Island Batik fabric Archives - Page 13 of 19

July 9, 2019January 19, 2024

Artsy Fartsy Self-Portrait: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Clever Chameleon Threads color board at Clever Chameleon

Another 15 seconds of Fame for the Chameleon

Last Tuesday I was battling to find Artsy Fartsy inspiration for July. I was tired from neighbourly construction noise, end of term-itis, and from madly preparing quilts for showing. Tiredness is definitely not good for creativity. Thank you to all the lovely people who reached out with sentiments of empathy.

The good news is that the kids are now on hols, the quilt show was a resounding success and the demolishing is finished. I can cope with construction noise on just one side of our house! But before any of these resolutions occurred, on Wednesday last I went back to bed after I sent the kids to school for some catch-up sleep. I even snoozed though trucks being dump loaded with bricks! And of course, when I awoke, my head was full of new ideas. Bing!

Something I wrote last Tuesday stuck in my head and specifically resurfaced after sleep…. “the Chameleon is off colour”….. Oh! We should fix that. Game On!!!

So, what happened next was that my Artsy Fartsy Christmas wreath took a dive in the priority queue. Specifically yielding to some new threads for the Chameleon. And more specifically, Aurifil threads, in partnership with Island Batik. Read on to see my new Artsy Fartsy project; it’s finished and not changing again, I promise. Although, with a challenge name like Artsy Fartsy, I hope Aurifil aren’t hoping for output that is too highbrow. ‘Cause the Chameleon is in a silly mooooood……

July 8, 2019January 19, 2024

Success at Festival of Quilts 2019

"Always Choose Tropical" chameleon quilt at the SA Festival of Quilts. By Dione Gardner-Stephen of Clever Chameleon

The Chameleon gets his 15 seconds of Fame!

The Chameleon will have to forgive me for taking so long to get around to making a chameleon quilt now, don’t you think? Not only did I make him a quilt FULL of cheeky chameleons, but I showed it in our local Festival of Quilts, and it won its category’s blue ribbon. That ought to keep him off my case for a while!

The weekend just gone was the annual Quilters’ Guild of South Australia’s Festival of Quilts. After judging, entrants who are successful get a specific invitation to the awards and opening ceremony, but no indication of the flavour of their award. Happily, happily, happily I got one of those calls. So I toddled off into the city centre on Friday morning to accept my prize.

Turned out, it was four prizes, one for each quilt I entered. I had dared hope that the chameleon quilt would place, because I put my all into that one. Anything that wasn’t perfect on that project met Mr Ripper, pronto. But two of the other ribbons were pleasant surprises, and the third was more of a very pleasant shock.

If you will indulge my excitement for one post, I will show you what I entered in our annual quilt show and what I was awarded. Two of the awarded quilts were made primarily for this blog in the past year, so I hope you will also accept my thanks for reading and giving me a reason to make more quirky quilts. 🙂

July 2, 2019January 19, 2024

Artsy Fartsy: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Artsy Fartsy Christmas color scheme at Clever Chameleon

Making a Start on my July project for Island Batik

This one’s a tough one. We’ve been asked to “use any fabric art/non-traditional quilting/sewing/thread painting technique using 3 Aurifil thread weights” for our July Island Batik Ambassador project. Any size, any technique, as long as the result is Artsy Fartsy. And I am just not feeling it like I usually do. Which is odd, because I have created plenty of non-traditional artsy fartsy quilt pieces in the past. And I am a big, big, big thread connoisseur. I love them all – rayons and metallics and 12wt Lana, and even bobbin work with embroidery floss. And I get the same thrill from a rack of thread colours as I do from a new box of paints or crayons….

But not today.

demolished house — Goodbye neighbour’s house. The view this evening from my sewing room. I truly hope they finish tomorrow.

Maybe it is because my collection of Aurifil is a bit limited in colour and thread variety. Maybe it’s because it’s cold and grey outside and I have endured days of incessant noise in stereo from 8am every day because one neighbour is remodelling the back half of their house and the other is completely demolishing. Gack! Or it could simply be that I have just finished preparing four quilts for our annual State Guild show and now have a big dose of anticlimax after dropping them off this morning. Whatever the reason, the Chameleon is off colour and I feel like a Grinch at Christmas because the whole Island Batik Ambassador family is doing this thing and insisting it is going to be fun and I can’t get enthused….

Hmmmm….. Christmas. In July. Now, there’s a thought.

By the way, have you ever tried to fussy cut a batik?

June 28, 2019January 19, 2024

Love with a Twist: Jolly Jumper

Jolly Jumper balloon frog appliqué pattern by Dione Gardner-Stephen at Clever Chameleon

No more Frogs after this for a while, I promise

But seriously, can you resist this face?! This adorably agile amphibian is the second option for Block 4 of our Love with a Twist appliqué series. Which puts him in direct competition with the Duck of Attitude from June 21.

Can you choose? Or do you have to make two throw quilts to fit them both in? Of course you can just opt to make the big twin size one and have them play together. 😀 Keep reading to collect your balloon frog pdf pattern and find out all the details for making the most of the next block of the Love with a Twist quilt along.

June 25, 2019January 19, 2024

The Colour of Music: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Colour of music colour scheme at Clever Chameleon

Today I finished my Island Batik Ambassador project for June 🙂

In the works here for a while now, has been a new book bag for my daughter to take to music lessons. And today it’s done. It features a paper-piecing technique that is new-to-me, Island Batik fabrics, HOBBS Thermore batting and six music motif block patterns by Juliet of Tartankiwi.

Read on to see my new, and very simple, drawstring bag. And to see how the Chameleon got himself into a little strife after our latest Colour & Inspiration party. Happy Tuesday!