All aspects of Colbinabbin and it’s colourful history incorporated into one a massive six-silos-wide incredible masterpiece.
Colbinabbin is a small rural farming township nestled in Shiraz grape growing country, between Bendigo, Shepparton and Echuca.
In 2019 the community were successful in their funding bid to paint all six silos running adjacent to the main street. Renowned mural artist Tim Bowtell spent almost three months painting; featuring Colbo’s Farmers Picnic on the Hill (late 1800s), train and railway station, ‘Lulu’ the fire trucks, the much loved and utilised recreation reserve and the Colbo tractor pull (late 1980s).
And as always the sun comes out for me 😍
By far the most colourful Silo Art I’ve seen so far .
As everyone knows we are always in & out of lockdown and since I’ve got my happy space ready with a view of trees every time I look up … hail, rain, or storm I just love sitting there and sewing.
How can I go wrong … love love love the view 😎
I have been working on a quilt over the last few weeks and I have one more row to go before binding it ( that’s a separate post coming soonish )…. However I’ve been side tracked with a few requests from family & friends.
One friend asked if I could make her a scrappy bag as her mum in law has been diagnosed with bowel cancer…. How could I say no … she offered to pay for it but I definitely don’t make anything for money and as it’s such a love of mine I’m always happy to oblige 😍
The bag … I really need to perfect the handles
The second thing I’ve been working on is a two part gift for a cousin in Sydney. She loved her birthday gift of bag and mat and asked if I could make her a couple of table runners… one for her coffee table and one for her dining table. I have finished the dining table runner and will be making a similar one for her coffee table. Took me a couple of hours to put together and her favourite colour is blue.
Need to learn how to perfect the corners but I’ll get there…
Now to rest the hands as the RA has flared up … goodness knows why 🤦♀️
Happiness is not about getting all you want, it’s about enjoying all you have….
Ever since I started quilting a year and a half ago I’ve wanted a specific place to sit & quilt. Even though my house has lots of space all corners seem to be occupied by the rest of the family 😊
I’m patient to say the least and I’m very happy to wait and get what I want.
Well a year and a half later I have what I want. The space has freed up and my ‘work space’ is definitely a thing now 🤩
The light is awesome What I can see when I look up 😍
It’s not the 15th of the month but I just had to share 🤩
This little placemat has been made in half an hour….. the son told me it’s his girlfriend’s mum’s birthday today 👀 She loves ‘everything quilted’ & what else was there for me to do but make her something quilted 😍
I used a left over piece of batting and sandwiched it between two white pieces of cotton. Then FMQed all the scrappy bits onto it. I love the colours and love the zigzaggy effect….
And it’s here again…. Amazing how quickly the months just roll by. Some say it’s going too fast & I guess as we get older it does seem to fly by fairly quickly. I just think that when you are busy doing the things you love it will fly by because you are enjoying every minute… “ Time flies when you are having fun” as the saying goes.
Well another month gone and another month of scrappy sewing 🪡. How I love ❤️ it. The month of July has a few birthdays and what better way to celebrate than to give something handmade.
This first bag made from scraps was meant for me but when I posted on Facebook & Instagram my cuz-in-law who lives in Sydney texted asking if she could buy it. Now I never sell any of my quilting projects. I’m brand new at this and there’s heaps & heaps of flaws in everything I make. So I told her she could have it as a gift from me as her birthday had just gone past. I also sent her a table centre as I was in the process of making that …
The bag On her table 🥰
There are a few more ScrapHappy projects I have completed but that’s for the next post 🤩
ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Either email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page, or leave a comment below. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month, just let either of us know a day or so in advance if you’re new and you’ll have something to show, so we can add your link. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.
Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are super amazing!
A quilt inspired by my friend Kate. She is the one who gave me the courage to get started and keeps encouraging me each and every time.
Her latest quilt “Twilight” has stars in my eyes and following her latest blog I thought it would be a wonderful way to tutor myself into making a similar one for myself.
Now believe me I am her ardent follower but by no means am I even close to her level of skill and expertise….
I started with the same window blocks but added another row. I have followed the patterns as best I can seeing as I have limited colours to work with.
I’ve planned this quilt the two jelly rolls I picked up at half price from spotlight… I had left over squares in blue from a previous project and it seems like it’s worked.
I’ve enjoyed making the blocks and putting them together… I’ve used a simple QAYG method and it seems to have worked ….
The border is in blue as I’ve run out of the pinkish colours in the jelly roll. The blue seems to bring out the pink in the quilt so I’m happy…
Patchewollock is bit off the beaten track but while looking for Silo’s … we also came upon another interesting bit of art & history.
Patchewollock is 40km south west of Ouyen in north-west Victoria, you can get to it from the Sunraysia Highway to Mildura or the Sturt Highway at Walpeup near Ouyen
The Big Mallee Fowl are one of the other things we saw on our visit to Patchewollock. The giant corrugated birds stand next to a fine example of silo art by artist Fintan Magee and the well preserved Patchewollock Station Precinct. There’s antique farm machinery on display in the same park and the Patchewollock Hotel is just across the road….. where J bought a bottle of Red to have with dinner 🤩
The big Mallee Fowls are constructed from corrugated iron and painted to give the impression of feathers.
The sculptures which were installed by artist Phil Rigg in 2013.
Every where I go I find so much of beauty and history come to life. Outback Australia never disappoints 🥰
The GrainCorp Silos at Patchewollock were the fourth set of silos to join the Australian Silo Art Trail Collection and the second to be painted in the Wimmera-Mallee region of Victoria.
They were painted by a Brisbane artist by the name of Fintan Magee. For inspiration for his silo mural and to get to the know the people of the area, Fintan booked a room at the local pub so he could mix among the local community.
It wasn’t long before he met the subject for the Patchewollock Silos. A hard working lanky local by the name of Nick “Noodle” Hulland who exemplified the no-nonsense, hardworking spirit of the region.
This twin silos were built in 1939 and was transformed in late 2016.
Another beautiful Silo …. Fills my heart with joy 🎶
The artwork is a celebration of the still and silence found in outback Victoria, and the associated feelings of wholeness and freedom. The young girl, swinging from a Mallee Eucalyptus, looks over Lake Tyrrell and reflects on her Indigenous heritage.
The Indigenous name ‘Tyrille’ means ‘space opening to the sky’ as the colours of dusk and dawn are reflected in the shallow saline bowl. The Boorong People were known to have more knowledge of astronomy than any other tribe, and their stories are rich in culture and connection to the lake. The artwork aims to connect and bring the viewer closer to some of the relatively ordinary and overlooked elements of the outback landscape and allows viewers to see these elements from a new perspective.
Again another Silo done to perfection… each one better than the last.
HAPPINESS IS..... 