Southern Jewels Cushions

 Happy Mothers' Day!

I decided to make my Mum a cushion to co-ordinate with the Southern Jewels Quilt I made for her hospital stay. Her little unit needed a spread of rich Australian colours.Unfortunately I didn't have any of the original Warratah Under the Australian Sun fabric left for the big panel, but I used some of the new range featuring Banksias. I did still have some of the light gold and green  gum blossoms, so that tied it all in.

I made a purple one for my ex-mother-in -law's birthday too!

Here they both are, sitting on top of the fabrics in the range.

I made the cushions by using Leesa Chandler's Southern Jewels pattern and adapting one corner. The back is just a simple envelope style - no zippers or even buttons but you could do whatever you wanted there. You can get the patterns from me, or Leesa's website.

Have a great weekend,

Ann ♥

Southern Jewels Quilt for Mum

I made  a nap quilt for Mum. I finished it at the end of March, but truth be told, I started it well over 18 months ago for a house-warming present when she downsized and moved into a self contained unit in a retirement village.

Being a keen gardener and wild flower lover, she loved the Leesa Chandler Under the Australian Sun fabrics (also used in the Australasian Quilt) that came out a couple of years ago and I put aside some of my favourites to make her a new quilt for her new home. The Southern Jewels pattern is really easy to make and showcases amazing fabrics. (I made it here too, with Saffron Craig Tree Bird fabric.)

Anyway, You can see some of the process of the making here, and Dusty and I would like you to see some more of the details. He just loves to get in on the quilt shoots (and I couldn't move him!)

I ended up just quilting a large stipple all over the quilt, and I'm quite happy with it. It doesn't detract from the fabric and gives a lovely texture. I chose a variegated red quilting thread this time, although i would usually use a plain colour nowadays. I just have a lot of variegateds left and I figured Mum won't notice. It worked nicely this time.

The backing fabric is the gorgeous New South Wales floral emblem, flannel flower. I was born in NSW, the flannel flower is my favourite if the Australian flowers and red is my favourite colour.

I used a machined binding which i put on the same way as a regular hand finished one, but from the back, folded to the top and then sewn down close to the edge by machine. The trick here, is to cut the binding a little wider than usual (in this case 2 3/4 inches instead of 2 1/2 inch) so the seam line looks good on the back as well as the front.

Looks good?

Thanks Leesa, for a simple stylish pattern and some stunning fabrics!

 Contact me for the pattern, and fabrics can be sourced here.

Would you like to make one too?

Ann ♥

How to make an Australasian Quilt : Project in Quilters' Companion this March.

I know you're probably sick to death of hearing about the Australasian Quilt by now, but last story I promise ;)

Here it is again, finally, presented as a project for you to make in the March issue of Australian Quilters' Companion magazine.

I'm very happy with the photos (in the article - not my dodgy iPhone one above) and really wish that was my actual garden. The quilt does look nice, and hopefully there aren't any typos that escaped detection in the instructions ....

I don't  know how much I told you about the making of the Bali Sunset quilt? The original quilt was sold so I started the Bali one to have a quilt to work out the pattern instructions on. I've never made a quilt totally out of Bali batiks and I have to say it was a nice experience. I gathered a pile of sunset hued fat quarters and got started.

Bali Sunset fabrics

Then I started cutting and making notes, not necessarily in that order, to fine tune the pattern. I usually work in a plain notebook and just draw freehand any ideas I have. Then I flesh it out with the maths - measurements, quantities etc. 

Australasian working plan diagram.

The first block of Bali Sunset is complete

And here it is hanging in my shop. I like the way it turned out, a bit like a watercolour painting  with the different batik textures and surface designs.

I would really like to make another version using modern designer fabrics and perhaps a solid white for the sashing strips. It will happen one day, but for now I have a few other things in the pipeline.

A Walk in the Woods

Anyway, enough about me.

On the fabric scene....How beautiful is this?

Aneela Hoey's new collection for Moda, A Walk in the Woods. These two fabrics have just come into the shop and are available online, with some more and charm packs and jelly rolls arriving (again) next week. So if you missed out before, you have a second chance. There aren't many opportunities like that in life.

Have a good weekend,

Ann ♥

My Australasian Quilt and Travel

It's not the best photo, but here is my quilt, Australasian, hanging in the Quilts Across Queensland exhibition curated at the Brisbane Ekka (for those of you not familiar with that term, its the Brisbane RNA Show). It was entered in the professional pieced quilt category and won third prize. You can see me standing with it below, and I do apologise for the quality of these photos taken with my iPhone. This was a quilt inspired by Leesa Chandler's Under the Australian Sun fabrics, which I mentioned in early blog posts.

It was really quite a thrill to win the prize as it's been a few years since I've won anything, or even entered a quilt in a show. Starting the business and keeping up with all the admin and online activity, not to mention being in the shop 6 days a week, packing eBay items to send, marketing, teaching, sewing and trying to design and follow through projects, as well as housework and parenting doesn't leave much time to produce show quality quilts - let alone shop sample quilts. However, I'm pleased the quilt has had it's moment in the sun... in fact it was sold at the show so I'm not sure how I'm going to teach it/publish it now. Is that an excuse, do you think? I'm planning another one, not quite so complicated in terms of quilting, perhaps in modern fabrics....

This is another quilt I'm working on now, in progress. I have actually finished the top now and am planning the quilting. I made it with a Hoffman Rainbows pack, Rainforest.

The most exciting thing that's happened since I last blogged, is our Japanese trip. It was truly a dream come true for me. I've included a few photos, not in any particular order, of our holiday.

There's a couple of fabric ones,

taupes from Diamaru - I don't know why , but I spent ages selecting this small bundle when I should have just grabbed a piece of the whole selection! It's always like that in retrospect...

and rolls of kimono fabric

The amazing stone wall at Osaka Castle,

A couple of food ones - a green tea ice cream sundae, a Japanese MacDonald's meal,

and a very Japanese night time scene,

It was all so very beautiful, exciting and fun! It was also a great experience to share with my teenage daughter. Who knows if we will go again, but I definitely would like to explore the fabric in a little more depth, especially retro and vintage kimono, and we really only touched the tip of the iceberg as far as food was concerned!

Till next time,

♥ Ann