artisans in the garden 2012 opens in Sydney

Artisans in the Garden opened this weekend at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens and runs to November 4th. It's an annual event which showcases local sculptors and artisans including my friend and neighbour Will Upjohn. Will works with metal, stone and glass to fashion the most beautiful sundials...

Some more of my favourite pieces...

Huge pampas grass made from fibreglass and stainless steel curly wire...

Steel spheres crafted from offcuts of reinforcing rods...

Giant dandilions fashioned from reinforcing "chairs" and reo rod...

As well as the glorious garden sculpture I loved the delicate, romantic hand made and hand painted porcelain platters, bowls and plates by Jodie Dawson from chinchin. Some of these came home with me!

...there was lots more... wrapped lampshapes made with repurposed antique turban silk...delicate copper waterlillies and lotus pods formed into cascading water sculptures...tourmaline and silver necklaces and rings....

If you are in Sydney in the next few days be sure to visit!

Artisans in the Garden

many armed starfish

So, what's been happening in your neck of the woods? I have been working on what have been fondly dubbed my 'starfish'.

Do you think they look like many armed, pretty starfish? Although fiddly, they were really fun to make. I'm totally smitten by blue and brown together.

They are part of a centre medallion which will be framed by the jockey caps border I wrote about here. To be followed by a wider appliqué border. More later!

Last weekend our spring weather in Sydney was so sensational that I went into 'entertaining mode' and whipped up a couple of batches of my favourite nibbles to serve with champagne (oh! and the most yum mango daiquiris...thankyou Zannah!). These little salmon cakes are totally delish.

Little Salmon Cakes
400g fresh salmon fillet boned and skin removed (about 2 fillets)
3 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
1/2 cup finely sliced garlic chives
1 cup finely sliced spring onion
Vegetable oil or spray for cooking
Lime or lemon wedges to serve
Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Go over the salmon thoroughly to remove all bones. Slice into 1cm dice. Place in a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Place eggs, flour, baking powder and yoghurt in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
Just prior to cooking fold in the salmon, garlic chives, lemon zest and spring onions until evenly mixed.
Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add a spray of oil. Place small dollops of batter [heaped teaspoonfuls makes dainty bite sized pieces] into the pan  . As each fritter becomes golden turn, flatten slightly and cook until golden on both sides.
Remove and drain on absorbent paper.
Sprinkle with more salt flakes and ground pepper and serve warm with lemon or lime wedges

Modified from a recipe published in Marie Claire "Food and Drink" 2001

This weekend heralds some good friends coming over to sew...can't wait.
hope you can find some time in your week for a stitch or two!
xo
k

thousand pyramids antique quilt top

The Thousand Pyramids quilt design is  a fairly simple one in that it is just a series of triangles sewn together.  It's an old pattern - according to this website by 1820 the pieced patterns Irish Chain, Double Irish Chain, Clamshell, and Thousand Pyramids are known. 

Basically it's a one- patch constructed with a single, repeating equilateral triangle shape.

Grandmother's Flower Garden, made from hexagons, is a one patch quilt. Thousand Pyramids and Tumbling Blocks are two more examples of one patch quilts.

Sounds boring?

 

 

What makes the design complex  and endlessly fascinating is the placement and color combinations of these triangles....and of course the fabrics!

 

  ...browns, paprikas, paisleys, garibaldi reds...

 ...chrome yellow...

 ...boofy florals, indigos, cinnamon pinks and a multitude more...

A veritable bank account of mid-nineteenth century fabric treasures!  
Hand pieced into long rows, then machine assembled.

I would love to know the origin of the name but guess it may be vaguely related to the Egyptology craze of the early nineteenth century following the many archaeological discoveries around Giza.

Totally random:

In 1827, female science fiction author Jane C. Loudon wrote the novel The Mummy! A Tale of the 22nd Century. The story describes the citizens of the 22nd century, which became technically high advanced at one side, but totally immoral on the other side. Only the mummy of Khufu can save them!

More random Egyptian silliness:

Mummy unrolling: Egypt fascinated the English in the early nineteenth century.  In 1833 Thomas Pettigrew, who became the most famous of the unrollers, purchased a mummy in an auction for 23 British pounds. He'd already unrolled one mummy more than ten years before for a friend. He took his purchase to the lecture hall of Charing Cross Hospital where Pettigrew was an anatomy professor. There was a full house the night Pettigrew did the unwrapping and soon unwrappings became a full-fledged fad.  Pettigrew was soon unwrapping to standing-room only crowds in such places as the lecture hall of the Royal Institute. In 1834 Pettigrew gave a 6 lecture course of Egyptian Antiquities culminating in the unwrapping of an actual mummy. Front seats were sold for a guinea, back seats for half a guinea.

Anyhow, this top is now on the (ever growing) list to be hand quilted, I know I will enjoy every minute of the process. And I might do a bit more research into nineteenth century Egyptian fads!

xo

k

3 month countdown

Three months today before hubby and I head back to beautiful New Zealand for our next big trek.This time we are hiking "The Grand Traverse" a 6 day guided hike which covers two classic NZ trails, the Routeburn and the Greenstone.

Starting on the shores of Lake Wakitipu and stretching the length of the Greenstone and Routeburn Valleys, the hike crosses the main divide twice in the process. The Greenstone and Routeburn Tracks are in the spectacular South Island high country.

images from www.ultimatehikes.co.nz

On the walk we'll pass through two national parks: Fiordland (where we walked two years ago on the Milford Track) and Mount Aspiring, which form part of Te Wahipounamu - the South West New Zealand UNESCO World Heritage Area.

Looking forward to the contrast of the sheer isolation and raw beauty of the Greenstone  and the breathtaking scenery of the Routeburn. An unsurpassable combination reputed to make a memorable walking experience.

Guess it's back to training on every available hill, set of stairs and bush track for me!!
x
k

ottoman empire

What do you do when some pieces of furniture start looking a bit tired? or when the new paint scheme doesn't quite work with some bits? don't throw out - re-cover!!

I've had a fun day today recovering my square ottomans. 

Previously cherry red microsuede, now a variety of funky black-and-white newsprint and comic- style prints.

Each face is a different fabric, some are pieced to make use of every scrap. These two below are from Spoonflower. Oh my gosh - what a resource that is!! I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so I created the fabric above using a Lichtenstein pop-art print image and Spoonflower printed me a fat quarter. From the idea in my head to having the fabric in my hot little hand was under 10 days, totally fabulous. Otherwise you can purchase other designers' fabrics (as I did with the Typomatic fabric below)

Still have one to finish but I need more fabric...

This magnificent fellow is a King Parrot. He(the boys have red heads) is about 16" long. Each morning he'll visit my mum because she feeds him sunflower seeds. He's now so tame he'll nibble out of her hand sometimes.

Misearble rainy cold day in Sydney today so perfect for sewing.
Back to quilting the tumbler top...another beautiful antique scrappy quilt top arrived this week but its too wet to take outside to photograph...more soon
xo
k

random sillyness

Where old phones go to die....

Clearly someone in New Zealand has a little too much tme on their hands.  I do love them tho'.
(from Museum of Communications in Auckland)

it's about time

It's been ages since a post so it's probably about time.
I've been reading but not commenting...Having spent the past 18 months concentrating mostly on the one quilt I found myself a little bereft once it was completed. Quilting still needs to be done, but that will be a small project compararatively.

basting

Once home from holidays, I leaped to the repair of the antique tumbler quilt top.  13 new tumbler pieces sewn in...can you see the repairs? I don't believe I could if I hadn't done them myself.  Working on the top and looking closely at the fabrics  was a joy - there are so many wonderful browns ... looking at Eileen Trestain (Dating Fabrics, a Color Guide 1800-1960) I found some very very similar swatches...its almost a charm quilt...maybe only two or three repetitions.

The workmanship is extrordinarily good, this girl could sew! her stitches are tiny, even and meticulous! Wish I could sew half as beautifully.

hand done overlocking?

The backing is a fun reproduction print commemorating the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and I am just quilting by the piece...loving it because I get to enjoy each and every fabric as I quilt them.

the back

As well I have started a new project - here's some little jockey cap blocks for one of the borders. I had the most wonderful time last Saturday raiding my friend Maree's stash for soft fabrics - mine all seem too bold for the look I'm trying to achieve.

So, All is now well in the world of empty field, the mini-culture shock of returning home from a somewhat indulgent holiday with bestest daughter has now faded...alas! so has the tan!

My long awaited kitchen renovation is complete...let me show you...ta dah! my fab new kitchen after living with a very-budget kitchen for 25 years.

new kitchen - woo hoo!

Also on the home front, over the past four weeks, our painter quietly worked her way through the house...never have I had someone paint for me before - we have always done it ourselves and it was a bit like the Sydney Harbour Bridge - once you work your way around every room it's time to start again, so I am absolutely loving having a real pro do it for us.

No tradesmen here for now, so it is blissfully quiet and I have my home back to myself. The painter will return to start the outside and finish off bits and pieces later in the year, but for the time, I feel I can get back to normal.

Spring is truely here, the trees are in blossom, the garden bursting with green, the air delightfully warm and the Koels already calling morning and night.

This pair of kookas greeted me this mornnig at the ferry
with their ridiculous laughter...

Happy sewing, whatever you are working on.
k