Bush babies

Bush babies, originally uploaded by curli.

Some of the bush babies

Gumnut Babies

Some one on the Chain of Hearts group http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChainsofHearts/ was querying what Gum nut babies were,so I thought I'd help out by scanning some pics to illustrate.
The above is a scan of the book cover.the book being bought in 1969 and devoured by a couple of generations in our family.
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie were two characters brought to life by May Gibbs and were two foster brotherswho lived with Snugglepot's Nut (gum nut,not weird) father and the book deals with theri adventures in the bush.
Think of the kewpie dolls of long ago and you have something similar.
 

Winter in the Garden

Winter in the Garden, originally uploaded by KathieB.

KathieB produced this Winter wonderland for Fibre Art Journals and I just HAD to share it with my readers.
Doesn't that glimmer remind you of an Aurora (Borealis)?

Jesse,our black panther

Jesse,our black panther, originally uploaded by curli.

Jesse needed to go visit Dr Eric today.

Jesse has had alump over his right ribs that has increased in size over the past month.

Hopefully it's only a cyst,but fluid obtained from a needle aspiration were sent off for evaluation after microscopic survey revealed unusual cells,

Jesse is 15 years old...but still preety active and agile.

He behaved like a perfect gentleman in the Vet's rooms.....not even a twitch when Eric inserted the needle.

I.m not sure whether Jesse thinks he's a cat,a superior being(probably) or a higher form of humanity!!

He is a most superior cat and we're hoping the surgery with a GA is not indicated.

A Swingle for CJ

A Swingle for CJ
Round about now,this Swingle should be arriving in CJ's postbox..if Ozpost are doing their job!
Why "SWINGLE"?Some folks call them Amulets,others "swing purses" I like swingle!
It can be used for mobile phone,car-keys,fantastic plastic,a comb,lippie,iPod;........wear it like a pendant and keep your hands free!
This is a fairly simply embellished purse:There is a butterfly with wings made from silk tops using the silk fusion/paper method;there are flowers made from Mokuba picot edged ribbon,some SRE featuring Joyce/Fargo Roses; some BDE and a few colour co-ordinated acrylic "gemstones" to add a little bling!

1000 Journals

 
Here is the Journal,resting ,before I proceed to embellish its pages;
The dimension of the triangular shape is 5 inches along the base(longest side)and 3.5 inches on the other two sides. 

Sydney Opera House

 
Move over Jorn Utzon,a coloured version of the Sydney Opera House has arrived in the guise of a tiny journal. 

My first tiny journal

My first tiny journal, originally uploaded by curli.

My first "tiny journal" for 1000 Journals:the first step is the hardest!

Another Kate Greenaway design

Another Kate Greenaway design from the Dover Needlework Series edited by Julie Hasler,1990

A Kate Greenaway pattern

Circa 1880,this Kate Greenaway design is one of my favourites.
WHY?
Because it's feminine,wistful and evokes the innocence of a by-gone era,when there was Time to sit and think.

A classy lady

 
At a time when I was finding it difficult to obtain crinoline or Period style designs to stitch for a proposed quilt,I discovered some historical costumed ladies designed for Blackwork in an English magazine:This lady was one of them. 

Another Blackwork pattern

 

At a time when I had no computer as yet to trawl the web for more Crinoline style patterns,I adapted this lady from a blackwork design. 

Poke bonnet & Parasol

 
Unfortunately my photographic skills aren't good enough to show the ecru threads more clearly,so the sausage curls and her bunch of flowers are fairly obvious 

Crinoline ladies

 
Over the past five years or so,I've been stitching "crinoline,or period ,ladies with the view of making yet another quilt.
Along the way I've veered from the traditional ecru of Candlewicking and added touches of colour,and further dimension with bullion stitches etc.
This "lady" is one of the earlier blocks. 

Give yourself permission to fail!

In an article by Maxine Farkas in Issue10 (Summer 2003) of the Quilting Arts magazine I found that her comments of

"First,give yourself permission to fail"

were relevent.

The best way to learn tecnique is simply to practice and experiment.Not every art quilt you make will be a masterpiece.

And that is why you will be assaulted with my trials and errors:
because I have given myself permission to fail,and I'm going to have fun doing it!

Another trial run

This mess was another trial run:
A few weeks back on January 11,I played with a prepared artist's board,bits 'n pieces of braid and lace and Lumiere paints.

I got to wondering how prepared canvas pages would work as post cards,so yesterday I found out:
I can get four (nearly) 6x4 inch rectangles from a page.I used PVA craft glue to adhere the bits to the canvas;Gave the whole a coating of Lumiere #554 Sunset Gold and then tried out Halo Blue gold(yuk) and pearlescent magenta on various bits.
Next time I'll try the quilters spray as adhesive.
Now to determine how the machine stitches on the canvas.

Experimenting.......

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Yesterday I tried out a few tecniques in post card format.
As I'm involved in a "one a month" (Art) journal quilt I thought I'd try out my ideas in a smaller format to see if they would work;
I hope to continue with my theme of the Murray River,and this month I wanted to look at the blue-green algal blooms that generally occur with summer heat and poor river flow.
Having just acquired some Angelina fibres I wanted to try blending them with silk tops already in my stash:

So the upper pic is my interpretation of blue-green algal blooms;
The lower pic was a bit of a play:
Trash bag or confetti quilting with a lace motif painted in Lumiere paints and the leaf an (Ozecraft) dye.
All good fun and fairly satisfactory

Bag for Kaz

 
This is the bag I made for Carol.
There are the remains of two others on the cutting room floor.....ideas I wasn't happy with.Today I finished another little one for Kaz..........but i don't know if she wants to see it in advance ,or get a surprise in the mail!
Kaz?? 

Kaz's sewing basket

 
This is what I received in a Bag Swap from Kaz(aka CarolJ)
Kaz knew that I was addicted to embroidery,beingn hooked on Crazy Quilting.so she made this basket!It's circular and has four compartments around the sides.There aRE Prairie points around the circumference and on the handle
AND there is a lovely circular (pin)cushion inside.
Lovely soft vcolours in the fabrics.
Kaz I love it and it will get used! 

Yummy yarn

These five skeins of recycled (sari) silk yarn were just delivered to me!
I'm going to have FUN working with these and some silk tops I purchased from Elaine a few months back.
She has the most interesting yarns and fibres which she spins and dyes for sale on her site Highland-Cottage-Crafts
I'm sure she'd like to to pop in for a peek at her goodies!

Cat in the hat comes back

 

Red Hats luncheon January 25.I hadn't had enough time to hem my purple top and thought (that) I'd be cooler in green cotton rather than in purple polyester.
(Poiple polyester!! the mind boggles!! 

kurliskottage: January 28

kurliskottage: January 28

The cat in the hat!

 

I went to my first Red Hat society luncheon on Wednesday,and no amount of retail therapy helped me find the requisite red hat.
After a bit of research on the Net and finding only a men's pattern I decided to make my own pill-box .
(Move over Jacqui Kennedy Onassis..............)and this was the result.
A copper button in a froth of tulle on six inch diameter " pill-box" and I was ready to go.
I can feel a wardrobe of hats coming on! 

Quandong fruit

 
 

Another link to Quandongs..........

Link

This time a West Aussie slant on things........
if you'd like to know more about quandongs
or even the wildflowers of W.A. or the Sandalwood industry
an industry which had its roots back in 1846 when the Sandalwood was harvested for the Incense trade,keep looking,and enjoy a little of our history.
Western Australia has a wealth of natural history that is sometimes overlooked,except in Spring when the tourists come to enjoy the floral sights that can stretch for miles.

Quandongs and Swaggies

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Quandongs

Let me flesh this posting out with some background:I was born in Western Australia and spent my youth there.In the 1960-70s period we used to spend a lot of time at Mullalloo beach and Quandong bushes grew in the sand dunes.My M-i-L educated me to making quandong jam and fruit tarts.If I describe the cooked fruit as similar to cooked Quinces in colour,texture and flavour you might know where I'm coming from.

The info below is taken from the Nullarbor Travel Guide


A single Quandong Berry

Santalum Acuminatum or the Quandong
The Quandong is a truly unique native Australian fruit. Found in the arid and semi-arid regions of all Australian mainland states , Quandong trees have been classified as belonging to the santalum genus of plants. Ideally adapted to arid environments, the Santalum Acuminatum species is known to be a semi-parasitic plant. Quandong trees can tolerate high soil salinity levels and often rely for their complete water requirements from the root systems of host plants. Across their native distribution range, Quandong trees typically grow 2 to 3 metres in height, with a dense leathery crown of leaves perhaps 2 metres wide.



A Quandong Tree in Fruit

Aboriginal Bush Tucker
Traditionally the Quandong was an important food source for Australian Aborigines. Amongst male members of central Australia's Pitjantjara people, Quandongs were considered a suitable substitute for meat - especially when hunting game was in short supply. Around the Everard Ranges, Quandong gathering and food preparation was considered Pitjantjara women's business. Ripe red Quandong fruits would be eaten raw or dried for later use. Typically Everard Ranges women would collect Quandongs in bark dishes, separate the edible fruit from the pitted stone, and then roll the edible fruit into a ball. The Quandong ball was then broken up for consumption by the tribal group.

Medicinal Uses of the Quandong
Amongst Australian aborigines Quandongs were much valued for their medicinal properties. Specialised uses of the Quandong included a form of tea which was drunk as a purgative. Quandong tree roots were also ground down and used as an infusion for the treatment of rheumatism. Typically Quandong leaves were crushed and mixed with saliva to produce a topical ointmnet for skin sores and boils. Encased within each Quandong seed is an oil rich kernel which was also processed in a similar fashion to treat skin disorders. Quandong kernels could also be eaten and some tribal groups were known to employ crushed kernels as a form of "hair conditioning oil". Ingeniously Australia's aborigines appeared to be aware that Quandongs were a preferred food source of emus, and that a ready supply of Quandong seeds could be found in their droppings.


Emu Droppings and Quandong Seeds. Yum!


Western Australian Emus in Quandong country.
One of these emus is responsible for the above scat.
Our best guess is the thirsty one!

European Use of the Quandong
Australia's early pastoralists also discovered their own unique uses for the Quandong. Away from homesteads for weeks at a time, stockmen would often bake dampers infused with Quandong leaves. The result was apparently a refreshing change from the usual damper. When in season - between October and February - many farmers would also take their families out for a Quandong picnic. After gathering Quandongs the peeled fruit was used to make a variety of jams, chutneys and Quandong pies. Such treats were often the only delicacies to be had - especially during drought and depression years when money was short. Today successive generations of rural Australians continue with their Quandong picking traditions. They often do so however, in contravention of state laws that prohibit the harvesting of wild Quandongs. In all truth it seems old habits die hard, and for many people the forbidden fruit is all the more tasty because of it.

Domestication of the Quandong
During the past 30 years the Quandong has become a firm favourite of Australia's burgeoning bush food industry. Commercial Quandong plantations are now an economic reality. True domestication of the Santalum Acuminatum species remains some way off however - not altogether surprising given that established fruit varieties such as apples have been undergoing continuous selection and development for thousands of years. Since 1973 Australia's CSIRO has been actively conducting scientific research into developing improved commercial Quandong cultivars.

The aim of such research has been to produce a bright red Quandong with good eye appeal, improved flesh texture, and a palatable mix of Quandong flavours, tannins and food acids. To date the quest for the perfect Quandong has proven elusive. Should CSIRO be successful however, then the Quandong will have become only the second Australian food plant species to have been successfully domesticated. Bring it on CSIRO!


Quandong Tree at Pildappa Rock, SA

Queer Quandong Facts

Fossilised Quandongs have been discovered in the coal seams of Southern Victoria. Apparently these fossils date from 40 million years ago - a time when Australia was still linked to the Antarctic continent.
Australian people often refer to Quandongs as the Wild Peach, Desert Peach or Native Peach.
Quandongs have a vitamin C content higher than oranges and and almost certainly saved many early Australian explorers from scurvy.
Quandong fruit can be dried and frozen for 8 years or more, without losing any flavour whatsoever.
Quandong trees possess an aromatic wood that was traditionally used by aboriginal people in "smoking ceremonies".
Rural Australian children often used Quandong seeds as Chinese Checker pieces.
The President of the New York Explorers Club once imported Quandongs for one of their annual dinners - along with some Polar Ice!
To date the only Australian food plant to be successfully domesticated is the Macadamia Nut.The Macadamia Nut was successfully domesticated in Hawaii. Will the Quandong be the second domesticated food plant?


And a bit more trivia,regarding

swaggies,tuckerbags and jumbuks..
all which appear in our unofficial national anthem "Waltzing Matilda"----



For most people, the words of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ embody the free spirit, resourcefulness and defiance of authority associated with the Australian national character. The melody is memorable and spirited.

Some scholars and folklorists argue that the song is a political statement in much the same way as classic children’s nursery rhymes attacked political figures in earlier centuries. The song is not an explicit attack on the squatters’ refusal to pay shearers higher wages. However, it has been argued that the plot of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ is based on the conflict that raged between these two groups in the 1890s before the song was composed.

When Allan and Co. published the Marie Cowan version of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ in 1936, they felt it necessary to print a Glossary Of Australian Terms to explain the ‘dialect’ used by Paterson (view image).

WALTZING MATILDA The act of carrying the ‘swag’ (an alternate colloquial term is ‘humping the bluey’).

Matilda is an old Teutonic female name meaning ‘mighty battle maid’. This may have informed the use of ‘Matilda’ as a slang term to mean a de facto wife who accompanied a wanderer. In the Australian bush a man’s swag was regarded as a kind of de facto wife, hence his ‘Matilda’. (Letter to Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Churchill, KG from Harry Hastings Pearce, 19 February 1958. Harry Pearce Papers, NLA Manuscript Collection, MS2765)

BILLABONG A blind channel or meander leading out from a river.

COOLIBAH Sometimes spelled coolabah: a species of gum or eucalyptus tree.

SWAGMAN An Australian tramp, so called on account of the ‘swag’, usually a chaff bag, containing his ‘billy’, provisions and blankets.

BILLY An open topped tin can, with a wire carrying handle, used as a kettle for boiling water into which tea was thrown.

TUCKER BAG A bag for ‘tucker’ or food; part of the ‘swag’.

JUMBUCK A sheep. The term is a corruption of ‘jump up’ (Macquarie Dictionary, 3rd rev. ed. Sydney: Macquarie, 2001)

SQUATTER A grazier, or station (ranch) owner. Note that the meaning of the word changed later in the twentieth century to mean a person who occupied or resided at a property illegally.

Australia Day

 
....and a bunch of Banksia,Dryandra and Christmas Bells to hope that those of you who are Australian commemorated our national day appropriately and remember how truly blessed we are to live in this country. 

Lace flowers

 
And another card....!
I never thought to ask Gina if the lady who gave her these cards was a stitcher,as several that I received reflect this theme,as you can see herewith the "lace" vase and lace motif flowers. 

No,it's not stitched!

Yesterday I received a bundle of old cards from Gina after asking if I could have some of those she was offering to new homes.
It wasn't until I actually rubbed a finger tip over this card that I realised Gina had not sent me a stitched bouquet and faggot edging.
I can feel a stitching spell coming on...........that spray of flowers should look good in a heart! 

The missing link

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For some reason "mrBlog" doesn't like the link I put up for you to view
"Kim in Fargo " CQ purses.
So maybe if you cut and paste the link below you might have success,that's if clicking on the blue link is still on strike!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kim_in_fargond/

Still on the subject of bags.........

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Whilst catching up on newletters this morning I accepted Kim's invitation
to have another look at her CQed evening bags made for herself,her sisters and her mother.
Now it's back to the real world for me as I really must go and tackle that basket of ironing.

Bow-bag

Link

 
It must be "bag- ladies week"!

Mary over on Devonhouse Recollections was writing of a CQed Seascape clutch purse and I had to get to and construct a bag for delivery by the end of the month!
My first attempt, which was to be 2inch squares pieced with Silk ribbon embroidered blocks as focal points has ended up on the cutting room floor---
because I couldn't get the colour scheme to "zing"!!

Okay! I'll get back to those blocks some other time!
Maybe.

So,today,even though I dearly wanted to play with Oil sticks and fabrics for another postcard,I got my Bow bag made.
It's a pattern by "Moonshine", and now that I've made one,I've my own ideas on how to contruct it with less fiddling.
But trust me, Me a bag-lady??
NEVER!! 

6x4 lives!

 
And this is my first postcard for the "6x4 lives" challenge: Forest wetlands.

As I'm planning/hoping to "do" a monthly Journal quilt,I think I'll do both the A4 size and the 6x4 postcard formats,simultaneously;
and I'll endeavour to use the same theme and method for them in an effort to be more logical with my work.

That's the plan whether it works is another story!

By the way,this card was made using the same procedure as the quilt blogged earlier today. 

How I "did" it

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What can I say..........except it was trial and error.
I had an idea of what I wanted...........dead,dying red-gums in a wetland.

A piece of quilting fabric gave me the trunks .....with some fussy cutting;

I wanted a swampy,blue-green algae effect,so I shredded some dyed silk-tops,and added some (saved) thread and fibre off-cuts;

To keep the fibres and fabric in place,I placed black tulle over the fabric and fibres;
Added the other two layers of the quilt sandwich and using black embroidery threads machined the sandwich together.I tried to accent the tree shapes with some stitching shadowing the trunk and branch outlines,as well as just swirls of fog/mist.

So you could say the result was a mish-mash of shadow quilting and solvy type thread lace..without the solvy!

And if you can "see" what I've tried to portray............
I guess that I've succeeded.

It's not as easy as I thought...........

 
..trying to create an Art Journal quilt!

I committed to an Art quilt journal for 2006 with an online group,and this entails a minimum of 5 quilts in the year,but,hopefully,one a month.

As January is galloping to its conclusion I thought it was "time" to try some journalling.
My notes per se are sketchy,to say the least;so I thought I'd try the old cut & move method like the kids in pre-school....about my level too!

Comments in the press recently about releasing water from storage back into the Murray River is the theme I'm endeavouring to develop:
What the Murray wetlands are like now----dead trees,blue-green algae,the whole disaster.
Will LIFE wash back into this icon or will it improve,only in artworks?

This is my second attempt.....it's amazing what a difference a change of colour in the back ground makes.
The first time it was with an off-white background;maybe a streaky green might work. 

CQ Crazy: Post cards,ATCs and Journal quilts

CQ Crazy: Post cards,ATCs and Journal quilts

Post cards,ATCs and Journal quilts

">Link Have you ever noticed how Blogs tend to go in cycles?
Several groups I'm involved with are all venturing into
Art Quilts;
Journal quilts
Fibre ATCs(Artist Trading Cards for the uninitiated) and
Postcards (again fibre, or even mixed media)

and all of a sudden I find all these wonderful sites full of eye candy and stimulation for my creativity.
SharonB over on inaminuteago refers to a posting she did January last year on using fabric postcards http://inaminuteago.com/blog/index.php as a journal because they're small and an easily portable project.
Then another of my online friends suggested looking at Postmark'dArt
to view yet more;add to that Artistic Inspirations http://artisticinspirations.blogspot.com/
----
and you could spend your entire day trawling,admiring and doodling,and never put needle to fabric once!

You may have realised what I plan on doing the next couple of months........yes, mainly small stuff that hopefully I journal sufficiently to be able to refer back to at later dates

For Darilyn!

This post is for Darilyn and Tigger of Tropical Screamer &Tropical Dreamer
I always come away from my daily dose of TSTD feeling happy;but I'll never want cold pizza for breakfast D:Slices of paw-paw,mango, and stone fruit are more my style!

In the process of sorting through my (sane) quilting fabric stash yesterday,I was surprised at the number of Cat fabric FQs I've accumulated..........nearly enought to start a quilt!
And then today whilst checking out a couple of links I found a cat quilt where the cats bodies were pieced FANS.
For some reason I can't fathom mrFlickr doesn't want to communicate with MizBlog(read "me") so I include the link for you to enjoy

kurliskottage: Traffic alert!

kurliskottage: Traffic alert!