Pretty comes to Castlemaine.

We have had an absolute out break of prettiness at Threadbear.

 If you love pretty florals, or just love gorgeous fabrics, then this weeks delivery is for you.

All these beautiful fabrics are from Yuwa, Japanese fabrics well known for their stunning floral prints and beautiful quality fabrics.

And as if this feast of florals was not enough they arrived with this tempting collection of polka dots.

Sometimes when Kurt brings a new piece of his wonderful custom made furniture into his shop we love it so much we just have to show everyone, and we really love his new table.

We are sure Kurt doesn't make all his furniture with our sewing needs in mind but it would make a great side table for some hand sewing.  And while we were taking a quick photo of this great new table we had a celebrity sighting....We spotted Gerry Gee sitting up in one of Kurt's high chairs. Then things started to get way out of control....

Gerry Gee has been popping up all over the shop.  Seems he is making a take over bid, so if you are coming to the shop this weekend you may even be served by him.

Sammy was paying no attention to all the fun at Threadbear this week, he just found himself a nice spot in front of the heater for a lovely long snooze...seems like a pretty good idea.

Wishing every one a very happy weekend with lots of relaxing sewing time.

Esprit de Corps Baltimore Quilt.

Wow, everyone, would you love to win this stunning quilt...This is the "Friends of Baltimore" quilt, from a pattern by Sue Garman.

 Rose Piper and Robyn Falloon are the amazing force behind this beautiful raffle quilt.  They gathered together 20 of Victoria's most skilled quilters to help her with this huge project and the result is now finished and will be won by one incredibly lucky person.

Tickets are $20.00 each and all proceeds go to the Caroline Chisholm Society, providing pregnancy counselling and family housing support in Melbourne and Country Victoria.
Tickets are available from Rose Piper at Rpiper@live.com.au or you can buy a ticket any time you visit us at Threadbear.  The raffle will be drawn on June 5th 2014....can you imagine the joy of winning this quilt and having this work of art in your own home.

Would you like to spend a lovely day at Threadbear, in a class with Michelle Yeo, learning to make your very own " Ballaarat Beauties" quilt.

 Michelle is teaching a class with us on Saturday November 16th and there are still a few places available.  Can you think of a nicer way to spend a day.  Good company,  a yummy shared lunch, a great teacher, and the beginnings of this stunning quilt.  If you would like to join us just call us at the shop for all the details.

We all have plenty of work to do but Sammy is a big distraction in the classroom today.

We cant help ourselves, we have to keep stopping to pat him and tell him how handsome he is looking....Sammy has had his spring haircut and he looks adorable.

All you need is Love.....

We love love love this new Collections for a Cause ~ Love  range from Howard Marcus for Moda Fabrics.  With 40 in all there is something for everyone but the chintzy style prints are the show stoppers.  This collection proved very popular with the girls in the Castlemaine Applique Group last Saturday, but happily we've been able to restock the shelves so we can still bring you 33 from this range.  Love is available on the website here

Tonight the 5-10pm girls will be here sewing in the classroom - what a great start to the weekend.  And Sammy?  Well he's been here helping Kurt in the garden at Threadbear on this fine spring day, and sends a special cheerio to our very own to Annabelle who is having some well deserved R&R .

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Thank You Everyone.

We just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that came to spend the day with us on Saturday at our meeting of the Castlemaine Appliqué Group...

It was such a fantastic day and we hope that you all enjoyed it as much as we did...it was a day full of quilts, fun, laughter, chit chat and cake...just perfect.

yuummm!!!

Thank you also to everyone who brought along their work for "Show & Tell"...wow, what a stunning collection of beautiful quilts....can you imagine what Castlemaine Appliqué Group's first exhibition in March 2014 is going to be like...it takes our breath away just thinking about it.

And another great thank you to every one for joining in on our extra raffle last Saturday...it was a lovely prize for one lucky person to get their hands on, and because you all so generously joined in and bought a ticket we were able to raise $500 for the 10 students from Castlemaine Secondary College who have been putting all their efforts into fund raising for "G'Day USA", a self funded trip to the United States in 2014....they were so thrilled to hear that they were $500 closer to their goal.


We are waiting patiently now for deliveries so we can show you some lovely new fabrics and books...nothing has arrived today so far bur we do have new copies of this amazing Quiltmania book, "2001 New Patchwork Patterns", by Chuck Nohara.

 If you haven't seen this book before and you are building a collection of design resources then you will love a peek at this fantastic book.

If you ever have  a day when inspiration has deserted you, well just sit down with this book and a cuppa, and all your design problems will be solved. This book is page after page of block ideas, well, as the title says...2001 block ideas.

It goes without saying that Sammy had the best fun of all, he caught up with so many of his special friends, and got all the pats and cuddles he was hoping for.

Of course blogging dogs share a special bond so his was tail wagging when he caught up with Sue-Anne, and sent home his special greetings to Buddy.

Very chintzy

All the talk at Threadbear this Friday is about tomorrow's meeting of the Castlemaine Appliqué Group..we can't wait.
We were to be joined by very special guests from Holland....Petra Prins, An Moonen and Nel  Kooimen, and we were so sad when the news came that they would be unable to make the trip to Australia. Petra was unable to travel due to the death of her Mother and An could not travel due to ill health...we wish An a speedy recovery and all at Threadbear send Petra our condolences and warmest wishes at this very sad time.  They will definitely be in all our thoughts at tomorrow.  We are so grateful to Petra & An for letting us have their amazing quilts for the day, it will be a huge treat to see these beautiful quilts & it promises to be a wonderful day.

Just look at all those bundles of Dutch Chintz, and lots of other goodies, gathered together as door prizes for tomorrow's meeting.

We had some Moda prints delivered yesterday, 8 fabrics from Minick & Simpson...Midwinter Reds.

 There are six pretty little blenders, all in reds, ivory and tans...with two larger prints, and they are very very nice.

We are very happy to have Brigette Giblin's beautiful book back in stock.

 "Feathering  the Nest with Vintage Inspired Quilts" is another gorgeous book from Quiltmania, full of such tempting projects that the "must do" list will grow each time you flick through the pages.

And just look at this gorgeous bag, "Aunt Roses Shopping Bag", made by Threadbears friend, Virginia Enright.

Spring is just the perfect time to make something as pretty as this bag...and you get to use some of your favorite scraps to make it.

Sammy would like to wish everyone a very happy weekend, and he hopes everyone has some time over the weekend to do what he has been doing today...Coffee with the Girls.

Good Grief, it is SO Windy.

It is wild and windy here in Victoria this week so there is nothing else for it, we will all just have to stay indoors and sew.  It is lucky Kurt took this photo of Sammy, soaking up the sunshine and admiring the blossom, because there will be very little blossom left after the windy days we have had this week.

New fabrics delivered this week include six great fabrics from the "Briarcliff" range and three extras, not from the same range, but included because of their great colours.

Our "Briarcliff" fabrics are all small to medium prints and you will love them for their deep intense colours.  All these prints are deep rich tones and all would be great when you need a real pop of colour.

Our extra three prints are a great gold, a nice dusty purple and a soft teal...all very handy for the stash.

And we have another great new book to look at today, "The Blue and the Gray, Quilt Patterns using Civil War Fabrics", by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene.  There 18 fantastic patterns for scrappy quilts, all using Civil War reproduction fabrics, and once again, this is a book full of inspriation.

 Sammy is ready and waiting at the shop door because he knows we are getting reading for another gathering of the Castlemaine Applique Group this coming Saturday.

That means lots of fun for everyone, and some great photos to share next week.  But for Sammy that means catching up with lots of friends and lots of pats, hugs and cuddles.