July 4, 2016

A Bilby and a Birthday

Australia has some amazing marsupials and one of the cutest is the Bilby. I have never seen one in the wild, probably because they are nocturnal and tend to live in the desert! One brilliant fact I discovered is that their pouch opens backwards so as not to be filled with dirt when they are digging their burrows! How cool is that! There has been a push over the last decade or so in Oz to focus on the Bilby as an Easter icon rather than the Bunny.

I decided I would like to feature a Bilby in a stitchery so asked my clever grandson to draw me one having a birthday party ... so here is Belinda Bilby:


The pattern is in Patchwork & Stitching Magazine Vol 17 No 11.


Belinda even featured on the cover:


Sadly, Patchwork & Stitching Magazine will be closing down at the end of the year. Also the wonderful Country Threads Magazine will be coming to an end too. I guess it was inevitable with the availability of so much on the internet, but browsing the internet instead of lying in bed with a magazine in my hand enjoying a good read, just doesn't cut it for me. 

Of course that limits the outlet for my work too, so I'm feeling a bit dejected at the moment. I was designing for seven magazines - four of them have met their demise, so there's only three left! Maybe I will have to do a search for international craft magazines that might take Australian Designers' projects ... or take up gardening ... or do lots more housework!

It's been quite cold where I live which always plunges me into a depressed state, so as I'm longing for summer, I thought I would make available the pattern for my Ice Cream Parlour Wall Hanging:


You can find it in my Craftsy Store here.

Keep an eye out next week for the next block in the 
 You are Blessed.

Happy Stitching,
Val


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Val congrats its a lovely stitchery and i love your Icecream Parlour wall hanging ....

margaret said...

recently found your blog and upset to read about Country Thread magazines I live in the UK and think this is the best of all the quilty magazines.
Your picture is a beauty, never seen or heard of the cutie before

Anonymous said...

Your pattern for the Birthday Bilby is adorable. Keep that grandson close! I'm so sorry that so many magazines are closing. I, too, like to hold the magazine in my hands. I hope you keep selling enough through Craftsy to keep designing. I would miss your patterns and your stitching posts. =)

Gina E. said...

Hi Val,
I saw your cute Bilby pattern in P & S when I bought it last week - on my must do list! I am shocked to hear about P & S and Country Threads going out of print this year - I had no idea. They are my two favourite stitching mags, and although I've managed to collect probably about two thirds of the entire series, I do wish I'd subscribed to them years ago because I know I've missed several good issues over the years, when I haven't been quick enough to pick them up at our newsagency.
Like you, I don't mind surfing the internet to look for things, but nothing beats having magazines in one's hands and flicking back and forth through the pages. As for reading books on a kindle thingy - no way! Give me real books every time :-)

Christine M said...

What a cute design. Well done to your grandson, Val. That is such a lovely idea having him design a stitchery for you.