Good news: my Aussie Babies applique collection is complete, and I am 50% of the way through creating all the PDF pattern sheets.
Allow me to introduce you to the series.
Aussie Babies Applique Collection
Since I designed my first Australian animal series in 2017/2018, I wanted to add more animals and redo some. I think this is a natural process of designing and creating where you constantly analyse your work and think of ways to improve it.
Original Southern Sky Applique collection (2017 / 2018)
I love the Southern Sky set as it reminds me of a fun time in my life, and the name is from a song I also love!
Mum and I travelled a lot, doing shows and going overseas. It was so much fun. However, since then, I have learned much more about quilting (thanks to filming Mum for YouTube) and have been refining my drawing for applique. I did a few Skillshare animation classes and bought books on Japanese-style anime drawing. Before, I just drew for the sake of drawing, but this year, I was confused with all the directions I wanted to go in.
It is hard to focus on one thing when working from home and spending so much more time alone than in previous years due to the pandemic.
However, my saving grace has been our Facebook group and seeing what everyone makes with our designs. This year, our Facebook group has grown to over 12,000 members, and it is so wonderful waking up and looking at all the posts!
It has helped encourage me to keep designing, so I decided to focus on a particular drawing style: cartoon animation.
I usually design week by week or have a burst of creative energy and then fatigue rather quickly. Hence, I generally release patterns intermittently. However, with the Aussie Babies collection, I challenged myself to design everything first before doing the pattern sheets. I did this to ensure the collection had a cohesive look and to take my time working out colours rather than using scraps in my stash and regretting my colour choices later down the track. I started drawing these animals in 2020 and abandoned my challenge to focus on YouTube and other online courses. I returned to them in July 2023, and since returning from Europe three weeks ago, I have focused on completing them.
That is the ebbs and flow of design; for me, it is incredibly unpredictable. However, my New Year's resolution for 2023 is to start drawing daily sketches and set aside days to improve my practice. I was thinking of starting an applique circle, as I have so many tricks for my designs that I could spend hours discussing. Possibly a club with private member's videos taking you through the process and how to make these little critters.
Let me know if this is something you are interested in.
Without further ado, let's meet the new Aussie Babies...
In my previous posts, you have seen The Platypus, Dingo, Emu, Joey, Wombat, Puggle and Croc.
Here are the latest additions.
1. Baby Ringtail Possum
2. Bilby
3. Tassy Devil
4. Koala
5. Quokka
As I mentioned above, I am about 50% of the way through doing the pattern sheets. Each pattern will be sold separately, and the sizing is to fit a 13-inch square roughly (this may change). There will also be printer-friendly applique shapes.
I will notify everyone via our email newsletter when they will be released. Hopefully, very soon!
I am already excited about my following collection, which will be Native Australian birds, flowers or dogs, as I love dogs!
Hope you are all having a wonderful and creative week!
Thanks for reading,
Love Alaura