Requiem for a Rainbow Cushion

 In 2013 I made what I still think is my best creation ever: the Giant Rainbow Floor Cushion!

It was a project for the first issue of Love Sewing Australia, a magazine that sadly no longer exists. I had been asked to make 'a floor cushion with piping'. Having never made anything with piping before, I was quite proud of how it turned out!

It found a place in the living room of the house in Brisbane that we lived in at the time.

My kids (then 10, nine and seven years old) loved it and often used it to read, play, or even sleep on.

When we moved to our next house in Brisbane it got a place in my eldest son's room:

In the year that we lived in Sydney, we didn't have much space. None of the kids wanted it in their (small) bedrooms, and it was a bit lost in the room that doubled as our bedroom and lounge.

But then we moved to the Gold Coast and adopted Barney, a rescue dog...

 And he immediately claimed the Rainbow Cushion! On hot summer days he would lie on the tiles with his head on the cushion:

Here is the boy of photo 3, a few years older!

After two years of daily use by Barney the cushion wasn't looking very good anymore, so I restuffed it:

The cushion moved with us to the house that we live in now, but recently I realised that it had really reached the end of its life.

The colours were faded, the fabric was torn in several places...

Time to let it go! I've bought a new 'orthopedic' cushion for our old dog and, after taking the two photos above, dumped the Rainbow Cushion in the garbage container.

Farewell Rainbow Cushion, we will never forget you! Maybe one day I will make a new one...

(and if you want to make one too, you can get the pattern in my Etsy shop!)

Another Bertie Baby Blanket

 Yesterday I finished this baby blanket, using up the blue yarn from the Sea Colours blanket.

It's another Bertie Baby blanket, similar to the one I made last year. I love this pattern, it's so easy to crochet and looks so good!

 This one is for a baby boy expected in October. A big part of it was done while watching the Olympics.

I'm trying to decide what to crochet next. Maybe it's time for some amigurumi?

Mandala Pillow 2

 A friend recently admired the Mandala Pillow I made a while ago, so I made one for her.

I used blue cotton 8 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills and made a pillow with some white fabric from my stash. In retrospect I'm not sure if that was the best choice - but it's finished now and my friend is happy with it, that's all that matters!

I may make another one of these pillows as I really like them!

Lotus and Blossom Mandala 3

  

 

This week I finished my third Lotus and Blossom Mandala (you can find no.1 here and no.2 here). 

 

 

I stretched it in a hoop and it is now hanging in our bedroom (the colours look very different in the indoor photos - it's really the same mandala!). It goes very well with the Classic Lone Star Quilt.

This third mandala only took me three weeks to crochet. I enjoyed making it just as much as the previous two - I might even make a fourth one!

Doily and mandala

 

 

On one of my visits to Ravelry I found this lovely doily and just had to whip it up. It's the Hexagon Swirl Doily by Shireen Nadir. I'm using it for the Tiffany lamp we brought back from Katoomba:

And' I've started my next mandala with the Strawberries and Scream Whirl:

Yes, it's another Lotus and Blossom Mandala. I looked at lots of mandala patterns and in the end decided to go for this one, again!

Mandala Pillow

 

While searching for mandala patterns on Ravelry, I came across the Minimalist Cabled Mandala designed by Tatsiana Kupryianchyk. I really liked it, so bought the pattern and immediately started crocheting, using some grey cotton 8 ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

It didn't take long to finish the mandala:

What to do with it? I decided to use it for a pillow. I made a simple round pillow with some black fabric:

 Then I made a plain back side, and crocheted both sides together around the pillow:

 Isn't it adorable?

Sea Colours Blanket 2

 

 It's finished! The second Sea Colours Blanket (remember, I made another one back in 2017, when I had just learned to crochet). So happy with it.

And just in time for a seriously cold snap here in Queensland. So nice to snuggle up on the couch with this blankie.

It goes really well with the sea creatures I made earlier this year.

So what's next? Well... I really want to make another mandala. With this Whirl (Strawberries and Scream):

The Lotus and Blossom Mandala is hanging in our bedroom now, but its colours don't go well with the colours of our bed linen.

So I want to make another one (this one will go to my son's room, as he really likes it). I'm not sure yet if I will make a third Lotus and Blossom Mandala, or a different pattern. To be continued...

Almost finished

  

The plan was for the Sea Colours blanket to be finished when winter starts here in the Southern Hemisphere. Winter starts tomorrow, and the blanket is almost finished.... but I've run out of white yarn - again!

So I've ordered more yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills. At least I can use the blanket to stay warm while waiting for the yarn to arrive!

Update

 

 

The Sea Colours Blanket is progressing nicely - it's about two thirds done now.

 

 

I ran out of yarn, so ordered more. Isn't that just a gorgeous sight, a basket full of yarn?

At Easter, we visited our friends at their new home in the Blue Mountains. I had brought the Lotus and Blossom Mandala I made for them, a hoop and tape, and on the first morning after we arrived I taped the hoop and stretched the mandala in the hoop, and they hung it on the wall straight away!

 

 

Doesn't it look great up there? 

 I might make another mandala once the Sea Colours Blanket is done - I just love how they look and I really enjoyed crocheting it!

 

 

We had a lovely time in the Blue Mountains. We spent one night at the gorgeous Carrington Hotel:

 

 

And we explored Katoomba, which is full of art deco buildings and has lots of street art - my kind of place!

 

 

More photos on my photo blog!