Hatched and Patched

More pincushions

I released four new pincushions at Darling Harbour, so thought I should FINALLY post them up on my blog for all to see. Welcome to the family - 'Gilroy Goose'; 'My Cat Claude'; 'Digby Dog'; and 'Maisy's Flowers'. Like my four other pincushions, these are made from the gorgeous felted woven wools I just can't go past. If you haven't worked with these yet, you must try it - delicious!! Pete's putting the patterns on my website tonight, and are available from those shops who stock our patterns now.
Talk again soon
Anni

Forget Me Not Quilt

OK - This photo has been sitting in my email list for the last few weeks, and FINALLY I am posting it!! Back in January (8th) this year I posted my block on my bog I designed for Crabapple Hill Studio. This block was made to go in a charity quilt for the Susan G Komen Foundation (the largest breast cancer research organization in the USA). If you can see, my block is second down on the right of the quilt - very exciting!
If you want to see the blocks in closer detail, you can visit Susan G Komen link. On this link, you can see each quilt block, you can buy a ticket in the raffle, and can learn more about the foundation. The raffle will be drawn December 1st 2009.

This is the front of the quilt, and below is the back, where each designer signed their name - great to see the back looking as great as the front!! The list of designers are also written below.

Quiltaid BOM - Bluebirds of Happiness

For a few months now I have been working on a quiltaid Block-of-the-month with 11 other designers and 11 other shops which has been a real challenge. Twelve designers were selected to each create a block using the theme Bluebirds and Berries (as was shown on my blog Feb 26th). My completed block is shown below - hope you like it!!

Twelve shops were then selected to participate in putting all of the blocks together, so each shop made their own version of the BOM, using all twelve blocks from the designers. My block is for sale through (you guessed it, my very own shop ha ha) The Home Patch (www.homepatch.com.au).

The BOM was launched at the Darling Harbour Quilt Show, and you can now book in to receive each block through the shops, (there is one block per shop), and then choose how you would like to complete your quilt by clicking on the website www.quiltaid.com.au. This is the first year it has been run and this year proceeds from sales go to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. If you want to know more about the charity we are supporting, click here.

It has been very interesting to see how different the blocks can look in different settings. Some of the quilts were enormous! I think mine was probably the smallest of them all at 52"x65". I didn't want to make my finishing kit too enduring, as I though once twelve blocks were appliqued and stitched, you'd just want to finish it, so I put in soft tramlines, and put a few different pieced blocks in the border for a little bit of interest. I ended up binding mine using a brown ric rac to balance the brown in the quilt. Now all I have to do is cut the kits and send them out (EEEK! - better get busy!)

Darling Harbour Show

Thanks everyone who came to visit us at the show this year. It was so great to catch up with everyone, and put a face to a name that pops up in emails or mail-orders. Pete and I were busy the whole show, as this year we had a slightly larger stand to fit all of our bit-and-pieces on. I still don't think we had enough room (ha ha). Pete and I were tripping over each other, as boxes were moved here and there in search of the elusive kit hidden..... somewhere! ARGH!! Some of you were VERY patient with us.
A HUGE thanks must be extended to two lovely people (Pete wants to adopt you!). Dimity bought us foccacia from her local baker, and a scrumptious slice she baked herself!!, not to mention a sweet little box she had painted for me from my 'Simple Pleasures' book. Kim's mum (Kim is the owner of Jukejema Quilting Barn in Nowra) also made a delicious slice that kept us going along happily. Christine Book also made it to our stand and gave us orange juice and coffee - thanks so much for all of your generosity. It just goes to show there are still amazingly thoughtful people out there in the world!

I didn't have much time to wander around, but what I saw was very inspiring - the quilts, the Yr 12 textiles exhibition (WOW), the felt exhibitions, the fantasy quilts (how do they do it!!), the historic quilts, even the folkart - all was amazing!! So much talent!
Well here am I working at my stall, looking very glam (ha ha) - Pete must be on yet another coffee break!

One night after all of our hard work we ventured out to Blackbird Cafe with Nat and Trev (from The Birdhouse), and Deidre and Leonie (from The Quilted Crow in Tasmania). Whilst there, we ran into two of my favourite customers (now considered good friends) Paula and Lesley, who ended up joining us for a relaxing meal overlooking Darling Harbour. Great times.

Talk soon
Anni

Where to begin?!.....How 'bout the starting of my new book.

How long has it been? I have SO much to tell you! The reason for my long long absence is I've been trying to do everything - getting ready for the Sydney wholesale show, then the retail show at Darling Harbour, plus get my new book out, plus complete a few charity blocks and a charity quilt, plus a few other smaller projects.
I hate to say it, but my blog just took a back seat, as I physically couldn't fit another thing into each day, especially with the kids pulling me along as well, so excuses excuses, sorry about that!
Firstly I should let you know I didn't have my book ready in time for the Darling Harbour Show (very sad!!). I wanted to spend extra time on it to get it right, rather than pushing it along and producing something I wasn't happy with.
This book is all about the male species, as I hear so many people saying there is nothing much out there. In this book there will be at least 4 quilts, along with a few boyish items. I have completed the baby quilt, and am still in the middle of handquilting the boy and adolescent quilts. Here is just a sneak peak of what to expect.

This is part of the cot quilt - I thought I'd use brighter 'fun' colours for this quilt, and just to let you know, I had heaps of fun making this quilt because of the different fabrics. Sometimes it's great to just play with something a little different from the norm.

This photo is from the single bed quilt. I used light, warm, what I term 'boyish' colours for this quilt. I added stitchery to this quilt which I'll show you more of soon, but let's just say they tell the story of what boys get up to when they're young (and sometimes when they're not so young hee ho). I still have a lot of quilting to go on this!

I will update you with all my other goings-on in the next few days, so STAY TUNED!!

Thanks for hanging in there
Anni

Sue Spargo Workshop

Well I have just had the BEST time!! I had the good fortune of having Sue Spargo and her (just as talented) sister Wendy visit my store from the USA for a few days to run a series of workshops. I have always been a huge fan of Sue's work, with the gorgeous textures she uses of wools, velvets, silks, braids and beads to mention just a few. It was like a dream come true to actually spend time exploring her techniques and experiences.
About 24 women came each day. The first day explored embelishment. We all started with the same base design, then appliqued, stitched a whole lot of different stitches, beaded, and played until every piece was totally unique.
The following two days were dedicated to designs from her new book 'Magnolia' which is simply stunning! Unfortunately I cannot show you the piece I started, as there isn't much to see yet - because I was shop-girl for the day, I was a little slower than most, but below are SOME of the hundreds of photos I took.
I am hoping to have Sue and Wendy back again, as, not only were they very knowledgeable, but they are such genuinely lovely people too. My daughter, Samantha, was absolutely smitten with them and also had a lovely time creating.

Here I am with Sue and Wendy at the Three Sisters (in the Blue Mountains) on the way home to Bathurst from picking them up at the airport.

Sue showing a few of the girls a few of her tricks! Don't you just love the quilts in the background.

Here is a close-up of a block from Sue's book 'Flowerbed'. I love her use of fabrics and wools, with a few braids and beads thrown in for good measure - yummy!

Here is some detail from one of the girls who took Sue's one-day embellishment class. Stunning!

Here are some of the beautiful blocks created in the 2-day workshop. It was great to be part of the weekend to see so many exciting ways of creating the blocks.

Talk soon
Anni

Townsville Workshop

Hi everyone
I should have done this over a week ago, but at last, here are the projects I made for the Townsville workshop. Although extremely hot up there (and no air-conditioning due to a fault EEEEK – no-one come close to me!!), the students were all just lovely and made me feel so welcome. I had a brilliant day and hope everyone else did too. It was great to see so many women enjoy their hobby so much, and great to talk to everyone there – very inspiring! Unfortunately I didn’t take one photo of the workshop itself – too busy having too much fun, but I did receive some photos in the mail yesterday from some who attended – thanks so much.
All of the photos designs from the Townsville workshop will be brought out as patterns soon. I am going to rework the mug bag using some other fabric before I release this.
Have fun
Anni

Breast of Friends - Unveiled

Hi Everyone,

I just came back from Townsville where I was a tutor at a workshop (more about that in my next posting), and found my latest copy of Homespun - YAY! On page 100 is my block from the 'Breast of Friends BOM, so it can now be unveiled - I hope you like it!! I can't wait to see the whole quilt  - so far I'm liking all the blocks!

Talk soon
Anni

 

 

 

It's in the Bag

Hi everyone!
I have finally completed a bag that started too long ago hee ho (back in December if you were wondering). So many quilt blocks, and other projects have found there way onto my sewing table, and this one has been looking at me with disdain, but no more!! I have fallen in love with these vintage retro fabrics and just HAD to use them. I am quite pleased with the end result – it puts a smile on my face which I guess is what our industry should be about. This one is called 'Shellie's Bag', named after one of the girls in my shop who is LOUD when it comes to patchwork fabric, and the bag sort of reminds me of her hee hee. The pattern will be $15.40 and I am doing up some kits for $49 (plus postage) if anyone is interested – you can view it on my website, but please just wait one day for my poor little overworked husband to throw it up there.

Anni

Bluebirds and Berries

Hi guys

I just received a beautiful bundle of fabrics (Sachet Potpourri by Marcus Bros, donated by XLN Fabrics) in the mail today which is a real treat! I am working on yet another charity block – this time for Quilt Aid 2009, where all profits made go to World Vision. The theme is ‘Bluebirds and Berries’, and 12 designers (including moi) are participating. This is a slightly different program where we all design a block, then there is one block per shop (all Australian) that people can purchase, so it is like a web-based shop-hop and a block-of-the-month combined. Once all the blocks are complete, there will be 12 different ways to complete a whole quilt, as each shop has to design a different way to complete it, so you can choose how you’d like your quilt to look in the end. Sound confusing?? It took me a little to get used to the idea, but I think I know what I’m talking about now, and it sounds like great fun!! It will be interesting to see how different all the quilts will look!

I have started making up some drawings to work with – so many ways to do things, it’s hard to decide.