Lookie! Loookie!! I made a cushion.

It was developed from one of my thumbnail sketches.  Up until now, there has been no real correlation between my sketchbook and my textile work, so I'm a little chuffed and hopeful that this is the start of something good.

I had some fun with the back. The buttons are from my tiny button stash which was a very lucky find at one of those discount shops a few years ago. A beautiful and interesting selection.

I did have some hassle with the buttonholes. I can't find the manual for my sewing machine (bloody hell!!) But after 1/2 hour of crazy searching I decided to just jump in and figure it out myself. Worked first time! I LOVE my automatic buttonhole foot thingy now.

I really like the mismatched, unevenly spaced buttons :-)

Before I go, I would like to officially record here that I have finished the first bed quilt I ever started. According to my photo records I finished piecing in late 2004 (I'm sure I started it way before that).

By the time I finished piecing this quilt top I had discovered dyeing and started to have pipe dreams of creating my own designs and perhaps getting into art. I had also just started this blog and soon after learned how to spin and knit. So I sort of fell out of love with the thing.

I couldn't be bothered to quilt it myself either, so at great expense I sent it to a long arm quilter. The quilting is ok but the backing she used isn't very nice (at all!). So it sat in my cupboard waiting for binding for YEARS.

But now we are living in NT we prefer to sleep with a thin quilt and last weekend I noticed that my beloved 'Tasmania' quilt is starting to show wear... so I bit the bullet, made the bias binding (ugh!) and bound the thing!

I quite like it now.

More 'studies' for the hallway.

In the last month I have changed the way I read blogs. After ignoring the idea for yonks, and now out of necessity due to our cruddy internet access, I use an RSS feed compliler.

It has sort of revolutionised the way I spend time on the net and I can read heaps more sites much more quickly. I'm using google reader which is working out very nicely.

Some great blogs which have been added to my blog 'stable' are:

A Stitch in Dye is the blog of Malka from Texas. Beautiful dyed / batiked fabrics. I also love the quilted cushion covers. I'm really starting to become inspired and excited and will definitely get out and do some dyeing soon.

Auntie Cookie is the blog of Shannon from Melbourne . Another fabric designer who writes like I talk, I like that!! I really love the colours she uses in her work and like Malka's blog above, I liked the cusion covers she has made. Does it sound like, maybe, I should be sewing cushion covers to deal with this cushion obsession??!

And a big welcome back to Claire of Loobylu... I missed you and I'm glad you have re-entered blogland!

I love to splash paint around, all that colour, all that immediate gratification. A welcome change from the linen tablecloth I've been agonising over for weeks - which is now thrown into the back of the cupboard and will stay there for an indefinite period!

These studies are about 20x27cm each and blu-tacked up in our hallway, and I might do more and cover the whole wall!

I'm working on a second lot which have a different shape and colour theme.

I can't think too deeply about art/creativity right now, my brain can't handle it for some strange reason... I've got to ride it out an not stress too much about it. Unfortunately it doesn't make for good blogging.

This week I collected these small bits of driftwood off the beach. I'm still pinching myself that we live about 2 minutes walk from a decent beach. How lucky are we!!

This weekend we did some stuff. It might not sound very profound, but we are homebodies at heart and it is easy for us to amuse ourselves at home rather than exploring this beautiful area like we should.

We visited the Yirrkala Arts Centre on Saturday morning. I was concerned that we might need a special permit to visit the township, but I rang the centre and they assured me that it was ok as long as we didn't drive around the town. So off we went.

I purchased this beautiful basket. I haven't been able to capture the colours as well as I would like, the yellowy green areas are just perfectly placed and I really love it.

There were also bark paintings, prints (from their printmaking studio), digeridoos and memorial poles . But textiles and fibres are my thing and I couldn't go past a basket. I'm sure I'll buy more over time. There are also beautiful mats as well.

On Sunday we went bush with some friends. One of the guys has just bought a bomby old mine ute, perfect for our mission! We went to a beach called Little Bondi (Baringura in Yolngu) which I believe is a favourite swimming location in 'non-stinger' season. We saw 3 buffalo on the way in.

Though they took off when they saw us. I was a bit worried as they have been known to kill people. (Chris took the photo)

Once we had settled down with a couple of fishing rods we noticed some stuff happening in the distance and I thought it was a shark!! There was a fin poking out of the water... very exciting. We watched for a minute before we realised that it was acutally a small pod of dolphins YAY!

They were actually driving fish towards us and at one stage they seemed to be less than 20m from the shore. So close I could hear their 'bite' as they tried to catch fish!

Chris got some great photos, but I'll let him post them on our other blog Gone to Gove

I turned 31 yesterday! Good ridance 30, what a suckful age (I never thought it mattered, but turning 30 really DID matter, and not in a good way).

Anyway. so now I'm 31. Sounds like a grown up age doesn't it! And being the responsible 31 year old that I am, I've knuckled down and done some cleaning of my workspace.

With the move North, I have sacrificed a dedicated studio. My studio space is now one desk, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe and and little area for my computer and I share the room with Chris. Actually when I write this all down it sounds like heaps... But it isn't working for me at the moment and I need a rethink.

I'm thinking that I will use the top of the drawers as a storage area for my sewing machine and clear a drawer for use as a place to hold projects that I need to vamoose quickly (nothing stifles a creative urge than a big old UFO hogging up my space!!

Sounds like a plan doesn't it?

And what will I work on with all this free desk space? I'm thinking I need to do some drawing and a little bit of painting. That always calms the nerves. :-)