Winner!!

Congratulations to Anne from Sew Little Time who has won a copy of this month's Down Under Quilts magazine.

I have sent you an email Anne!

Andi :-)

Down Under Quilts Giveaway

Aussie quilters will already be very familiar with Down Under Quilts. Well this much loved magazine has just gotten even better with a new look!! This month's issue (the Spring issue) will be in the shops this Thursday with a fresh new feel.

As usual, the magazine will be available in Newsagents but will now also be available at Coles stores!!

We are very excited to have a YouPatch pattern in this Spring issue .... a gorgeous pixelated tulip!

In addition to lots of gorgeous patterns, each magazine comes with a free wheel of pretty quilting pins!!

The giveaway bit ...

Practical Publishing is offering a free copy of the magazine to one lucky PatchAndi reader (Aussies only for this one). You each have 3 chances to enter.

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what image you would like to turn into a pixel quilt.
2. 'Like' the PatchAndi FaceBook page and leave a comment on this post to tell me about it.
3. 'Like' the YouPatch FaceBook page and leave a comment on this post to tell me about it.

A winner will be chosen at random next week on Wednesday 24th September.

You can also win a free copy over at Anorina's blog: Samelia's Mum. She's a fabulous quilter and also has a lovely pattern in this issue.

Good luck to all and see you soon.

Andi xx

The big chop

Last weekend I took the plunge and shaved off my long hair for charity. Together with over 100 amazing sponsors, I managed to raise over $6000 for the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia. And I donated my actual hair to the Australian Alopecia Areata Foundation. I felt proud!!

Here's what my day looked like ....

It feels good to have done something positive in a global environment where so much of the news is negative ... horrific even!

Now I just need to keep my head warm until Melbourne's weather decides to be hot again.

Sending positive thoughts and wishes to you and yours.

Andi xxx

Art on my couch

My friend Matthew Broughton (www.mattbroughtondesign.com) is a graphic designer and a wonderful artist. One of his favorite techniques is lino cutting and he has recently produced a number of stunning lino cut prints with an Australian theme.

Unfortunately, we have almost no wall space left in our house so I felt unable to buy any of his prints as I had nowhere to display them. So you can imagine how excited I was when he revealed that he would be printing his designs onto fabric to make into cushions.

We have new couches at our place that have been screaming out for some new cushions. Everything fell perfectly into place.

We're not afraid of color at our place ;-)

Australian fauna - a black cockatoo

Australian flora - A banksia branch

Our Luna Park

An iconic Melbourne tram

Such a gorgeous collection!

These cushions were printed at local bespoke fabric printers Frankie & Swiss and are beautiful quality.

Check out Matthew's website to find out all about his work and to buy yourself some gorgeous artwork!!

You know you want to.
Andi xx

A new baby

No ... I'm not pregnant!

But my niece was ... until last week ... when she gave birth to the most delicious little daughter called India. She is a very special baby who will be more loved than most people I know. But of course, that might be my bias talking.

My niece asked for yellows, greys and neutrals. But I couldn't resist a splash of red!

And of course, the baby's name on the back (or the "other front") of the quilt.

All fabrics from my stash, including the scrappy yellow binding.

Already much loved by it's new recipient. Here's some more pics .... just because.

Welcome baby India. We love you to the moon and back. 

Andi xxx

Autumn leaves?

Yep ... I created this abstract pixel pattern from a picture of autumn leaves.

Using YouPatch I chose the lowest level of detail and dropped the colors down to 5. Then I selected my own color palette and voila .... this was the result!!

For the quilting I went with an off-centre spiral, augmented with some fun squiggles and swirls.

And for the backing, I chose this stunning fabric that I bought at Amitie Textiles.

I'm hoping this quilt will be accepted for the exhibit at QuiltCon.

I'm a bit excited to have this one finished and I have another finish to show you in a few days. Much stitching excitement!!

Andi xx