Koala Quilt Drawing

And the winner is..............

I printed off all the entries, cut them up, folded them & placed them in this basket.

Then I asked DH to take a moment off from his computer work & draw a name, drum roll please.......

it's Pat from Iowa!

I wish that I had a Koala quilt for each of you & I appreciate all of you for taking time to come by my blog & maybe learn something you didn't know about the beautiful country of Australia & the very unusual creatures that are unique to the land.

I will stop by Pat's blog & let her know that "Koala's in the Window" will be on it's way to her after I get the mailing address.

I have a few other things in mind to give away so I will be doing that from time to time.

Yesterday I went to the AZ Quilter's annual show, this year at Mesa Convention Center.

I did forget my camera so I borrowed Loretta's & she will make me a CD of the photos I took.

After much indecision I purchased this vest pattern "Tack Room To Tea Room" from Lady Hawk Designs & a couple of the needed notions for the all black version Julie had on display- it was so very elegant & although I really did try hard to resist [Loretta will attest to that] I finally capitulated! I have pics. of the black vest-on Loretta's camera of course!

Julie said that her students estimate it takes 30-40 hrs. to construct one of these gorgeous vests & that is a considerable investment of time but I love vests so I have added another WHIMM to my collection!

I found this tiny pair of scissors to use at the long arm, those I have aren't sharp enough & these have just the tiny blades for thread snipping & handles large enough not to trap my arthritic distal phalanges! I wear my snippers on a cord around my neck & if they have longer sharp points, when I bend over to check tension underneath the quilt I have been known to stab myself in the thigh with the snippers! Ouch!

And have you seen these "handy handbag hangers"? I never like to put my purse on the floor so it usually shares my chair when I am out & about but with this hook I can hang it right beside me, cool, huh?

The only fabric I bought was a little $1 FQ for a friend!

Then as if to reward me for my"no-buy" fabric Loretta gave me belated b'day gifts.

These delicious Valori Welles fabrics- LOVE her fabric designs- along with a little wallet & a notion tote for classes & guild meetings that Loretta made from the same fabrics. The button collection is for me to choose my favorites for the wallet & the tote.

The tote opens to reveal multiple pockets & Loretta had included a wee Olfa mat just right for trimming all those Bonnie Hunter 9P's & HST's, a handy 6" ruler & one of those fabulous new ceramic marking pencils I have been reading about.

I felt totally spoiled!

I did purchase a couple of Secret Sister gifts which I can't show, just in case!

Koala Sunrise

I thought today I would show a photo of another koala quilt, even though it hangs in the loft over the TV it had "slipped my mind" when I was talking about the one I am giving away next week- end[see two posts back for info]

This quilt was a rescue of a failed experiment several years ago in the Ricky Timms Convergence method. I say "failed" because the hand dyed fabric I chose had too little contrast & being very discouraged by the result I was tempted to throw it in the "rag bag", literally!
The colors look washed out from the flash, they are more vibrant in reality. I really need to learn more about this camera that I have had for a year because I know it has ways to reproduce color more authentically.
Back to the quilt- my frugal side forced me to search for ways to use it & I decided that it would make a good background for applique, but what? I began to search through my stash & came across this koala fabric that I had bought way back at Joann's on sale with the intention of making a blouse. That was long ago because that particular Joann has long since closed down, & it has also been many years that I no longer sew clothing, I can buy it cheaper & faster than a pattern, fabric & notions etc. & I'd rather be quilting! The design & colors of the koala fabric appeared to be a perfect foil for the muddy looking convergence, so I cut out a koala & then used the same fabric for the borders.

I had some hand dyed Aussie fabric in the salmon tone with Aus. animals on it-I purchased it in Brisbane from Oz Dye-Art before they closed their business some years ago. Incidentally I was very sad when they did close, I had often ordered their unique patterns & fabrics & I hope some day when their families are grown those two talented women will be back in business.
The gum leaf pin is brass & too heavy for clothing but it has found a home on this quilt.
I quilted the whole thing with gum leaves.

In case I have piqued your curiosity about these items I took a few pics of just a small selection of their fabrics & very cute patterns, none of which said patterns have I made yet though I have used the fabrics in several quilts. The icons on the yellow fabric are too monotone to be seen in the photo, sorry about that!

There is an enormous amount of applique in this "Land DownUnder" pattern that was as you can see a "row of the month" originally. I don't do very much applique any more all those little bitty pieces are so fussy but it would be fun to get these made up.
The patterns above are titled with a couple of iconic Aus. sayings; Santa doesn't use reindeer in Australia[maybe it's just too darned hot at Christmas time for such cold weather animals, summer after all] Santa employs the services of white kangaroos, called "boomers".There's a Christmas song by Rolf Harris about the "Six White Boomers", go ahead & listen it's fun!
"Kangaroos loose in the top paddock" refers to the popular saying denoting lack of either intellectual ability or sanity!
That covers today's Australian cultural lesson!

Koalas In The Window

That's what I have named the little quilt I am giving away, you can see it on the previous post.
I spent most of the past week in hospital so I missed VTT & everything else & I am so glad to be home though it's very frustrating to try & do everything with only one hand & sewing.........well, I haven't tried that-yet- but I probably will! A week in the hospital doesn't leave much of interest to blog so my contribution this week is very simple!
In keeping with my efforts to raise awareness to the desolation left behind from the bush-fires in the state of Victoria, Australia, I took a stroll around our home & snapped a few pics of some of the collection of Australiana & here is a peek at just a few of them.
I left out the Vegie[Vegemite] I know I know y'all just don't get it! But I have to keep reminding you about it, it's so good for you! Guess I could have included the Golden Syrup, now there's another item no Aussie home should be without!





See these little guys, they hang out in my kitchen......they aren't much help with the cooking , not exactly gourmands as they dine exclusively on Eucalyptus leaves & if you ever have a chance to get up close & personal with one of them your nose will tell you what they eat!



and these hang out upstairs in the loft.......
this koala has a wombat for a friend, Wolly Wombat is made from 100% Australian woollen fabric & stuffing & you can see my lovely Jaffa's [I am rationing them until I can get some more in May!]
All of these & more, keep me company in my sewing studio, there's another little wombat in front with the koalas....see the big koala with a flag has a baby on her back. Both marsupials, wombats & koalas have another thing in common, their pouches open backwards to prevent debris from injuring the infants when the animals are digging in the case of the wombats or for the koalas just moving around on the ground.
Here is a lone red kangaroo with a joey in her pocket & a couple of boomerangs..........
and a butcher bird & a kookaburra with more Jaffas! These two cheeky cuddly chaps actually make very realistic bird calls, they make me long for a bit of a walk in the Aussie bush.