Gypsy Bandana Cushion Kit

This fashionable cushion is a great quick and easy summer project.

For the next week when you buy one you get one FREE.

That is excellent value - two kits for $20.

All requirements to complete the cushion covers are included in the kit, you just need to get the cushion insert.

There are three colours available (as seen above), be sure to mention your colour choice at time of checkout.

Click here to buy.

with Deborah Louie

This class is a chance to make this stunning Floral Garden 20 block quilt with elaborate borders designed by Deborah Louie. The quilt is machine blanket stitched. You will learn how to blanked stitch beautifully and how to design such a quilt. This is a long term commitment with a lot of work to complete at home but with a stunning quilt at the end of the year that you will be very proud of.

Dates: Friday, 17 February, 18 May, 6 July and 19 October

Time: 10.00am to 4.00pm

Cost: $260.00 plus requirements

Click here to register.

A road trip of Australia’s fiberglass monuments

The Big Gumboot

If you find rainy weather depressing, then steer clear of Tully. The northern Queensland town, situated about halfway between Cairns and Townsville, claims to be Australia’s wettest place. Its average annual rainfall is a drenching 4,490mm, with the heavens opening up about 150 days per year. This mightn’t be good for getting the washing dry, but it’s proved to be a great hook for local tourism. The Big Gumboot is Tully’s nod to its meteorological significance.

Technically, the title of “wettest place” actually swings between Tully and two of its neighbours, the towns of Babinda and Innisfail. But, as we all know by now, no-one can argue with the celebrity and attention-grabbing power of a Big Thing. In fact, when the Big Gumboot was officially opened in 2003, the town of Babinda was so annoyed, its residents immediately swore they’d erect a Big Umbrella to steal Tully’s thunder. Unfortunately for Babinda, the non-appearance of this Big Umbrella has only helped to reinforce Tully’s claim as “wettest place”.

The inter-town competition between Tully, Babinda and Innisfail has been raging for over 40 years, egged on by the annual Golden Gumboot Festival, where a rubber boot, spray-painted gold, is awarded each year to the town with the highest official rainfall. Babinda’s indignation over the Big Gumboot is understandable – the town actually has more rainfall than Tully. However, the all-time record of 7,900mm, set in 1950, belongs to Tully.

This record-breaking statistic is what determined the Big Gumboot’s height of 7.9m. Made of fiberglass and steel, the eye-catching structure took several years to become a reality, from conception to unveiling, and cost a grand total of $90,000. It contains an internal spiral staircase leading to an open-air observation deck, (better bring an umbrella), which offers sweeping views of the town.

The Big Gumboot’s official unveiling was postponed several times due to heavy rain, and even when it was finally “dedicated” in May 2003 the moving ceremony was cut short by another drenching. Since then, it’s proved to be an enormously popular drawcard for local tourism, pulling in between 300 and 500 tourists every week.

In 2008 the Big Gumboot was the subject of a documentary called Big Dreamers. Sydney filmmaker Camille Hardman had lived in Tully for nine months and had witnessed first hand the backstage controversies, budget blowouts and internal politicking that only a true Big Thing can inspire. When Cyclone Yasi struck in February 2011, the Big Gumboot almost toppled over, but managed to hold its ground, even though it was closed to the public for the rest of the year.

However, an even greater storm is already brewing with the release of 2011’s official rainfall figures. Once again, Babinda has ended up being wetter than Tully, this time by 173mm. They really should get cracking with that Big Umbrella.

Reward yourself when shopping at Blueberries!

For every dollar you spend at Blueberries you will earn one point, these points can then be redeemed against future purchases at Blueberries. By joining the Blueberries Reward Programme you will be rewarded for doing the things you love and we will also have special offers where bonus points can be earned. So join today and start earning points.

Click here to download an application form.

A road trip of Australia’s fiberglass monuments

The Big Captain Cook

This week we’re in Cairns, paying homage to a 14m concrete statue of the man credited with “discovering” Australia in 1770.

This tropical tourist city boasts more Cook-themed businesses than any other part of Australia, from Captain Cook Cruises right down to the Captain Cook Laundromat. However, the famous British explorer never actually set foot here. His first landing on Queensland soil was 300kms further north, at the site of the present-day Cooktown. After that, as we all know, he hurried back to England where he declared the newly discovered continent “terra nullius” without first checking with the local indigenous population to gauge their views on the matter.

Possibly to compensate for this almost-brush-with-fame, Cairns has been playing catch up ever since. And the Big Captain Cook is the city’s proudest testament to this.

The gigantic concrete and wire structure was first unveiled in 1972 as a promotion for the adjacent Endeavour Inn. Its design is based on a famous 1902 painting of Cook stepping ashore on Botany Bay and motioning to his sailors not to shoot at the locals. At 14m high however, Cook’s outstretched hand seems to be making quite a different gesture. It looks more like he’s trying to hold something back - perhaps the advancement of noisy, overweight tourists, especially ones wearing long white socks with sandals.

As the Endeavour Inn became a popular haunt for backpackers, it was later transformed into the Captain Cook Backpacker Hostel. Its high-spirited patrons were probably the ones responsible for the many practical jokes played on the Big Captain Cook over the years, like the dangling of a yoyo from his outstretched hand, and the stealing of his sextant. The hostel was closed down and demolished in the mid-1990s but the Big Captain Cook remained defiantly standing, looking more and more conspicuous as the site was gradually cleared around him.

Then in March 2010, owner Graham Johnson announced his plans to repaint the Big Captain Cook to resemble America’s first President, George Washington, complete with striped socks and a star-spangled banner waistcoat. The controversy this unleashed amongst locals was almost as furious as the destructive winds of Cyclone Yasi, that were to follow 11 months later. Almost immediately a Facebook page appeared, dedicated to keeping the statue as Captain Cook. Mayor, Val Shier, stated publicly that the Americanizing of the statue “would be un-Cairns like”. Mr Johnson responded by telling his critics to “get a sense of humour” and “just chill out”, adding that his middle name was “no surrender”.

The controversy dragged on for months, and then in December 2010 came another threat to the Big Captain Cook. The road he towered over was earmarked for widening, which meant he’d have to be removed, running the risk of crumbling due to “concrete cancer”. Ironically this was just after The Australian newspaper had officially ranked the Big Captain Cook as the country’s No. 1 Big Thing in an online poll.
By November 2011, the future of this stoic Big Thing was still in doubt. While his flesh and blood counterpart was finished off by annoyed Hawaiian natives with sharp spears, it remains unclear exactly what Fate has in store for the Big Captain Cook. In the mean time, he remains standing, stately and alone, in what has now become a fenced-off vacant lot – finally his own personal “terra nullius”.

Join Monica Poole, Susan Carr and all the Blueberries team for lunch on Friday, 16th December 2011.

After lunch, we will have a show and tell of all the projects you have made or started throughout the year. Monica and Susan will also preview their new projects for 2012.

When: Friday 16th December

Time: 12:00pm to 3:00pm

Cost: $10.00 includes lunch and afternoon tea.

RSVP: Friday 9th December

BYO: Projects you have made throughout the year, whether complete or not.

All atendees will recieve a free bag full of goodies to start off 2012!

RSVP by emailing jackie@blueberries.net.au

Join us for twelve hours of fun, laughter and lots of sewing.

Dinner, drinks & nibbles will be provided.

Book yourself in now or get a group of friends together for a little ‘you’ time.

When: Saturday, 17 December

Time: 12:00 PM to 12 AM

Where: Northlakes Function Centre, Pacific Highway, Wyong

Cost: $50.00

BYO: Projects to sew, and alcoholic beverages.

RSVP: Friday 9 December

Click here to book your spot

A road trip of Australia’s fiberglass monuments

The Big Crocodile

“Ne-ver smile at a croc-o-dile
Ne-ver dip your hat and stop to talk a-while…”

Actually, you can do all of those things with this crocodile. In fact, some people even climb all over it and have their photos taken dangling from between its gaping jaws, even though there’s a sign strictly forbidding this kind of foolishness.

Maybe it’s the heat. We’re in the eastern Kimberley, in the town of Wyndham, which claims to be the hottest place in Australia. And with an annual average daily maximum of 35 degrees, they’re probably right.

Wyndham is over 3,000kms from Perth and still another 900kms to Darwin, so the town was certainly crying out for something apart from the weather to put it on the map. Perfect conditions, in fact, for a Big Thing.

As the many estuaries surrounding Wyndham are home to saltwater crocodiles, it seemed natural to create a giant replica of one to sit at the town’s entrance and greet all visitors with a wide-mouthed, toothy grin. The Big Crocodile was constructed with steel rods, welding rods, lots of bird mesh and finished with a generous coating of concrete. It commenced duties in 1987 and has been a popular backdrop for visitors’ photographs ever since.

The Big Crocodile has pretty impressive vital statistics, too. At 3m high and a whopping 20m long, it’s another of those instances where size really does seem to matter. This might almost seem like overkill, but the structure’s larger-than-life scale was deliberate. It provides a valuable community service, posing as a very big reminder to visitors and locals alike why they shouldn’t swim in the crocodile-infested waters.