I seem to do a lot of things in secret! I have done some sewing this week but as it's a surprise for a friend I can't show it here in case it's seen by the recipient beforehand. So you'll have to make do with a picture of our cat 'Mischief'. She's getting old now - 16 years and suffering from arthritis. She is a MAJOR quilt lover and inspects every process of each quilt as it is being made. If she fails to sit on a quilt put on the floor for inspection then you know it is not "Mischief Approved". It's very important to have my quilts 'Mischief Approved' and I can only recall one that was not. Generally, though, a quilt on the floor is the perfect place for Mischief to plop and spread out, which doesn't help the design process much. I'll miss that when she's gone.

The Australian Challenge Quilt Series available as ebooks

They're finally available. The Australian Challenge Quilt Series is now available in ebook format. All four books: The Maria Challenge Quilt, The Elizabeth Challenge Quilt, The Caroline Challenge Quilt and The Amelia Challenge Quilt, are in easy to access epub format. Now it doesn't matter where you live in the world, you can enjoy a bit of Australian storytelling without having to wait or pay for the snail mail. To download your copy today, go to www.margaretrowe.com.au and start reading right away. Enjoy!

Playing with Printmaking

I've been doing some homework today. The task was to create a design, make a print block using Soft Cut or Printers Foam, then play with the printing process. With the leaves above, I was learning about creating a block where the background was removed to leave the subject matter. I'd already played with formal layouts so this one was a fun, random play with shape and colour.

 The blue print above was an abstract design which was easy to create in the Printers Foam - I had even worked out how to produce smoother curves by this stage. Initially I thought it would only look good with frames around it, that's why I printed the top exercise leaving white space between each print, however, when I butted the motif next to itself I was surprised to find that one turn created a nearly perfect join with the previous print. It was a complete fluke. I could explore this further.

My pink one above is my favourite motive of the five I played with today. This looks terrific butted up next to itself, but I also like this overlay effect. All in all, a fun day's work. :)