The Sisterhood of the Travelling Sketchbook

A little while ago I sent some handmade sketchbooks out into the world. Kate sent hers back to me, and we pondered the idea of others adding to it. And so the Sisterhood of the Travelling Sketchbook began. To read more of the idea follow these links

• The initial post
• Post #2
• Post #3
• Post #4

There was enthusiastic interest from around the world, and here is the final list of the Sisterhood, in the order the Sketchbook will travel the globe:

• Kate from Tall Tales from Chiconia
• Sandra aka Lady Red Specs from  Please Pass the Recipe
• Megan aka Chas from Chas Spain
• Sandi, who lives in Wandin East
• EllaDee from EllaDee Words
• Then it is flying on from Australia to the States where it will visit
• Alys from Gardening Nirvana
• Sue at From The Magpie Nest
• Ushashree from Creative Crafts DIY
• Then off it goes to Europe
• Marina is in Greece Athens Letters
• Lyn lives in France and blogs at Tialys
• Constanze from Textile Dreamer is in Germany
• So is Annett, who blogs at Knetty Craft
• Jan is in Britain and blogs at The Snail of Happiness
• and Margaret, also from Britain and her blog is The Crafty Creek
• Trish is back in Australia, in the ACT, and blogs at Sounds Like Wish
• Then it will head back to lucky me ~ lucky because I will see everyone’s wonderful contributions!

The Travelling Sketchbook is on its way (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)

Inside back cover (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)

(Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)

(Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)

Front cover (Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)

(Photo copyright: Anne Lawson 2016)

I want to share the Sketchbook’s journey with you. On this page I hope to reblog each Sister’s post about it, and share the photo of their contribution. We even have an interactive map. Check out where we all are! Thanks Chas!

Kate’s beautiful contribution

Kate is a very talented quilter, and read her post about creating this beauty here

The Sketchbook winged its way from Northern Queensland further south to Sandra in Teneriffe. She drew a still life of scrumptious eggplants and gave us a recipe for ratatouille. What else would a passionate cook give us?! Here’s her post.

Then the Sketchbook went further south, to Chas in Melbourne. Her contribution was a map, complete with sketches, of the bike ride from her home to the National Gallery of Victoria. If you look carefully you will see Chas pedalling over the Japanese Bridge. She wrote about it on her blog.

A little way out of Melbourne is Sandi, a lovely poet.This is what she had to say about her contribution:

I chose my poem, well before the book began its journey. I watched, via a computer screen, as each creative page was added. I had chosen my poem for its light-heartedness, and reference to embroidery. Little did I know, I would join the small boy in his experience of discovery, when the travelling sketchbook arrived in the mail. The tingle of awe I felt was unexpected. I had reality, wrapped up, in my hands, and I couldn’t wait to touch it.

Jump to our blog to read her delightful poem.

Well, the Australian Sisters had finished their contributions and the Sketchbook was to become international. (The Sisterhood has another member in Australia who will add her contribution when the Sketchbook returns from Great Britain.)

Alys, in California, took a deep breath and began her work. She came up with the unique idea of making The Sisterhood Quilt: Stitching Together Art and Friendship Around the Globe. She

created a collage of squares. I printed the squares on watercolor paper, then double stitched them to a piece of onion skin typing paper. I included a square of the map, and a square of my recent squirrel pillow project.

The result is delightful and you can see the photo here and read about it on her own blog.

Off it went again, to Sue in Washington. She is another very talented quilter. In this post she explains how she quilted little houses some time ago without knowing what she wanted to do with them. They became the perfect basis for her creativity. With stitching and embellishment she made one a summery one to remind us of Australia and more wintry one to remind us of Europe and America. Her post on the Sisterhood blog shows more detail.

Our last American Sister is Ushasree, in Indianapolis. What a bright and creative collection of small paintings she has added. She even used some plastic wrap to make interesting textures. and her cat made me smile. 🙂 As well, one of her little squares was a portrait of her son painted by her friend Priya. I love how another person has given her creative talents to the Sketchbook.

Then it was sent to Greece and the Sketchbook became global, as well as international!

Marina added a Grecian feel to our Sketchbook. She drew the legend telling of the naming of Athens, with Athena and Poseidon drawn in brown ink and outlined in vivd blue watercolour. In the middle of the page is the olive tree, which Athena planted to win the name of the city. Marina added the story around the edges of the page. It is yet another wonderful creative contribution. She says “it really is a thing of beauty, in its diversity and joyful mood.” Her post on her blog is here.

Now The Sketchbook is winging its way to Germany. Still more amazing creativity to come!