the exposed service wall of the Great Northern hotel due to a blank neighbouring lot in the last stages of demolition.
it's a crazy network that is quite exquisite in its intricate ugliness.

at the moment the very run down pub and hotel is undergoing huge referbishment.
from what can be found out it's a slow process.
but for now there is a new feel to the place with it open again for all sorts of events and menues.
next weekend is the monthly markets in the pub, this month it is fine food.

i will have a stall at The Olive Tree Markets again this saturday 3rd July.
if you are in newcastle please come along, it might be cold but it'll be a fun day!

stay up to date with the collaborative quilt that is to be made from all the patches sewn by 27 crafty ladies & gents. click on the Project Patchwork blog logo above to see it all.

my patch has been sent in and you can see the final result in a previous post here.
this quilt along with others will be raffled off to raise money for the Australian Cambodia Foundation.

Political Interlude from usual posts

i couldn't resist in celebrating the first day with a new Prime Minister of Australia.
our first female PM!
Julia Gillard takes the leadership role.
an historic day.



a special cartoon from the favourite Leunig.
an iced vovo is the perfect biscuit for the proverbial 'smoko'
the final curtain on Rudd. what a way to go!

this is another project that is taking up my idle hours...not that there are many.
infact i seem to have become addicted to knitting.
it started off as a way to use up old wool in cluttered cupboards. it quickly blew out into buying wool and searching out colours.
most of the squares were knitted by AB, i am too slow and very much of a beginner to have achieved such a stack. they are waiting to be sewn into a colourful blanket. but first we have to knit the other 40 squares needed!!

this is the patch i made for the Project Patchwork organized by Lizzy Wilson.
all the crafters, makers, designers involved were given a piece of fabric to tie it all together (the fabric used in the clouds, the whale and one of the hearts).
it has certainly taken up more time than i expected... all my own fault really...but it is hard not to get carried away with something that is different to the every day making.

what to do with odd bits of wool?

they aren't big enough for anything useful or wearable...
there is always the option of some guerilla knitting
what could be better for the drab streets of a post industrial town.
how long will is last in place? that's the test.

there is a great site here for some inspiring knitting ideas.
might need a team of knitters though!

two collar blanks.
these ones are sold without any clasp.

they are for the wearer who already has a favourite brooch or badge, or infact a collaction of them.

i've just listed these two on my on-line store.

after the markets on saturday (which were quiet due to the wet weather weekend)
i have sorted out my stock of brooches, dolls and other designs.
this cushion from my previous post on friday is the first to be released into my on-line store.
more things will follow over the next few days and weeks.

this is a new cushion made for the olive tree markets in newcastle.
i've been readying stock and organising the designs i want to discontinue and a few i'd like to develop further... then i just wanted to make something that was on my metal plate.
and this is what came out:
it's always a surprise
a good one this time

the cuckoo cushion

but i wish i could have a vision that wasn't always so red!
anything works in this colour, so really not a challenge at all.

the markets are on in one week. 5th june 2010. the weather is looking wet.
not sure if it's a wise thing to be working towards a washout market day.

i finished three new collars on friday, these ones are each clasped by a vintage badge.
the tuncurry bowling club badge is great colours and design.
what a gem.

these three collars are now on their way down to sydney and will be for sale at Gaffa Gallery along with some other new designs

this is a morbid friday post.

apologies

it is a little nod to artist friend CW, every time i see a dead bird i think of her recent exhibition at Podspace...
her photographs were beautifully created and framed. all of them found dead animals in the urban and the rural settings. mostly on roads like these poor birds i found.
the foot is the one that can really bring on a whince.

actually i've been photographing dead birds for a while...but the images are mostly buried somewhere in negative form. probably not even printed yet, that was when i developed and printed all my own in black and white film stock.

Blue 750
by Shi Jindian
wire woven motorcycle and sidecar
2008

it is part of an exhibition called 'the Tao of Now' showing at the White Rabbit Gallery ...
what an amazing scultpure, the technique is something like crochet, from what i can find out. he uses simple custom made hand tools and works right down to the finest details

1950's wooden pull-along toy dog
espresso cup
new ticket system for cityrail! hooray!
1980's wooden car

old signage revealed during building demolition in the historic city centre of newcastle.

door stop.

this was a good bye gift from jody wong as she left for japan late last year...
usually it's the goer-awayers who receives gifts, not the stayers-behind, but nothing is ever straight forward, especially when ms wong is concerned.

anyway, it wasn't long before there was some travelling of it's own to do...
first is was framed then
carefully packed into a box in another box in a big container to transport from fremantle wa to newcastle nsw along with everything
then it got unpacked
then adjusted in it's frame
then finally hung on the newly owned wall (well, the paint anyway, being strata)
in a cluster of other interested collected pieces (below)

an old rugby number
+ an off cut from a florence broadhurst print
+ a piece of retro red

= a new seat cover

two pages of a soft book made for 'a' in NZ
it was inspired by one that was made in the 80's...
the pages were made out of curtain backing material, it has an inbuilt stiffness which is perfect for a book

it is full of texture and as much colour as possible.
rick-rack... i've never before found a decent use for this weird kitschy stuff.
it's kind of appealing and appalling all at once. a very strange haberdashery trim

these are the sort of details that make a city special...
it is only a vent of course.
but look at the detail...
would the city council/developer/strata committee of today actually take the care to include these kinds of art and design into the final finish of buildings...hummm?

Athcourt building
this little apartment has genuine art deco features in the old bathroom, complete with a terrazzo floor.
what a special find

the milk jug
the water jug
the sauce jug
the crystal jug
the fat jug
the tall jug
the blue jug ...

the gravy boat



all of these belong to one collection
it grows over years, some of them gifts, some inherited, some bought old or new by alison

after a conversation about the multitudes of jugs in her house and the irresistible shape they have i pulled them all out of their cupboards, shelves and nooks to photograph them all

last count there were 25... but perhaps more

a frontier of jugs

time
ocean
coffee
magazine ...notebook...pen
thoughts

it's been a while since there has been any of these
today all of them came together

a confession of my own
i wasn't quick enough to get photos of all the things that city switch completed around the city.
there is one blurry photo of the 'sticky streets' project

City Switch Lab has just started it's first day of workshops in newcastle.
the introduction and presentations last night were exciting and it feels like a well organised initiative.
i'll post the results after saturday.
until then read more about it at the city switch website and the renew newcastle site

ok, so this has been done before, much better than i've achieved here too.
but i promised i'd do it, not here in freo, but somewhere down south while camping. but i didn't. even though it was a very long camping trip, it was never the right time. so there they are; now on a very snug elbow of a freo plane tree.
stitching while reaching up is not easy for long...

seeds from the wattle trees in shannon national park.
they are small and delicate, and hard to collect from the heavy leaf litter... not sure what sort of wattle, there must be hundreds of species in this nationl park alone.

on and early morning walk this was found in a rock pool. an entire eco system spewed up from the depths to perish in the summer sun...

on the way out from parry's beach campsite on our way towards peaceful bay we passed these postboxes. a little letterbox village

the tip shop
denmark wa, australia

every tip should have one. look at all the wonderful things that get trashed every day of the year....and here in denmark on the south west coast of australia you can come and buy bits and pieces of another persons junk.

it was acually a bit much after a while...but when you have a project in mind, what a great resource to have near by!

this 1950's round house in mt barker, wa, used to turn around depending on where the sun was, a breeze or favoured view...

in recemt times when a new road was being constructed the house was due to be pulled down to make way...but luckily the heritage council came by and listed it. now it's safe for ever.