Must run in the family....

I have many nieces and nephews - comes from being one of 7 kids I guess (;>) - and all of them, including my brothers and sisters, are very creative - sewing, photography, painting, drawing, knitting, interior design (and I include my sons in enjoying the creative bent)....so last year when we visited my little brother in Queensland, I noticed a pair of runners that his eldest son had been colouring - he'd used fabric sharpies (or similar) to design and colour oriental themes onto a pair of canvas high-tops for a friend of his - of course, I didn't get a photo (what an eejit) but I did ask him to create me a pair with a patchwork theme - and he did.  I received these absolute beauties...............

Cal had said he didn't know anything about patchwork so I directed him to my blog and Flickr pages to get some inspiration - and he's obviously been inspired by this quilt:

a similar quilt is available in my Etsy shop

What a talent - he's done a simply amazing job - thanks Cal - I'm trying to only wear them inside so they keep looking good - but it's difficult when I want to show them off!  Absolutely love them.

.............and for something a little different, my son and his partner bought me the Sew Wild book Alisa Burke for Christmas and on the weekend I got a little inspired:

hand dyed fabric, stamped, written on, stitched and embroidered

I started with the chorus of Adele's "Set fire to the rain" - which I am totally in love with and I got her '21' CD for Christmas too - and just went from there.  I purposely limited my colour palette to the blues and reds - haven't decided whether to make it a small wall hanging or to use it as a journal cover - I've stuck it onto my design wall until I figure it out.

......and in other creative pursuits...........I picked another bowl or 2 from the garden this morning (lucky I did - it's raining now!) - we're picking this much every other day and have enough carrots and beans in the freezer to last a year or two!

toms, eggplants, beans, peas, snow peas, sugar snaps, zucchinis, lebanese cucumbers, spring onions, carrots, corn, green cucumbers