Category: Embellishment

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Mallee Ringneck Parrot: Colour Inspiration Tuesday and Linky Party

Mallee Ringneck Parrot color scheme from Clever Chameleon

Hello!! We are back safely from the Outback.

Which means I have internet and phone coverage again. And that means that I will be slowly catching up on all your lovely comments and seeing what everyone else has been doing on their blogs recently. Being off grid is nice for a while, but quilting is really quite a socially centred pursuit, don’t you think?

The technical isolation of the Outback does have an upside…. for me, heading bush is a time of mental clearing, and of gathering fresh inspiration. Space and time to think and muse over possibilities. Usually quilted ones. 🙂 Arkaroola is especially good for this, being so ruggedly beautiful, and also a bit of a magnet for artistic and inventive people. You never know who you will meet there and what you might learn.

Art class in Arkaroola
What is going on here?! Photo of herself with my boy supplied by Michele Lane.

Want to know who I met on this trip and what we did? Of course you do! 🙂

Continue reading “Mallee Ringneck Parrot: Colour Inspiration Tuesday and Linky Party”

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Craft Room Destash Challenge – Scrappy Shadow Appliqué Pillow Cover

Another project for the fabric scrap lovers…..

Are you a hardcore fabric scrap hoarder? I mean, do you keep all your scraps, even All the Little Bits? I’ll admit, I am and I do. I have them in large tubs, sorted roughly into colour groups. But, in my defence, I also know a technique that makes good use of those small fabric scraps. So that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂 And what’s more, I’m always happy to share my quilty-stuff hoarding excuses with you…..

Morris shadow appliqué pillow by Clever Chameleon

Join me this destash challenge for a scrappy shadow appliqué tutorial.  And some pointers for turning your appliqué panel into a pillow (cushion) cover. I made my shadow appliqué pillow almost entirely from stash. I wonder if you can too……..

Continue reading “Craft Room Destash Challenge – Scrappy Shadow Appliqué Pillow Cover”

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A Vintage Inspired Quilt – Looking back, Moving forward

The Island Batik Ambassador Challenge for April is “Looking Back: Vintage Quilts Inspiring New Creations”.

And I am having a ball. The only trouble with looking back as you’re moving forward, is that you can get tripped up…… and end up down a rabbit hole……..

Looking back logo

So, where to begin?

I can’t possibly tell you everything I have explored under the topic “Vintage Inspired Quilts” lately, but it is fair to say that I wasn’t really sure where to start with this challenge. “Vintage” is a category of quilt that I thought I didn’t like very much. When I think vintage quilt, I immediately think “muted, dull, brown”. Which doesn’t agree with me, nor with my idea of batik quilts.

Do you see what I did there?! I said “I thought I didn’t like vintage quilts”. Past tense. I’m doing that a lot lately, with all the Island Batik challenges. It is doing me much good to be gently stretched!

It turns out that there are some very cool vintage inspired quilt creations out there. Even some Australian flavoured ones. Let me tell you about one I have long admired, and then, about my newest quilt infatuation……

Continue reading “A Vintage Inspired Quilt – Looking back, Moving forward”

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Year of the Dog Mini Quilt – An Island Batik Challenge

Year of the dog mini quilt

It’s the Year of the Dog. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year? Yes, Happy Chinese New Year! And Happy Island Batik Ambassador New Year as well!

chinatown entrance

Chinese New Year fell on the 16th February this year, so we have now entered the Year of the Dog. Celebrations commenced on Chinese New Year’s Eve and will traditionally continue for two weeks past New Year’s Day. This period is also officially known as both the Chinese Spring Festival and the Batik Jamboree. There are many amazing and colourful celebrations happening in our local Chinatown. So I thought we should celebrate the Year of the Dog too, with a new mini quilt!

Wait! Really? You haven’t heard of the Batik Jamboree? The Batik Jamboree of the Fabric Zodiac? The beginning of the Island Batik Fabric Lunar Calendar? No? Oh! I shall have to fill you in…… Continue reading “Year of the Dog Mini Quilt – An Island Batik Challenge”

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