Gadgets ...

... and other ways to wile away your Friday evening ;) 

Cool tool #1: If you were a fan of Picnik, and like me, you were a bit lost when this photo editing tool disappeared from cyberspace, then get excited! PicMonkey has emerged, bigger and so much better than Picnik ever was. Quick and intuitive, there are many cool effects you can apply to your images.

 And mosaic making is a cinch.

Cool tool #2: Chip It! is a handy, and addictive palette generator. Simply drag the Chip It! tool to your tool bar, click on any internet image and Chip It! will come up with matching colours.

Admittedly, the colour names are US paint colours, but this could be really useful if you are planning a quilt and are a bit stuck to know what colours to pull from your stash. 

Or if you are struggling to know what colours to incorporate in a border fabric, this tool might give you somewhere to start.

How cool would it be if the colours generated were DMC floss numbers or Kona solid names?! Be warned, you could waste invest many hours with this little tool! 

Cool tool #3: Are you a jam maker or preserver and do you have a plethora of unlabelled jars of indistinguishable condiments in the back of the pantry? "Hey Mum, is this edible"? Well, this gadget is for you. The Jam Labeliser generates wonderfully professional labels with your own personalised details.

Simply print your labels, cut out with scissors and glue to your jars with a humble old glue stick.  Noice!

Have a great weekend, Queen's Birthday long weekend for many of us Aussies. Don't waste too much of it with my cute gadgets :) Bloom x

For the fabric tragics

The latest & perhaps loveliest marketing ploy to entice us all to buy more fabric ...

... lusciously shot, imaginative and clever films on YouTube ...

... by Art Gallery Fabrics. Tempted? Ooooh, yeah!

Meet Amelia

I'd like to give a shout out to a lovely young girl I met at a local market on the weekend. Amelia Herbertson is in the last throes of her university degree in Graphic Design, and is newly establishing herself as an artist and printmaker.

Amelia's work is beautifully detailed and shows a level of quality and care that belies her youth. This exquisite lino print bird made its way home with us, and is settling in nicely!

You can find Amelia on Facebook, or over at her blog, and her work in her Etsy Shop. Please pop on over to her, say hello and encourage her in what will surely be a bright artistic future.

Turning can'ts into cans

I have been asked by the lovely girls at Marally Craft in Orange to teach a workshop. Yep, quietly terrified about that prospect, but I've stepped out of my comfort zone and accepted!

We will be working through my 'Beyond Measure' pattern for a sewing mat, thread catcher & pincushion.

The workshop is on this Thursday 17th November. If you are nearby and would like to bear testament as to how terrified Bloom can be join us, please contact Marally Craft on 

ph: 02 6362 3860 or email: info@marallycraft.com.au

I have put together a slideshow of some of your versions of my 'Beyond Measure' patterns to inspire the girls who are coming to the workshop. I thought you might enjoy it too.

Make a slideshow

My thanks to all the lovely women who have purchased my patterns and made them up. And to these ladies in particular for the use of their photographs:

Melissa @ Quilting for Happiness

One for a Wish

Cherie @ Sew & So Quilts

Tilly, a friend of Josie @ Dilly Dimple

Wendy @ Sugarlane Quilts

Jess @ The Elven Garden

Katie @ Sew Katie Did

And because I know you'll ask about the stunning Australian designed fabrics used by Jess, the 'Mikko' fabric is by Surface Art, available here,

and Saffron Craig's designs are available here.

Think of me on Thursday! Despite the fear, I am really looking forward to it and know it will be lots of fun :)

A brief distraction

I have a thousand things to do, but have been briefly distracted by this clever little clip - a fantastic journey in 90 seconds of fashion, music and dance in the last 100 years.


So at the risk of distracting you too, I thought I'd share it :)


I could also distract you with this ...

... but that would be bordering on irresponsible. Have a great day!

Something to read with your Saturday morning coffee

The very first issue of Etzcetera magazine arrived in my inbox today. 

Etzcetera is a brand spanking new digital publication headed by Australian talent, Kim Archer. The first issue is free for your reading pleasure, available at their website. It is a fresh and inspiring read, true to their theme of 'craft ... lifestyle ... family ... home ... you'!

I am especially excited about this release since the Stitching Editor is none other than Janelle Wind, one of my favourite Aussie designers. Warmest congratulations to Kim, Janelle, and all the editorial staff and contributors on a thoughtful and visually beautiful launch issue. I will certainly be reading it with my coffee in the morning.

Distracted by colour

My apologies for a quiet blog for the last little while. Life has been busy with kids' swimming carnivals, a school fete, some work days here and there, and trips to the farm. There has regretfully been no sewing time, but mercifully, some thinking time!

I have been thinking about colour. It all started here, with this Anna Maria Horner 'Good Folks' print purchased recently. I noticed an astonishing FIFTEEN colour dots on the selvedge. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this means fifteen different screens for a single print - wow! No wonder this fabric packs a punch!

I love to use the colours of selvedge dots to inspire colour schemes for quilting or stitchery designs.

Another source of colour inspiration is Color Collective. Lauren Willhite has compiled this wonderful resource by using the works of artists, designers and photographers to inspire imaginative, often unusual but always beautiful palettes of colour. Any day that you are stuck for a new colour combination, you are bound to find something to enliven your senses at this site.

image source

You can waste a whole lot of time over at Kuler, where there are endless colour schemes to fire your imagination. Under the 'create' tab, you can upload your own photographs and Kuler will generate colour palettes to match. You can even choose a 'mood' for your palette from colourful, bright, muted, deep or dark.

For colour advice, specific to quilters, there are some great posts written by bloggers to refer to. My first port of call would be the queen of colour herself, Rita at Red Pepper Quilts. Rita has written a wonderful post called Colour in quilting in which she advises to take time to notice colour in the everyday.

Jeni, at In Color Order, is writing a brilliant series of posts called The Art of Choosing which deals with fabric and colour. She has lots of great advice about choosing and organising fabric, based around principles of colour. Pop over to Jeni's and feast your eyes!

And just for fun, here's what happens when colour, a bookshelf and someone with a whole lot of time collide!

Imagine doing this with your fabric stash - how fun! Have a great week,

Bloom x

Looking for a virtual pinboard?

Have you discovered Pinterest yet? Pinterest is a fun 'virtual pin board'. It is somewhere you can 'pin' any image you come across in your browsing that you are keen to remember. 

It is a bit like Flickr favourites, but so much better. You are not limited to Flickr images. You can pin absolutely any image you find online. And you can categorise your pins however you want.

I simply requested an invite from Pinterest, and within a few days, was granted my very own pin board. You can have a look at my pin board here. It is a really interesting to see a snapshot of things that appeal to you, and to notice recurring themes in design, colour etc. Fun!

My road to 'Hope Valley' love

I have been cavorting about in 'Hope Valley' lately.

When Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley was first released, I confess I didn't immediately feel the love. I think I was still in mourning for the passing of 'Flea Market Fancy', and was hoping for a reincarnation. Like so many others.

But then I saw this stunning Dresden plate made by Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey. (Check out her brilliant version of 'Dotty for Dresden'). Oooh, I like that!

And then this! How very special. Gina of Ginabean Handmade chose to make my Sweet Menagerie pattern up in 'Hope Valley'! The love was gathering strength ...

After seeing this gorgeous little quilt from Amy of A Commonplace Life, I was all but convinced that I should purchase some 'Hope' before it all sold out.

This lovely thing from Brioni at Flossyblossy, a stunning Jewel Box quilt, merely strengthened my resolve. 'Hope Valley' was destined to be my new favourite.

And just by the way, Brioni & Katy, along with some other talented bloggers are releasing an exciting new ezine called Fat Quarterly on 27th April. You can snatch an enticing glimpse of projects in Issue #1 over at their blog.

Finally, the clincher in my 'Hope Valley' journey? Z&S Fabrics had a 20% off sale. I was done for. Here is my little stack of loveliness. The colours are unusual and intense and they work beautifully together. Thank you to all the aforementioned bloggers who inspired me to fall in love with this range!

Unfortunately, the project I am working on with 'Hope Valley' is under wraps for a while, but I will certainly share it with you the moment I am allowed to!

Definition of cavort?

ca·vort (kə-vôrt')

verb. To bound or prance about in a sprightly manner; caper; to have lively or boisterous fun; romp.

Yep, cavorting over here!

Happy, happy Easter

To everyone, I wish you a very happy and blessed Easter. Christ is risen!

I am conscious of and very thankful for the fact that blogging connects me with likeminded women from all parts of the globe. I hope your Easter... wherever you are in the world ... has been a wonderful one. This clip is making me happy to be part of a wondrously diverse world. You can dance if you want to!

Quite possibly the cutest eggs you'll see this Easter

I couldn't resist posting about these. Lisa, at The Red Thread, makes and sells these brilliant chalkboard eggs from ostrich eggs. Ain't they the sweetest?

She also makes these dreamy hand painted eggs. The imagination of people to see beyond the ordinary to create something beautiful never ceases to astound me.

Lisa's shop might just be a nice spot to meander about today. She has some truly lovely things to sell.

Inspiration abounds

The end of school term has been so busy for my kids (& therefore for me), that there has been no time for sewing. Thankfully, I've at least been able enjoy the creativity of others. There is inspiration everywhere:

The lovely, and very accomplished Janet over at Quiltsalott has put together a wonderful purse tutorial. I am itching to stitch some of these.

For a quick and very cute Easter project, consider The Long Thread's Bunny Bowling pattern, a free download available here.

Aimee Ray, author of Doodle Stitching, has a sweet birdcage stitchery pattern, and a really helpful tutorial about stitching embroidery designs on felt at her blog Little Dear Tracks.

I have been on the lookout for baby quilt tutorials and have found these two funky modern possibilities:

The Leo Baby Quilt by Lady Harvatine

and Charm Squares Baby Quilt by Oh, Fransson!

Warmest congratulations to fellow Aussie, Julie at Narioka who recently had a gorgeous quilt published on Moda Bakeshop. Go girl! Her Cobblestone Road & Pebbles Doll quilts are really lovely and her tutorial can be found here.

If you've made it this far down my post, please pop over to Thimbelina and say 'Hi' - she is a real-life (!) friend of mine and stitches beautifully.

Now, if all this inspiration has left you feeling exhausted & over-stimulated, then sit back and enjoy this post. Heather Mulder Peterson, quilt designer extraordinaire, has blogged about her mother's sewing room - oh my, read it and weep! A sewing room to die for!

And finally, if you're not able to travel this Easter, then take yourself on the most amazing pictorial trip with 52 suburbs and learn a whole lot about Australia's diverse city of Sydney. Louise has challenged herself to visit & photograph one new suburb of Sydney each week for a year, an amazing feat. The photography on this site is astonishingly beautiful.

There we go ... that should keep you busy for the evening! I'm off to get the kids through their last lot of homework for the term. Best wishes, Bloom x

The postman always rings twice

Actually, the postman doesn't ring at all at our place! I'd be happy if he'd just ring once, so that I didn't have to keep checking the mailbox when I am expecting something special! Good mail for me this week.

Delicious 'Nicey Jane' from Z&S Fabrics - I have a quilt planned for these.

And a copy of Material Obsession by Australian girls Sarah Fielke & Kathy Doughty. This has been on my 'must-have' list for a while and I found it for a bargain here. (Unfortunately, they have put the price up again). The book is every bit as inspiring as I expected from these girls.

I have discovered a nifty site for all you Aussie book lovers out there. It is called Booko and helps track down the least expensive price in Australian dollars for whatever book you fancy. Have a great week, Bloom x

Not so Grumpy

No more Little Miss Grumpy for me - the mail has come! You may (or may not!) remember this bag that I made for the SEWN giveaway some time ago?

Well, I entered it in the Amy Butler Midwest Modern competition way back in June. And blow me down, I was one of 15 lucky winners. My prize parcel arrived this week.

There are certain packages which should come with the following label:

WARNING - Considerable risk of hyperventilation upon opening.

This is one such package.

In the most generous of prizes, I received four of Amy Butler's newest patterns; 'The Liverpool', 'Sweet Harmony' bag, 'Field Bag' and a very cute Mini Dress/Top. All are delicious!

There was also a copy of Amy's recently released software which is a gorgeous package of 22 more projects for my 'to do' list! My favourite? This super cute floor cushion with my favourite of trims, pom poms.

And then there was fabric too!! Can you see why I was hyperventilating?!

Sandi Henderson has posted a great video interview with Amy Butler at the recent Quilt Market. You can watch it here, and see for yourself what an unassuming, gracious & genuinely sweet person Ms Butler is. I am very thankful for her generosity in offering up such an unbelievable prize.

You can see all the competition entries here, and the winning entries here.

(My Amy Butler obsession can be traced back, fairly and squarely, to the influence of Chookyblue. The first time I met her was over a little basket of bargain AB fat quarters. I spent a fun morning last weekend with the Chook, talking incessantly about gardening & quilting for the limited time we had).

Stitchers' Angel Project 2009

With the enormous success of the Stitchers' Angel project last year, Helen Stubbings of Hugs 'n' Kisses is very generously organising this wonderful stitching collaboration again. She has arranged for seven stitchery designers to release a free pattern each week for seven weeks, all with a 'roses' theme. You can find the details of designers involved here.

Helen released the first pattern, a sweet waffle weave bag with a rose stitchery which you can download here.

Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches provided the pattern for this week, the delightful 'Sweet & Spotty Needle Wallet' which you can download here.

Please be sure to say a big thank you to Helen & Natalie, especially if you use their free patterns. The generosity of these women is heart-warming. And keep on eye out next week for another great pattern to keep you busy.