Aurifil Archives - Clever Chameleon Quilting

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 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?

February 5, 2019January 19, 2024

New Lunar Year, New Ambassador Year, New Fabrics, New Colours!

Fabric colours for 2019 at Clever Chameleon Quilting blog

Happy Chinese New Year 2019

Today, Tuesday February 5th, is Chinese New Year and also my 1st Island Batik Ambassiverary. 2019 is Year of the Pig and in the next few weeks we will have several cute piggy appliqués on the blog to celebrate. But first, we get to herald in the New Lunar Year with Colour & Inspiration Tuesday. The Chameleon thinks this is a very good sign for 2019!

The bronze pig sculptures in our Adelaide CBD. This little piggy is my favourite.

And today is not just any Colour & Inspiration Tuesday either. It is none other than the first opportunity in my blogging calendar for me to share with you about the 2019 Island Batik Ambassador year. If you read on, you will see that we going to have a lot of batik fun here this year! And there is also one major change in the program from last year, that I hope you will like.

As on previous occasions, there is also one set of pre-release fabrics in my new samples from Island Batik that is concealed for now. But I promise you, you are going to love my surprise fabrics come August. And I can let slip a little something about them today……. Shhhhh, don’t tell though, it’s our secret.

January 16, 2019January 19, 2024

Getaway Blog Hop with Island Batik

Cat on a Wall quilt by Dione Gardner-Stephen of Clever Chameleon

Paisley Park meets Cat on a Wall

Welcome to my stop on the Island Batik Getaway Blog Hop. This is my last project as a 2018 Island Batik Ambassador, and accordingly, a biggie.

Back in July I received a “Surprise” package. Inside were glorious Paisley Park fabrics that had to be kept secret for the longest time! But today I can show and tell all. My instructions were to use as many of the different fabrics as I could to create a quilt of at least lap size. And if I wished, to incorporate themes of travel and destinations.

Paisley Park fabrics by Island Batik. — Paisley Park fabrics by Island Batik

So much beautiful fabric, so many quilt options. But I’d had an idea that had been waiting it’s turn for a very long time, and around September it finally it dawned on me that the colour and contrast spectrums of the Paisley Park fabrics would be perfect for it. My Cat on a Wall design from eons ago.

Read on…. I’ll introduce you to my Cat on a Wall quilt – Paisley Park Getaway style. Of course, surreptitiously getting you hooked on these new fabrics in the process. 🙂 And then I’ll tell you how you could win a 5″ strip pack of 20 of the fabrics used in my quilt. I’d love you to be able to have a play with these fabrics, they are even better in real life.

December 4, 2018January 19, 2024

Tired Teddy Labyrinth: Colour Inspiration Tuesday and Link Party

Tired Teddy Rainbow colour scheme from Clever Chameleon

Better late than never, right? It’s a few days overdue, but my November Island Batik challenge quilt is finished.

The Chameleon is Back. In full Colour!

It is really nice to be presenting a rainbow quilt today – after two fun but black and white posts. I do truly love the drama of a good black and white quilt or the cuteness of a panda appliqué. But black and white is not my natural go to for a finished quilt, whereas the Island Batik Paisley Dots batik collection is totally within my comfort zone.

What’s not to love about a rainbow!?!

Tired Teddy Labyrinth quilt by Dione of Clever Chameleon