Show and Tell Friday

Royal Adelaide Show handicrafts

Show and Tell Day! Lots of show-standard handicraft eye-candy, the winners from my Island Batik blog hop contest revealed and a quilted postcard all in one glorious crafty post today!

I haven’t had any sewing time this week, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been super busy with lots of things quilt and craft related. Join me today in congratulating the clever winners who named my dragonfly quilt on my stop of the Island Batik Great Outdoors blog hop. See the postcard mini-quilt I sent Jeanette for her win from our Teddy Bear’s Picnic. And also lots of pictures of fun and diverse handicrafts at the annual show of the Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of South Australia . Grab a coffee and come with me to the Royal Adelaide Show!

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White Christmas in July meets Colour Inspiration Tuesday

White Christmas quilt color scheme by Clever Chameleon

Welcome to my stop on the Christmas in July blog hop. And, since it’s Tuesday, its also our weekly Colour Inspiration Tuesday link up party. Merry Christmas-in-July!

Island Batik challenge July Today I can show you my new Christmas quilt in full! This quilt is also my Island Batik Ambassador project for July. I do hope you’ll like it, it is going to be a very welcome addition to our family’s Christmas decor this year. I’ll finish telling you its story today as well , after having to leave you hanging a bit yesterday.

And I know all this Christmas excitement is a bit distracting, but don’t forget, you can show me what you are working on (or have just finished) by linking up to the Chameleon’s Colour Party at the end of this post. Everyone is welcome at the Chameleon’s quilt and sewing party every Tuesday…. if you don’t blog or use social media you can still join in with just a photo. I’d love to see what you’re making!

But first, come on in and see my new quilt “White Christmas”.

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Secondary Pattern Quilt Challenge – Progress Report

appliquéd snowflake

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!! I’m soooooo excited!!

It really feels like Christmas in my sewing room today! I think I just gave myself the best present ever. ….. 

Did you ever have that feeling of intensely looking forward to Christmas because you knew you were getting that present that you’ve always wanted? But then there was also a little bit of trepidation that that “ultimate” present wouldn’t live up to your expectations? And then Christmas finally arrives and the present is even better than you’d hoped for, and the elation is enormous? You can tell I’m excited, because I’m babbling….. 

Anyway, I’ve just had one of those rare experiences.  I bought myself something, I’ve mustered the courage to try it out, and opening the box wasn’t actually the pinnacle of the experience. Yes!!!!! High fives all round! 

Let me tell you what I’ve been up to……

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I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas

three leaf clover quilt block

Yesterday morning it was -5°C outside at breakfast time (23F for you non-metric folks)! Last time I was somewhere that cold, it was Christmas…..

Just to prove how cold it was last night, here is a little tray of water my kids placed out on the verandah last night. Frozen!

frozen water

With the cold weather, and with several Christmas in July blog hops happening around the internet at the moment and very soon, it is hard not to be thinking about Christmas. And more specifically, the Northern Hemisphere Christmas I had two years ago in Germany and Denmark. While a stinking hot Australian Christmas has plenty of unique and wonderful qualities, there are a lot of Christmas traditions that us silly Aussies cling to that make so much more sense in the cold.

So. I am in the mood to quilt something in cool colours to celebrate cold Christmases, in an early preparation for a hot Christmas…. but I can’t tell you exactly what I am making. Not just yet, because the big reveal is on July 24. That is my day on Carol’s Christmas in July hop at Just Let Me Quilt. I can show you some progress though. It might be a secret, but it’s not that big a secret. 🙂

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“Illusions of Christmas” – A New Mini Quilt

It’s the last day of the Spring 2018 Art with Fabric blog hop, and my turn to show you my quilt interpretation of the hop theme “1+1=3”.

What does “1+1=3” mean to you and how would you quilt it? My first thoughts were to produce a set of quirky critters that captured the essence of a young family. But May has been seriously crazy and I had neither the time nor energy in the end to whip up such a pattern from scratch.

The other connotation I was strongly drawn to was the mathematical impossibility of the “1+1=3” statement. And this led me down the path of optical illusions and the deliberate act of placing shapes and colours such that the brain sees things that don’t exist. So that is what I have explored.

I ended up with this mini quilt, which I have called Illusions of Christmas.

Illusions of Christmas

Let me tell you more about this little quilt, the inspiration source and how it came about. 

Psst…… If the green pieces in this quilt look square and straight to you then the  illusion isn’t evident. If this is the case and you want to see the illusion right now, get out of your seat and stand back from your screen. When you are too close to the quilt your eyes are not fooled into seeing what is not there.

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away…
(
Hughes Mearns, public domain)

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