Primarily Quilts by Di Ford

This morning we were thrilled to receive the cover photo of Di's new book Primarily Quilts ~ 19th Century Inspiriations.  And if the cover is anything to go by... we know the book will be totally irresistable.

We are air freighting our order of books in from Quiltmania in every hope they will arrive before 13 April for our Australian launch.  If you haven't already reserved your copy, it's not too late ~ we still have a limited number available for pre-ordering, so just phone or email us here at the shop.

New week

Well, we are all fresh as a daisy and ready to enjoy a new week. Well no, not really, we have decided we are all way too hot, totally over summer and wishing for some cooler weather....so much nicer for hand sewing.

It has been lovely having lots of visitors to the shop in the last week as classes and sewing days resume for 2013, and we have already had lots of new projects to sticky beak.
Our Tuesday and Friday sewing groups have both had their first gatherings for the year and at first glance it looks like we are going to have lots of really beautiful finished quilts to look at as the year progresses.

Tuesday sewing

All of our classes for first semester are filling quickly and there are only a few classes with places remaining. We have a few places in Margaret McDonald's Woven Burgoyne on May 12th, and several free spots for Harmony on June 23rd.

Woven Burgoyne May 12th.

Harmony June 23rd.

These classes are such a great way to spend a Sunday so if you would like to join us for a day of sewing, fun, yummy food & great company just give us a call at the shop and we can give you all the details.

3 titles by Jo Morton

Today we had a delivery of books from Jo Morton. These books are self published by Jo and wow...they are such nice books, beautifully printed with clear instructions for both appliqué and piecing.

They are a great price at $29.50 and best of all will be great as a gift idea for sewing friends because they have projects for all skill levels.

And most important of all...Kurt and Sammy say a big hi to all.

Something old, something french, and something japanese

We have had no new fabric deliveries so far this week, but that hasn't stopped temptation coming our way. This time from Kurt who brought in to his shop some of the new tables he has been making. Absolutely  gorgeous little side tables...just made to sit next to a favourite chair with a sewing basket for a bit of hand sewing.

Our latest delivery of Patchwork Tsushin magazines from Japan has just arrived. We received 4 editions in this delivery & each edition is choc full of beautiful projects...lots & lots of pretty little purses & bags to make as well as some real quilt inspiration...they are such visually beautiful magazines that it doesn't seem to matter that we can't read any Japanese, & thank goodness, the project instructions are always illustrated & easy to follow.

 The ladies that attended our last CAG meeting will remember this stunning fabric as the one that sold out way too quickly for every one to buy a piece..how lucky are we that Corliss secured us one last bolt that arrived in the shop the other day..we can't get any more of this fabric so if you wanted some at CAG and missed out make sure you give us a call at the shop.

And more new fabric

No sooner had we unpacked our delivery of Spice Market, than another delivery landed at our door,so once again we were quickly unpacking to see what goodies had arrived.                                          
This time we have a new range from Moda...Audra's Iris Garden. We have fourteen fabrics from this range including small background prints and tone on tones in such beautiful rich, deep colours of gold, red green and purple that you just want them all.

a new favourite background fabric!

New to our shelves...........

In walked the delivery man today with Jo Morton's newest range Spice Market.  It's always a rush to rip open the cartons and see what new fabrics we have and these ones did not disappoint.  Lots of small prints in rich tan, cheddar, rusty orange and an almost aubergine reddish-brown.
 Hard to describe, so take a look at these photos...

For a better look, click here and see each swatch close up.  

Another great Applique Group day...

We had our first Castlemaine Applique Group meeting on Saturday ~ another great day with lots of chatting and sewing.

 Rosalee Clarke of Jane Austen Quilt fame was our guest speaker and showed us many of her gorgeous quilts~ here are just a few.

Rosalee's faithful reproduction of the Jane Austen Quilt.

The centre fabric is an exact reproduction of the centre from Jane Austen's quilt.  A blog friend sent it to Rose, inspiring her to make this mini version.

another beauty, Rose used the Dutch Chintz Tree of Life panel in the centre

more reproduction fabrics and a gorgeous border print!

Fun in the shop as well as at the gathering.

Four days till CAG.

Another busy day for us in the shop today,getting ready for the first gathering of the Castlemaine Applique Group for 2013. Full house again, we are all looking forward to a great day, and don't forget to bring your shown & tell.

look at these great door prizes