And then the rain came .... wet weather projects

View from my studio window 

Its been rainy and overcast for about a week  now. Not that Im complaining, I love this sort of weather and its always a good excuse to curl up with a project. Ive been working on finishing a couple of projects (new years resolution and all that) and Im excited that Im actually getting some stuff finished. 

100 Granny Squares

Ive been watching loads of tv so that I can finish my granny square rug (series one and two of Grand Designs on DVD - Im now inspired to build something, but thats another story). Ive completed the 100 squares and now its ready to put together. Being a bit new to crochet I wasnt sure the best way to join the squares, and found a fabulous tutorial at Attic 24. Not only was the tutorial fabulous, her whole blog is really interesting and well worth a visit.

Kochira the cat helping select the blocks for my Gate Quilt

Over a year ago I was part of an online patchwork bee - you may have heard of them. A group of people get together via the internet, and each month a person sends out their fabrics to the rest of the people in the group with some instructions on what they would like to have made. It was a great introduction to quilting for me (I also met up with some friends who were part of the group and I learnt some great techniques, as well a lovely excuse to eat cake and drink cups of tea). The down side is that some people are less likely to complete the project than others. Consequently, I have received finished blocks from half the group, and the other half seem to have disappeared!  

My block was inspired by a gate design I saw in Sydney (it also happens to be the same design as the gate on my little cottage - a very nice coincidence). It is a little tricky to put together, and it looks like I have to sew about 8 more blocks to make up for the missing ones sent out to the quilting bee. Thankfully Ive got a stack of DVD's to watch and its perfect weather to be indoors ....

x

Three French Hens go on an adventure

My three French hens have been getting ready to go on a BIG adventure.

They've packed their bags and have left their farm in rural France to go travelling and see the world.

First stop...... Paris, of course!

Here are some holiday snaps of them in front of the Eiffel Tower. They are amazed at how beautiful the structure is...

Three French hens in Paris is a limited edition tea towel print of 15. You can find them at Strathnairn Gallery in Canberra until Christmas or online.

I have been flicking through inspiring magazines and found a lovely image by UK textile artist Julie Black. She creates beautiful images by layering, stitching and embellishing fabrics. Below is an image of her work....

Julie Black's work inspired my French hens to be appliqued rather than screenprinted. And I love the result. Stay tuned to see where the Three French Hens visit next.

x

Scarves and unfinished projects

I have been inspired to complete some of my unfinished projects by a friend who posted an entry on her blog about the same thing 'Finish it up Friday' . She wrote a list of all her unfinished projects, and every friday has to post an update of the projects she has finished.

Well, recently I unearthed some beautiful handspun and dyed wool from Wool Dancer I bought about this time last year. Her wools are aptly described as art yarn - and they are truly beautiful and unique.

Inspired, I decided to finish them and this is what they look like.....

I made up the pattern as I went, one was knitted using 1cm knitting needles... 15 stitches wide and about 49cm long.

I just love the soft colours in this - the wool is also incredibly soft too - like being wrapped in cloud....

The other one was crochet using a 1cm hook - I ran out of yarn halfway so I joined in some grey that I had in my wool stash.

This one is also about 15cm wide and 50cm long and made using single chain stitch.

I love the grey spun baubles which are tightly twisted into the pumpkins and purples of this yarn...

My sister modelling her new scarf...

You may be wondering what my other projects are that are on my to finish list? Well, a number of them are knitting projects.

• Jumper knitted using blue/green variegated wool (knitted and unraveled twice so far)
• Jumper knitted using raspberry / chocolate variegated wool (knitted and unraveled twice as well!) - I fall in love with wool and buy it without a project in mind and then find it incredibly difficult to find a pattern which suits the wool.
• Lace scarf using 2 ply grey mohair
• lace scarf using special NZ wool

Some of them are cooking projects:

• Finish making Noccino (green walnut liquor)
• Make some Lemoncello (lemon liquor)

Some are sewing projects:

• Make a quilt - put together patchwork blocks from a Patchwork Bee I participated in (also organised by Jules from RelishAustralia)
• Sew curtains from my handprinted fabrics for my house.

I promise Ill post updates on how I get on finishing my projects - but it may not be as regular as every Friday! x

Sneak preview of my new designs for the Canberra Handmade Market

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on some new designs which are going to be launched at the Canberra Handmade Market on Saturday 19 February at the new spot in the Convention Centre in the centre of town.

Inspired by a recent commission to create a lyrebird cushion using patchwork techniques I have transformed this design into an embroidery panel for others to embellish. The panel can be used in many ways by transforming it into a cushion, stretch over a canvas to become an artwork, incorporated to be part of a quilt or sewn together to make a bag.... the possibilities are endless! They also make a perfect gift for a crafty friend :) The panels measure approximately 45 x 45 cm and are printed with colourfast waterbased inks onto linen.

I loved this design so much I also printed it onto grey cotton T-shirts.

I have just moved into a cute little cottage (which explains the absence of regular postings since Christmas) whilst washing up I admired the delicate shape of a ginko leaf my sister had picked for me. This was the beginning of the Ginko design which has been printed onto linen tea towels, hemp table runners and as a repeat onto a length of fabric.... oh and a couple of cotton T-shirts.

Having gotten into the printing mood I then started on some Canberra souvenir tea towels and bags - this design is created using hand cut paper stencils - and are a limited edition of 10 tea towels and 9 bags. I love the street art look this design has......

All these designs will be available on Saturday or if you are unable to drop by for a visit they are also available from my online store.

ps - Im contemplating incorporating some of my renovations and decorations into this blog. What do you think? Would you like to hear about the other things I get up to?

Lyrebird Cushion Commission

At the Handmade Market in December last year I was approached to create a cushion with a Lyrebird design.

At first there was some confusion over the image as I was in 'screenprinting' mode and thought that I had been confused with Formosa Textiles, who screenprints lovely images of Australian birds. But we eventually worked out that the Lyrebird cushion was to be similar to a design that I had created for my friend Jules earlier in the year for my patchwork group. (below)

The cushion design includes a number of techniques: applique, hand embroidery and machine embroidery onto natural coloured linen. The back of the cushion is an olive linen to compliment and contrast the colours on the front of the cushion.

I was very happy with the end result and I have a feeling it could be the beginning of a new range. Keep your eyes out for new Lyrebird designs which may make their way to the next Handmade Market on 19 February.

In the studio.....

This image captures the creative chaos that happens in my studio..... also known as the kitchen bench.

I usually have a number of projects on the go and here you can see the design of a new fabric print, my patchwork project of a lyrebird for an online collaboration, coloured fleece in a favourite cup from a felting workshop I participated in at the NGA earlier in the year, a collection of interesting objects collected on my travels through South Africa last year (I particularly love the giraffe and zebra cutlery), daily living bits n pieces and my goldfish (who are painfully shy and hid whilst I took the photo).

There is a riot of colour where ever you look..... and this creative chaos continues throughout the rest of my home.

Patchwork Squares

Ive recently joined a patchworking group which meets monthly to get together to drink wine, gossip and share patchworking ideas….. coordinated by Jules http://relish.typepad.com/. In our allocated month, we choose the theme which will be announced on the first Wednesday of the month. Then we post fabric to the eleven other participants for them to use to make the patchwork blocks. The participants are also encouraged to add fabric from their stash to make the block. The idea behind this is that we will all end up with twelve similar but different blocks. It will give us all a challenge in interpreting the theme and allow blocks into a quilt that we would not normally create for ourselves.

The fun is in seeing what people create and diversity in design as well as learning different patchwork techniques.

My month is September and I have absolutely no idea what sort of pattern I will ask for, but Im thinking it will incorporate some of my screen printed fabrics.