quilting stitches (that was no fun at all). I still loved the top and decided to have it quilted by a long-arm quilter. I approached a number of them in the greater Brisbane area. Quite a few said they couldn't do what I wanted (an overall grid pattern) and the ones who could just didn't get back to me when I tried to make an appointment to drop the quilt off.



In the end I got so frustrated that I decided to quilt it myself after all. I kept it very simple, just straight lines in the ditch. Quilting is my least favourite part of the quiltmaking process (especially a large quilt like this one), but I have discovered that in combination with an audio book it actually isn't that bad. (I listened to the books of Liane Moriarty, read by Caroline Lee, and absolutely loved them!)



We've just spent a few days in Caloundra, where two of my boys had a gymnastics competition on the weekend. I had brought the quilt with me and on Sunday night I finished hand-sewing the binding. Of course it had to go on our bed!



Monday was a rainy day, but Tuesday was perfect for a mini photo shoot:







Now we are back home, and the boys helped me make some more photos. I am so in love with this quilt, and so happy I decided to finish it after all!

Wordless Wednesday

Melbourne and more

This blog has been neglected for a while as I have been away, to Melbourne, where my eldest son competed in the Australian Gymnastics Championships last week. Sadly he was sick on the day his team flew to Melbourne (Sunday May 17th), so he couldn't go there until Tuesday, on the eve of his first competition. He did compete on Wednesday and Friday, but not surprisingly didn't do as well as he had hoped. However, his team won gold, so that was great, and I am just glad that he did not have to miss out on the whole experience.



Of course I was there to cheer for him and his teammates! And when I wasn't at the Arena I strolled around in Richmond...



and in the City. I love Melbourne! I made lots of photos, you can see some of them on my photo blog.



Back in Brisbane I finally got to go to Reverse Garbage again and scored these fabulous fabric sample books. Stay tuned for what they will turn into...



First I have to finish this project though:



Yes, I know it's only May!

Spring 2015 Blogger's Quilt Festival - Rainbow Diamonds

Amy from Amy's Creative Side is once again hosting the Blogger's Quilt Festival. I am entering my Rainbow Diamonds baby quilt in the ROYGBIV Quilt Category.



I made this quilt in October 2014, for my brother-in-law and his partner in the Netherlands who were expecting their second child, but did not want to reveal if it was a boy or girl. I wanted to finish the quilt before we went to the Netherlands for Christmas, so suggested I make a rainbow quilt - good for a boy as well as for a girl! They liked that idea. In the end the baby, a boy, was born a few days before we left Australia. His parents and big sister loved the quilt :-)



It is made up of half-square triangles and measures 30" by 42" (76 x 107cm). The pattern for this quilt can be found in my Etsy store.

Upcycled cushion

Yesterday was an extremely wet day here in Brisbane. I was lucky to be able to stay at home for most of the day and play with fabric. In a corner of my sewing room I found this upholstery fabric sample book that I bought at Reverse Garbage one? two? years ago and with it I made a patchwork cushion. The fabric is a faux suede, so the cushion is very soft.



For the back I used the remaining scraps plus some other samples. The newspaper fabric is from an op shop skirt - I also used it for the Cadet Cap.



I stuffed the cushion with scraps of batting - I always save the strips of batting that are cut off after sandwiching a quilt, and the leftover pieces from a roll:



I spend quite a bit of time cutting them up in small pieces:



I had planned to take the cushion to Reverse Garbage and put it up for sale in their gift shop, but it looks so good on our new couch that I decided to keep it. The boys really like it too :-)



I have a few more sample books, so may make some more cushions!

Escape

Yesterday I finished this little quilt - it's my contribution to the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction.
You know I love Kombi vans - I just had to make an art quilt featuring one!