Perky Plates

Just showing you where Sarah is at with the little pile of fabrics we showed you a few blogs ago.... Dresden plates and lots of sparky, bright fabrics. Having lots of fun with the Dresden Wedge ruler and all those lovely colours.... will keep you updated on progress. Happy quilting!

One more thing

Kathy here... I think I was a bit premature in stating I had learned how to use the camera and computer as exhibited by posting two photos of my studio space below...however, while I'm at it, one more thing about machine quilting.
As most of you know, Sarah and I are avid fans of perle cotton quilting. We use perle 8 with embroidery needles to make big decorative stitches. We use a variety of colours or one colour, traditional patterns or modern all over swirls or even picture images derived from the fabrics when quilting our quilts. Lately, we have seen a huge increase in our machine quilting service through the shop. Kim Bradley, our machine quilter extraordinaire, is very creative and willing to enlarge the continuous patterns so that it is possible to embellish the machine stitching with the vibrant colours available in the perle cottons. Once the quilting is complete you can bind the quilt and add to it whenever you are in the mood!
Kim is also providing a basting service which is very popular. Quilt tops with backing and wadding are sent off and come back basted every 4-5 inches. No more sore knees from crawling around on the floor basting or pinning quilts. Rember the backing and wadding must be a full 4" or 10cm wider than the top on all sides. More about Kim later.

Studio Space

The other day I was visiting Quilters Buzz and saw the most beautiful sewing room in duck egg blue with lovely pink boxes and tidy little spaces opening out into a garden. Sigh. In case any of you saw this I share with you my space just in case you need to feel better about yours....beware, I have learned how to use the camera/computer myself...very scary.

Star Gaze with a Spin

It's Wednesday again and once again the talented girls in Sarah's Wednesday night class have come up with the goods..... here's a spicy little number that Fiona put together, a variation on Kathy's award winning Star Gaze pattern. Don't you just love the tiny sashing? And nothing's better than a combo of Amy and Kaffe, two of Fiona's (and our!) personal favourites.

Wagga Progress

Remember a few weeks ago when we told you about Sarah's Wagga class? Well here's an update on how some of the girls are going - amazing progress don't you think? It never ceases to amaze us how different and individual these quilts are, and all coming from the same class. Keep it up girls, you're going like a train!

Ruby Tuesday

You all had so much fun with our alternate colourway for Oh! Olivia the other day, we thought we'd show you what our student Amber has done with another MO pattern - this time Ruby Tuesday. A great example of a fun and really simple pattern that comes up well in any fabric combo you can dream up. Amber's quilt is shown above and the original below.

What's Old is New!

If you've had the chance to pop into the shop this year on a Thursday you would have met Sheena Chapman. Not only does she hold down the fort while we go to our quilt group but she also brings an enticing array of hand picked vintage quilt tops, orphan blocks and trinkets. The old world charm is instantly engaging and we have been inspired by her creative use of these treasures in her own design quilts, table cloths, cushions and jewelry. Feel free to stop in and check it out very Thursday and keep your eye on the blog for more images of her work.
In addition to seeing the collection at the shop she is having a big sale day on the 12th August from 10am-1pm August from 10am-1pm at a separate location.
If you have any queries ring the shop 0298172733 or contact Sheena directly at 9499 7289 or shechapman@hotmail.com

That's great, Kate

Quick pic of a quilt Kate from Sarah's Wednesday night class just whipped up. What a top boys quilt for the little or big boy in your life.

Funky Monkeys in the House!

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed, one jumped off and bumped his head! Called up the quilt shop and the quilt shop said -

something that rhymes with bed, anyway. Get your hands on some of this FABULOUS fabric from Moda, Funky Monkeys. We love the little monkeys, spots and especially the textured sock monkey print, which is cotton even though it looks like jersey! Shown above are the fabrics we have in stock and shown below is the beginning of a fantastic little quilt Kathy is making - day and night in the monkey house. It combines the monkey fabrics with the Marti Michell school house ruler set. Keep your eyes on the blog for the finished quilt pattern and kit, and have monkeys jumping on your beds in no time!

Life is like a box of chocolates

Sarah was cleaning up the sewing room over the weekend....not much fun but a job that had to be done..it is amazing how much fabric you find in your stash....also all the UFOs. Here is one that was almost finished - the binding just had to be added. Sarah thinks it has been hidden in there all year. So off she goes to finish it off - it is called "Life is like a box of chocolates" and she has used a variety of primary colours (pinks, browns, greens, reds, purples) with a variety of embroidery styles including buttons and beads and quilting.

Refreshing Backing Fabrics

Take a look at these beautiful new backing fabrics, fresh in. There are seven in all, and all seven are 108" wide so you don't have to join for a KING SIZED quilt! They are $39 per metre, which works out very reasonably when you consider that you are only buying one drop - and you don't have to join! Oh, and did we mention you don't have to join? Happy quilting.....

Oh Olivia! What a Colour Change.

Sarah here... I thought I'd show you a picture of what clever Fiona in my Wednesday night class is up to. She has decided to make a cot quilt to be auctioned off for a charity she works for, and she picked our Oh! Olivia pattern as her starting point. What a difference a fabric makes! Shown above is her version using Prints Charming bubble fabric, some Flea Market Fancy and some Prism fabrics for a fun, spacy take on a quick and easy pattern. Compare the pair....

PS... Thank you so much to my friend Amber, who made our Wednesday class festive tonight by bringing champagne and nibbles for my birthday. What a cheer up!

World of Colour

Just fiddling around... pulling things out of the stash for a new project. Colour and colour and colour. A bit of Kaffe, a bit of Sis Boom, some Denyse Schmidt, Jane Sassaman, even some 1930's Aunt Grace. Choosing from about 40 different fabrics for four basic colourways, pink, green, blue and orange. Love that blue spot!! Time to sew.....

Material Obsession Retreat Dates

We promised more details, and here they are. The very first MO retreat in beautiful Morpeth, NSW, about an hour and a half north of Sydney. The dates are as follows, you can choose which set of days you want to come;

Fri 22nd, 23rd, 24th Sept - booked out! Sorry....
Mon 25th, 26th, 27th Sept - 4 places left
Wed 27th, 28th, 29th Sept - 6 places left
Fri 29th, 3oth, Oct 1 - 4 places left

The accomodation is at our friend Carolyn's house, just outside of Morpeth. The house has four bedrooms, one of which sleeps three. If you are coming with friends and don't mind sharing, (seperate beds of course!) you will get a discount on your room rate. People sharing a room will determine how many people are in each three day slot, obviously if no one wants to share there will be four students, six if there are carers and sharers.
Two and a half days in a single room is $350 ($320 in a shared room), this includes dinner on Day 1, all meals Day 2 and breakfast on Day 3, your accomodation and me and Kathy! (The latter obviously being the most valuable! :) )We are planning some fun demos and games, a big dinner and lots of great company! Basically the retreat will involve lots of your own sewing, we are there to guide you and several of the girls who have booked already are doing MO kits they want help with, so that we are there as they go along. If you like that idea you can email or call the shop and we can discuss what you might like to do, colours etc and we can bring your fabric cut and ready to go.
We'd love to have you, so get in fast if you want to come. There is a $150 non-refundable deposit to book, you can call or email your credit card or pay by cheque. Looking forward to meeting some of our online friends!

Surprise Package

Yesterday morning, the postman banged on the door very early, with a package. Inside was a quilt Sarah bought from the US about two months ago, for $9.95. The description of the quilt was of a "vintage" (read, 1970's!!) silk (read "rayon"!!) quilt, in good condition (again, taken with a grain of salt), possibly lined with another quilt. That possibly was enough for Sarah to shell out her $9.95 and have the quilt shipped to Sydney, in the hope that what was inside was the gold.
Shown below is the quilt as it arrived, very '60's or '70's, not that there's anything wrong with that.



The top was hand pieced with large stitches, and then sewn down onto a green surround, which was put over the inner quilt like a bag. The lining of the quilt was a little ripped, and when Sarah took it back further and saw this, she knew she had spent her $9.95 wisely.

Closer inspection and a few hours of careful unpicking later, Sarah uncovered a Nosegay quilt, hand pieced and hand quilted, which contains lots of lovely feedsack fabic and looks to be about circa 1920's or 30's. The quilt is a little worse for wear, but hey, so would you be if you had spent the last 40 years encased in a rayon sack.


And another surprise - Sarah's husband, bedridden at present due to a back operation. He's usually the driving force behind the blog (ie, forces us to write the blog!!), but this time he's managed a look in. Revenge for the purple fluffy slipper pic he posted a month ago.

Look out for the pattern for this lovely surprise in coming months. Now Sarah's uncovered this little beauty, it seems fitting that it makes a comeback in the form of a Material Obsession "Vintage" pattern. Keep on quilting!

Which MO quilt design is this?

We have had a rash of these quilts made in classes of late! For all those who don't know which design it is, you can view the original quilt by clicking here. These are some more examples of some of our students using their own colour creativity with one of our patterns and fabrics from the shop. Just a few ideas to show you how changing the colour recipe of a quilt can make a bought pattern your own!