Australia Wide

The Australia Wide exhibition travels throughout Australia for two years. The quilts are a uniform size (40 cm square) and are supposed to be representative of contemporary art quilting in Australia. I was fortunate enough to have two quilts accepted for the first exhibition which travelled from late 2007 to early this year. The quilts are still to be seen on the Ozquilt Network site. Click on Quilt Exhibitions, then the Australia Wide Online Exhibition.

I had been toying with the idea of entering the second competition and had collected some bits of fabric together. It took me a long time to get going, but last week I completed two pieces and sent off my entries (digital photos, not the actual quilts). They got to Sydney by yesterday's deadline, so now I just have to wait until the selectors' decisions are announced in September. I hope I get in again.

I can't show any part of the quilts yet, but I promise I will show them in full later.

A mushroom harvest

Some weeks ago I decided that I would like to try growing mushrooms again. My first effort (years ago) was notably unsuccessful - something to do with not watering the compost regularly, I think.

So I bought a mushroom farm from Bunnings. I chose the Portobello one because I believe that variety of mushrooms has more flavour than the white buttons. I followed the instructions carefully and a week ago discovered some itsy bitsy buttons coming up.

Today we harvested three enormous ones and I actually ate almost all of one - quite a feat in view of my present aversion to food. Kevin ate the other one and enjoyed it, which is another plus. He is not really a mushroom fan.

Here is a photo of what is growing today. The big one at the back is actually one that we had already picked - it just got put back to show how big they are. Looks like a pretty good harvest tomorrow, too.

Recycling Workshop

I went to Jody Pearl's first Open Studio yesterday. It is a great studio and just down the road for me. Jody's "filing system" is to die for! You can read all about it here, and see lots more pictures. After a demonstration of some of Jody's more popular refashioned garments we moved outside for morning tea under the jacaranda.

We did have to fish the odd fallen leaf out of our tea mugs, but it was a lovely setting and will be fabulous in November when the tree is in bloom. Then we had a workshop on fashioning men's ties from the op shop and recycled zips into accessories. These are the two I made - there were several more exciting ones.

Friday Flowers

I have wanted a new car for awhile, and was determined that it should be red - which my first car was. We looked at several makes and models and eventually decided the Ford Fiesta was the most attractive option. The salesman told us there was a red one (I insisted on an automatic) on its way from Germany, and it would be here in six weeks. Very good. But then it was discovered that the red one had been sold, and the wait time for a red automatic would probably be six months. This is not a viable option for me, so I opted for a silver one, on which there was immediate delivery.

We picked it up yesterday, and to my surprise I was presented with this red flower arrangement as a small consolation.

700th Post

Who would have thought it? I know lots of people do giveaways at major milestones, but I haven't got anything, so I won't. Maybe at 750?

I have just finished my ATCs for the latest Aus-NZ Art Quilters swap. This is a theme swap every two months and this time the theme is AIR. Once I remembered (and finally found) the balloon fabric I have had for years, they were really quick to make. I also found some sky fabric (blue with little bits of white) while I was looking, so it all went together very well.


I will post them off to Diana in NZ tomorrow.

I am progressing well with the art quilts I plan to enter in Australia Wide 2. I was fortunate to have both my entries accepted last time, so I will keep my fingers crossed. No pictures yet, of course. The deadline is July 30, but because the entry form and images need to be in Sydney by then, the actual deadline for me is Monday 26th. I think I will make it.

A new book

I preordered this from the Book Depository and it arrived this morning. I haven't even flipped through it yet, I am waiting till I have a bit of uninterrupted time (diarrhea today, yuck!).

I was fortunate to do a 5 day workshop with Jane at FibresWest at Bunbury in 2008 and learned so much about surface design. I have had her first book, Complex Cloth, since 1997 and it has been probably the most used textile book I own - and I own lots.

So I am looking forward to this one.

Friday Flowers

No fibre again this week, but my roses are putting on their final flush. Soon be pruning time.

This was last week.

This is this week.