Black and whites

Posting this for my sister, E, as she's a black-and-white devotee. Love the patterned pillow case with the block colours everywhere else.

Triangles

It's obviously a triangle-y week, but this coloured cushion (ahem - sensing a theme?!) and the poster are just fantastic. I know these pictures are for a children's room, but I think the bold graphics could work anywhere.

Anni Albers Prints

Love these minimalist and modern patterns and textile hangings by Anni Albers - the last one is some pretty ambitious quilt making inspiration!

All images via here.

WIP

This must be the longest I've ever spent doing one quilt. I seem to manage about a half hour every weekend, which is bad, and working the hours I have been, there's no time at night. But, progress continues, albeit slowly!

Memory quilt

This quilt includes parts of a wedding dress, a tie, a child's dress and a dressing gown. I LOVE the idea of making a quilt from family memories, so I'm filing this one away.

Em's Quilt

Finally! After starting this quilt for my sister Em in May (!), I managed, in between starting my new job and planning the wedding, to actually get it finished. It's a patchwork front, with plain black backing (and white stitching). You can just make out the black and white polka dot binding, too.
This is my first black and white quilt: I've never been really into black and white, but this one's changed my mind entirely.

Quilt Pattern Maker

Image via here.

Well this is just amazing! Not only does the Victoria and Albert Museum have a most excellent iPhone app, but they now have this quilt pattern maker. I think it looks too extreme for me, but what a resource. Something to aspire to!

Urban Outfitters Bedding

What a delicious (and reversible!) quilt. A bit too girly for the Pal and I, but exciting nonetheless!

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Mexican Suzani Bedspread

I know this doesn't fit my "not busy" brief, but gee it's very pretty. What a delicious bedspread!

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V&A Quilt iPhone App

Image via here.

Dear Ada pointed me to this iphone application about the V&A quilt show. Short of jumping on a plane to see the show (tempted, very tempted!), this is a happy second-best.

The Quirico Company

These chairs are blowing my mind. It's like a modern, tribal-style quilt met a chair and fell in love. The divan-style one above makes me want to snuggle in it so badly...

All images via here.

Frankie's Quilt

I am so excited - this is for the baby of my delightful friend K - and I can't wait to take it to her today when I meet her for the first time! The fabric is Santorini by Lila Tueller for Moda - and the back is just one fabric from the range (above) while the front is patchwork (below). I'm very proud of my straight seams!!
I also made two small face washers with matching binding - couldn't resist a silly stylised pic with these little ones!

Purple Rug Quilt

I have a confession to make. It might upset you quilting purists, or even people who like angora rugs. I was given two magnificent rugs for my 21st birthday (now some years ago!). I love them: they are the perfect weight and warmth and for years I've snuggled with them. But I've never been able to cuddle them without being covered in tremendous amounts of fluff. I mean fluff like you've never BELIEVED. If I happened to be wearing black, I looked like a lamington post- cuddle. So I decided to do something rash and quilt one, just to see if it worked. That way, I figured, the blanket would be more useable, and I would still love its weight and warmth without the fear of the fluff.
Here are some in-progress pictures. I used Tula Pink's Hush a Bye range for Moda and the backing is from the same range. I'm really thrilled with how it's turned out, and am really happy it'll be all ready for when winter arrives.
And finally, the finished product, bound and ready to go!
I know the pictures of quilts of this chair must be getting old. But it's hard to take pictures by yourself in good light, and here just seems to work!

New Quilt

This is a gift for one of my best friends. She's been unwell for a while and I hoped that this would be a good comfort for her to snuggle with. I made it from Moda Authentic fabric and am really happy with how it turned out. I chose the fabrics for her based on the fact that she loves reading and maths (hence words and numbers) and the environment (hence flowers and the highlight colour of green). Hope she likes it!

New Fabric Longing

So I've been obsessed with these new fabrics from Nani Iro, one of my favourite Japanese labels designed by Naomi Ito called 'Antique Label'. I can't work out exactly what I'm going to make with them, but I am excited nonetheless.
I have been neglecting to show you my latest crafty projects, primarily because they're all gifts for people who read this blog! Hopefully I show you some sneak-peeks soon.

Sneak Peek: Japanese Inspired Quilt

This is a sneak peek of the new quilt I have made. Recently, a number of very close friends have become engaged, and I chose the fabric for this quilt with one of my affianced friends in mind. I was feeling quite good about the whole enterprise, when The Pal mentioned we should probably supplement the gift with a more boyish present for the groom. And then I realised: will I look like a crazy, Tonia Todman-esque* "I made you a present" kind of freak?! Is this quilt far too girly to give as a wedding present?
*For my lovely international readers, Tonia is Australia's 1990s answer to Martha Stewart. Our Tonia is decoupage queen, and, as I discovered with a cheeky google, a very busy entrepreneur these days. I really use her name with love: if I was a little older, I would absolutely be her, sans decoupage.

Darien's Birthday Quilt

My friend Darien turns 30 tomorrow, and came out from the UK to celebrate with her identical twin! I knew that Darien's lounge room has lots of blues and reds in it, and that she loves all things handmade, so I made this quilt for her to snuggle with in Manchester.

I had some hesitations about making a gift: what if she hated it? And what if all my other friends who read this think, 'I hope she doesn't make one for me one day!' So tell me, dear readers, what are your thoughts on handmade gifts? (For the record, I love them...)
This new little label is made from one of my handmade stamps, and might be a recurring feature on my quilts. Now, to get to the huge quilt backlog!

Space Quilts

After posting about map quilts, you would think I couldn't find more spatial quilts, right? Well, how about space-ial* quilts? Jimmy McBride is one mean quilter, and these bad boys, with names like 'Phobos' (one of the moons of Mars) are phenomenal.
Jimmy sells them at his etsy store, and despite being expensive, are entirely worth it, given the time, intricacy and unique designs. And dare I say, they're out of this world?**

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*Sorry, couldn't resist a bad pun.
**See?

More Quilt Love

I was going to apologise for becoming a quilt-centric blog, and then I saw this. Patchwork quilt doubters be damned!

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Sneak Peek: Quilt in Progress

This is another sneak peek of a quilt I'm working on for a friend's birthday. I've so enjoyed working on this one - the fabrics are (to me) the perfect mix of whimsy and fun, with the lace adding some texture and depth. I used this most excellent tutorial, but substituted interfacing for freezer paper, which I can rip off. This has been a bit of a revelation - so even and neat for me!