Holidays

On Saturday we came back from a camping holiday in Girraween National Park - a beautiful place well worth a visit. We did a lot of bushwalking and climbing:



On the last day we drove home through Warwick, where there just happened to be a quilt show (no, that wasn't a coincidence!).



There were beautiful quilts on display, craft stalls and home-made treats. What more can you ask for? Well... fabric, of course! I bought this lovely bicycle fabric:



And some beautiful Aussie fabrics:



Today, back home, I worked on a new project; a baby quilt for a new niece or nephew expected in December:



This is the view from my sewing room today. Yes, the jacarandas are in bloom! The best time of the year in Brisbane :-)



Looking forward to my visit to the Queesland Quilt Show on Wednesday!

Fly Away

May I present my most recent art quilt: Fly Away!

Inspired by a photo of my eldest son Hugo (11), taken at the Australian Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne in May 2014 by one of the talented photographers of WinkiPop Media, who kindly gave me permission to use it as the starting point for this quilt (see the original photo here - scroll down a bit)



This is the largest art quilt I have made so far - it measures 95 x 131cm (37 x 51.5 inch). I am proud to say that the quilt was selected as a finalist in the Fiber Arts 2014 exhibit at the Infinity Art Gallery. It will be exhibited at the Queensland Quilt Show in Brisbane from 8-12 October 2014.



As you can see it it is quilted very densely, which was quite a struggle on my small machine! In another blog posting I will show a bit more about 'the making of'' this quilt.



Here is Hugo with his quilt:



And here is his rings routine at the National Championships, where the photo was taken. His score here was 9.033 - a month later at the State Club Championships he scored 10.55 points on this apparatus!



So proud of my boy :-)

A new look and a giveaway

Down Under Quilts issue 166 is on sale at newsagents throughout Australia today! It will be available at Coles supermarkets next week, and you can also order it online (digital or hard copy).
This is our spring issue and it has a fresh new look. To celebrate I have one copy to give away - for your chance to win it just leave a comment here and tell me what you love to see in a quilting magazine. (Australian readers only - sorry international readers!)



My project in this issue is this Stripy Chevrons baby quilt, made with upcycled men's shirts (you may remember I showed some sneak peeks here and here). There are also some gorgeous projects designed by Andi Herman (aka PatchAndi), Anorina Morris and Molli Sparkles, and on their blogs you can also win a copy of the magazine.



Speaking of new looks... I also have one! I decided to go for the short bob again, just in time for my birthday. Today I turned 45, but we celebrated it yesterday, because hubby had to go to Perth:



I am really spoilt, with lots of chocolate, and this gorgeous bag from BagyBags on Etsy (yes, I like chevrons!).



My mother-in-law gave me money to choose something for myself, so I am going to have a lovely time browsing on Etsy. I am thinking ceramics or jewellery (or a combination!). I gave myself Edge of Eternity, part three of the Century trilogy by Ken Follett which has just been published. Looking forward to delving into it!

I have mixed feelings about this birthday. I don't mind getting older (quite the contrary), but I am now older than my mother ever was - she died at 44, when I was 17 - and that is a really strange idea. I guess I'll get used to it...

Cadet Cap

You may remember the Reversible Bucket Hat I made last month for the Sew-long Summer sew-along organised by Betz White. Well, I posted a picture on the Betz White Sewing Pattern Forum on Faceboook and won three Betz White sewing patterns!
One of the patterns I chose was the Cadet Cap and yesterday I made one. I used fabric from a skirt that I bought years ago at the op shop (mainly because of the fabric):



The lining is some soft denim from a pair of pants that do not fit anymore :-(
Here I am wearing the cap. I really like it!



The other patterns I chose are the Alice Book Bag and the Midtown Messenger Bag. I hope to make one of them using the vintage Dutch post bag that my BFF gave me the last time we visited the Netherlands...

Felted Trivet article

My article about making trivets and coasters from felted sweater/jumpers is in issue 16 of Down Under Textiles, which is on sale now. I show how to make the baby blocks trivet and there is a small gallery with my other pieces.



This is a great issue of Textiles - it also has articles about making paper vessels, sun printing and stitching on metal, as well as artist profiles, exhibitions and lots more. You can order a digital copy of the magazine here.




A few of my felted trivets are for sale at the Reverse Garbage giftshop at the moment. They were part of Handmade Harvest which opened a few weeks ago. Sadly I missed the opening night, but here is a photo from the RG Facebook page. I spy a felted trivet hanging on the wall! (under the X)

Button cookies

The other day I saw a photo of button cookies on Facebook and I just had to try and make some. Aren't they cute?



I used a Dutch recipe for 'sand cookies', but of course you can use your own favourite biscuit recipe.
I don't have a round cookie cutter (I'm not really the baking type) but found an egg cup with a diameter of 5 cm (2 inch) and used that to cut out the shapes. A bottle top was just the right size to make the indentation, and a straw was perfect to make the buttonholes. My boys loved the cookies and are already asking if I can make them again!



And now for something completely different... Last week I noticed this photo on the Spoonflower blog - it's the classroom / community space at the Spoonflower HQ. See that blue fabric on the wall? Could that be my Dutch Houses fabric? Yes, I think it is! How exciting! :-)

Good news

Yesterday I received an email telling me that my quilt Speed had been selected to appear in 1000 Quilt Inpirations by Sandra Sider, due to be published by Quarry Books in December 2015. How exciting!



This little quilt (A4 size) is getting a fair bit of limelight, for it was also featured in the American magazine Quilting Arts in 2011. It lives in Holland, as I made it for my uncle who loves cycling. I will have to get him a copy of the book!



More good news: a dear friend bought my Forest quilt and it is now hanging in her home office. That is making me very happy! :-)

See-through pencil roll

As you know if you have been following this blog for a while, I have a thing for pencil rolls. Last week I was buying some fabrics at Spotlight when I spotted (see what I did there?) this clear vinyl table cloth, and I thought, 'Would it be possible...?'



Yes it would!



Sewing it wasn't very difficult - although a bit weird, looking into the machine like this:



But turning it was a pain! ;-)



I am very happy with the end result  - think it looks pretty cool!



Here is the balloon ball I made a few weeks ago for our little niece in Holland. It was her first birthday yesterday and I was told that she loved her present!



:-)

PS Yes, I have finished my big art quilt and I love it! But I'm not showing it here yet - you'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see it...

Gymnastics bag 2

Yesterday I made a gymnastics bag for my youngest son Robert (7) who, like his older brother, is a competitive gymnast. He is in Level 2 now and had his first competition in June, where he won his first silver medal, on rings! This weekend he has his second competition, the Junior Regional Championships. Very exciting!



It's a simple drawstring bag made from two of my Spoonflower gymnastics fabrics and lined with plain white cotton. I made a similar bag for Hugo in 2010:



It has been used intensively for 3.5 years and is still keeping up very well! Hugo loves it and even prefers it to the cool Gymnastics Queensland backpack he got this year as part of the Queensland team. I have stitched his Level patches onto the bag (Level 2 is on a singlet and he skipped Level 5):



Here are both bags. I hope Robert's bag will be used as much as Hugo's!

A new hat

At the moment I am working on the largest art quilt I have ever made (I showed a sneak peek in the previous posting). I have put in many hours of quilting already (and also quilte a few hours of unpicking...) and about 75% of the quilt is finished now. This weekend I really felt like doing some quick and easy projects, so first I made a present for one of our nieces in Holland, who turns one in a few weeks - will show it here when it has arrived. And then I made a hat! A reversible one - the black side was supposed to be the main side, but as it turns out I like the lilac side better!



The pattern is from Betz White - I have been following her blog since last year, when I bought her book Sewing Green, and when she announced Sew-long Summer!, a reversible Bucket Head Sew-along a few days ago, I decided to join in (even though it is winter here Down Under). The black fabric is my favourite Thea & Sami handprinted fabric and the lilac is one I've had for years (I made a halter top out of it in 2008).
Very happy with my new hat! :-)

Wordless Wednesday

My portrait, by Jesse Breytenbach

A few weeks ago Jesse from Jezze Prints announced that to celebrate the opening of her portrait shop she was having a giveaway - and I was the lucky winner of the free portrait! I love it, and according to my kids she has captured me perfectly.Thanks Jesse!

Kombi Van Sewing Machine Cover

Update (February 2016): the pattern for this cover is now available in my pattern store on Etsy!



I am very fond of Kombi Vans (in Holland they are called VW buses), and the cover we did for Down Under Quilts 161 last year (you can see it here, scroll down a little) inspired me to make a Kombi Van cover for my sewing machine. It is a project in issue 165, which goes on sale tomorrow, so I can finally share it! (I showed a sneak peek here and here)



In Australia the magazine is sold in newsagents; if you're overseas you can buy it through this website.



Here is the cover on my machine in my sewing room - it makes me smile every time I enter the room!