Different

Today the 'Different' quilts at the Art Quilts Around the World blog are unveiled. Here is mine - it is different because I have used a pink background fabric. As you know I hate pink and have never used it before in a quilt!

However, since my word for this year was Focus, I decided to use this challenge to make a quilt in my sports series, but using a colour I would never normally use. So here is the first female gymnast, on beam.

I am not very happy with this quilt - I feel that the design is unbalanced. Maybe I need to add another 'shadow' in the rigt top corner? It's so empty...

Would love to hear your comments!

Gymnasts and fairy tales

Here's the new gymnast - recognize the fabric? Yes, I'm making a WAG (women's artistic gymnastics) quilt now. WAGnificence?! ;-)
Getting ready to do another screen printing session soon...



I also made some more Vintage Fairytales cards for my online shop, Blue Jacaranda. Here are Sinbad and Cinderella, I hope to add Rumpelstiltskin and Ali Baba soon!

Screen printing

In a stolen hour I managed to do some screen printing. Sally made my St Basil's drawing into a thermofax screen and here is the first print! Isn't it lovely? (the St Basil's fabric is for sale now at Spoonflower, in black and red)



I also did another gymnast, and printed some more Dutch Houses to make postcards for Blue Jacaranda (they all sold after being mentioned in the MadeIt newsletter - I've added some new ones now).



I just love white on black!

Woohoo!

What a week... I'm reeling! On Tuesday I heard that my abstract was accepted for the TB conference in Hong Kong in July - and today I heard that there is funding for my travel expenses. Yay!

Today I also heard that my quilt Cycle of Life has been juried into the State of the Art quilt 11 exhibition, which will be displayed at the Textile Art Festival in Brisbane in June. Woohoo! I was asked not to show the full quilt on my blog yet, but to post the detail pic I sent in with my submission. So here it is!

And as if that wasn't enough good news for one day - I came home to find that my Dutch Houses postcard was featured in today's MadeIt newsletter, and that I had sold a number of items in my Blue Jacaranda shop! So I need to make some new ones quickly - but not tonight, I am presenting my research findings tomorrow at our World TB Day symposium and shouldn't even be blogging now, but rehearsing my presentation!

QTBCC Quilt

My workplace, the Queensland Tuberculosis Control Centre, was 60 years old last year. This wall quilt was made to commemorate this fact and unveiled today, just in time for World Tuberculosis Day 2011; this Thursday March 24th (on that day the clinical staff is at a symposium in another location, which is why it was unveiled today).

All staff members received a square of fabric to sign and embellish (if desired). The quilters among the staff assembled the quilt. Here they are: Bev, yours truly, Carmel and Louise.

New quilt

See here the start of a new quilt - and the bath mat I bought especially for this purpose! ;-)

Update

Not much to show here - I am at the stage where I have designed two new quilts in my mind, have put apart some fabrics, but haven't done much else yet. It's been too hot in the last week to do much in an unairconditioned sewing room...

I did make these rubbings with a paintstick, just to see how it would look - I used these potholders!



I am also designing some new animal calligrams, but can't show them here yet. They may end up printed on children's duvet covers, pillow cases, fitted sheets, bibs etc - very exciting!!!

And another exciting thing is about to happen... All I will say for now is that at this moment three of my quilts are in the United States to be photographed!

A heart for Christchurch and more

Yesterday I made this small blue flannel heart for Christchurch. Evie is collecting them for the victims of the terrible earthquake. Since she seems to get a lot of pink hearts I thought I'd make a blue one! All the details are on her blog, if you would like to send one too.



And here is a card for the Recycling swap at the Dutch Fibermail group. I used scraps of fabric from old blue jeans and shirts from my boys, and some coordinating fabric from Reverse Garbage. I still plan on making a quilt with these fabrics (I posted a possible design here - but I think it's too ordered).



The Fibermail group also has a bookmark swap this month. I made this one with some appropriate selvedge words, and an alphabet fabric on the back:



I've also made some selvedge cards for the birthday list:





And finally, here are some ATCs that recently arrived. These two are from Jackie in Canada:



and this one is from Kate here in Brisbane. It took a while, but was worth the wait! ;-)



If you would like to swap an ATC or a fiber postcard, I still have some Dutch Houses cards left (in both sizes). Leave a comment here and I'll get back to you!

Dutch Houses Bag

Yesterday I finished my Dutch Houses Bag! I used my white on black Dutch Houses design printed on linen-cotton canvas for the exterior and the black on white design printed on quilting weight cotton for the lining.



The bag has pockets for my wallet, keys and mobile phone, and a magnetic closure. It stands on six bag feet. The handles are from U-handbag, and I also made grateful use of Lisa's book in making this bag. I love that this book does not just have patterns for bags (it has quite a few) but lots of information on subjects such as interlining, closures, pockets etc etc etc so you can design your own bag (as I did here).



In my handmade bag I carry around my (er... hubby's) Kindle in its handmade cover, my sunglasses in their handmade case and my handmade purse with all sorts of small items (tissues, USB stick, work pass etc) - quite a showcase, eh? ;-)

New Spoonflower fabrics

I've designed a few new Spoonflower fabrics that I really like, especially this one: St Basil's.
I've also done a red and a blue one:



And a Sydney fabric:



And, in my Gymnasts Collection, two female gymnasts - in feminine colours, very suitable for little girls who do gymnastics! (here in a sample view - 8 inch square - and a fat quarter view)



These fabrics are not for sale yet but will be soon. I need to order a sample myself first, and will do that later this week, after I have made and uploaded another design that I thought of today during a meeting ;-).
(if you would like one of these designs in another colour, let me know! I am also happy to design a fabric for you if you have an idea but don't know how to proceed)

Today a big parcel arrived - my Textile Tantrum quilt, back from The Thread Studio after more than a year; with a lot of goodies because it won a Highly commended! Woohoo! Thanks, Dale and Ian!



I am working on the Dutch Houses bag and hope to show it here soon. However, tonight it's too hot to sew (no aircon in my sewing room...), so I'm going to read a book on the couch. I loooove my hubby's new Kindle!

Balance 3

Here is Balance 3! Do you like it? I think I will send this quilt in for the SAQA Benefit Auction 2011.



Yesterday I was going through some stuff in my sewing room (oops, sorry - my studio! ;-) ) and I found the scraps of the zebra fabric I used for pants for Hugo and Ernst. I also found some chalk cloth scraps... so a new set of gift tags was born! For sale now in my MadeIt store, Blue Jacaranda. Of course I made a few extra to keep for myself!

And finally... thanks everyone who has signed up as a follower of this blog here or on Facebook. I really appreciate it! This morning I drew the winner of the Dutch Houses fabric:
drumroll...
linda!

Congratulations! please let me know your address (my email is on my profile page) and I will send the fabric to you.

The winners of the fiber postcards are Aart and diohej. Congratulations to you two as well and please send me your address too!



PS Thanks for all the kind comments on my Netherlands quilt. Just for the record - I am not homesick. I love living here in Brisbane. But I do have fond memories of my home country!

The Netherlands

Here is my first journal quilt for this year with the Aus/NZ Art Quilters. You may remember that we are doing Countries this year, and for the first one I chose my home country, the Netherlands. I thought about it for a long time before starting it and finally decided to use the national colours, red, white and blue, and orange (for our Royal House).

I cut strips of fabric, free hand, and sewed these together. On this background I stitched the outline of the Netherlands. Such a familiar shape, and while I was sewing I mentally revisited all those parts of the country.

I added buttons for the places where I have lived - Groningen, Enschede, Amsterdam and Leiden/Hazerswoude. Here is a close-up:



For the backing I used a Dutch boerenzakdoek (farmers' handkerchief):



This little quilt is very different from anything I have made before, and I love it!

I am looking forward to making more of these journal quilts - my list of countries at this moment consists of Morocco, England, Kenya, Egypt and Ireland.



PS Remember, you can still become a follower to make a chance to win a fat quarter of my Dutch Houses fabric! Or a Dutch Houses fiber postcard... See the details of my giveaway here.