Island Batik Archives - Page 2 of 13 - Clever Chameleon Quilting

October 22, 2019January 19, 2024

What’s all the stink about?! Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Voodoo stink lily colour board at Clever Chameleon

There’s no gilding this Lily!

I don’t, as a general rule, do Halloween. Except for this! This is a Dracunculus vulgaris, a Stink Lily. Also known as a Voodoo lily or Dragon Lily. It grows green and lush in winter from a fascinatingly hideous tuber thing, and has the most amazingly beautiful leaves and dappled stalks. And then it flowers in Spring with huge purple lilies in mid-late October. Just in time for a naturally stunning Halloween display of offensively stinky flowers before it dies back down to avoid the Australian summer.

Don’t let appearances fool you!

This is one of five flowers I’ve had this Spring in my Dragon Lily patch. And it reeks. The air has been super still here the last two afternoons , and the backyard has smelt remarkably like a rotting carcass. A big one! As you can see in the picture I took yesterday, there are flies on the lily. It is a carrion flower – it smells like a zombie and relies on flies for pollination. As soon as pollination is complete the flower then suddenly stops reeking of death, and starts looking like it instead. No mucking around.

I went out to measure this one for you this evening, (50cm/20 inches long BTW) and it is already odourless and just a little droopy. Job done, apparently. Of course, the flies get nothing out of the pollination deal…. no rotting meat for their eggs after all. Such is life, I suppose, when you cavort with the undead!

Appearances can be deceptive in sneak peeks too……

Something else in my life nearly as purple and just as beautiful, but far less on the nose, is the Blue Sea fabric collection from Island Batik. If you remember from last Tuesday, I am making a Storm at Sea quilt. I have made good progress, and today’s sneak peek is likely the last until my latest quilt design appears here on the blog on November 5. Did I mention that it’s not “just” an ordinary Storm at Sea pattern? It’s got a sea-cret twist. 🙂

Well, surely you weren’t expecting a normal Storm at Sea quilt…. the Chameleon is many things, but we rarely get accused of being normal! 😀

August 27, 2019January 19, 2024

Electric Blues: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Shine On Blues color board at Clever Chameleon

The best laid plans are nought without electricity…..

I’m not where I wanted to be on this project today. But even I know that neither mice nor men can make a HQ Sweet Sixteen run during a blackout, so our Inspiration Tuesday is to celebrate what I have got. Which is the electricity back on in time to make dinner, lights back on before dark, a charging laptop and most of my Island Batik challenge done for August. Overall, it’s all good.

I had been aiming to get my Star Light, Star Bright challenge quilt done by today, clearing the way for our second Love with a Twist block for the month later in the week and a clean slate for September. But it wasn’t to be. The upside is that today you get to see the appliqué that I’ve already added to my wonky star blocks. And I get to save telling you about my motives for making this quilt until another day soon. When I can show you it finished and in use. While it might look like a bed runner, and could be made as one, in this instance it is not. I have a very specific purpose in mind for this quilt.

July 30, 2019January 19, 2024

A stack o’ Christmas Ideas: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Merry Christmas colour board at Clever Chameleon

Done, done and done! Lots of small finishes in this Round-Up of a Tuesday

I have been knocking off lots of little half-done sewing projects lately. A clearing of the queue, both physically and mentally.

Most of these finishes haven’t made it to the blog, although if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen some flash past you in your feed. So now it’s time to clear the decks. I get a stack of things of my chest, outta my head and into my journal-blog record. You get a post full of small projects that you can use as quick Christmas makes and gift ideas. Months before the situation becomes critical! Merry Christmas, you’re welcome. 😀

July 23, 2019January 19, 2024

Graphic Gems: Colour & Inspiration Tuesday

Graphic Gems color scheme at Clever Chameleon

I’ve got a new box full of gems! Bright fabric graphic gems!

Do you like these colours? I hope you like these colours, because I love these colours. These are the colours of one of Island Batik’s freshest fabric lines, Graphic Gems – a collection I will happily be working with in the coming months. What’s more, it’s just a taste of what I found in my most recent Island Batik Ambassador delivery.

All the Island Batik Ambassadors have been in a frenzy the last week or so, as new supplies have travelled the globe and landed on doorsteps. Even though I am in Australia, somehow I was one of the first to receive my box this time (!!). Which is awesome because it means the contents were still a surprise when I opened them. That’s a first, out of four Ambassador boxes. 😀 I love, love happy surprises.

What was in my second Ambassador box for the year? Let’s have a look! Pssst…. I made a video…. my first “talkie” ever. I was terrified, but in the end it was actually quite a bit of fun. Come see.

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.