Primarily Stunning

Wow, what a great week we have had a Threadbear this week.

Di Ford's book, Primarily Quilts has arrived at Threadbear...box after box came through our door. Most of our copies are already pre-sold but we still have some copies left in the shop. If you have not already put your name down to reserve a copy of this amazing book, just contact us by phone or email & we will add your name to our list, but be quick because this book is going to walk out the door ~ although we'll have another shipment arriving soonish.

We all had plenty of work to get done this week but that was all put on hold as we tore open the first box and grabbed a copy each while discussing it on the phone with Di.

Primarily Quilts is a stunningly beautiful book, with page after page of the most mouth watering, drop dead gorgeous, inspirational quilts, beautifully printed with colour that will send you wild with delight. We are sure to run out of adjectives to describe this amazing book, it is truly beautiful and is sure to become a well loved addition to many sewing rooms and books shelves.

No sooner had we got over the excitement of the book delivery than it was action stations to send out copies to all of you on our waiting list.  Di made the drive down to Threadbear to sign books for mail delivery. It was so nice to have her in the shop to share in all the excitement.  There were many books to sign, lucky Sammy was on hand to help out.

If you are buying a copy of Di's book, or have already bought an unsigned copy and you would like to have it signed by Di in person, or maybe just congratulate her on this beautiful, amazing book, she will be at Threadbear on April 13th from 1:00pm.

Next week we will be busy in the shop again, as we get ready for our Appliqué school on April 6th.

The day is being held in the function room of the Castle Motel, walking distance from our shop and the sixty ladies attending are in for a really fantastic day. We have four teachers covering four different applique methods. Not only will we all learn lots of amazing new tricks to make our applique easier but there will be time for lots of fun as well.

Easter is upon us now and Threadbear will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.                   

All of us here at Threadbear wish you a very Happy Easter, filled with all the good things....Hot cross buns,chocolate and weather just perfect for sewing. And of course special Easter greetings from Sammy.

Magazines & fabric for Friday

Yesterday we received the March/April edition of Quiltmania.  We have our copies air freighted from France, so we usually have them well in advance of news outlets.  This month's edition is full of lovely projects and a feature article on Di Ford.  They were only delivered yesterday but we only have one copy left...so first in first served for that last remaining copy.  If you would like to add your name to our list to receive Quiltmania magazines, just let us know by phone or email.
We also have some of our most popular Quiltmania titles back in stock, they are such beautiful publications, full of the most tempting projects.  Check our website for a full list of the titles we now have in stock.

Indigo & Sarasa

Millefiori Quilts

The Red & Green Quilts from the Poos Collection

Making Quilts, the Promise of Joy

Feathering the Nest

Daily Quilt (french text)

 It is great to head toward the weekend with a couple of new fabric deliveries.

First to arrive was 1 bolt from the Haberdasher range~ a beautiful border print called $22.00m.
Virginia is another stunning print (below) and we also have two blenders from the range.

More show and tell this week, from Marianne, a regular Tuesday afternoon visitor.  Marianne brought us a photo of one of her finished projects....My Little Jane, (pattern by Megan Carroll), finished and hanging in her home...Isn't it gorgeous.
Hey everyone, we want lots & lots of show and tell, so email us a pic of your projects anytime or bring them into the shop for us to see.

What a great way to end the week, lovely new fabrics in the shop, fantastic new books, and a magazine full of inspiration.....but Sammy is just glad it is Friday and he is ready for a snooze.

Sammy smells beautiful.

Fragrant and fluffy

Sammy is showered, shampooed and has returned to the shop smelling beautiful, so all is well with the world.

Back at work

As we have said before we are always at the ready to dive into newly delivered boxes so we showed no restraint when Kurt delivered boxes to his shop brimming with possibilities.

Treasure

And look what was in theses boxes...aren't they beautiful!

Wow

Are there any china experts amongst our customers, Kurt is looking for some clues as to the origin of this vase.  Kurt says it has a salt glaze, is either English or Australian and has no makers mark but is marked underneath with the number 717.  If anyone has anything similar or can help to identify it Kurt would love to hear from you here at the shop. And let's hope it is good news, we don't really want to hear that it came from Woolworths and cost $2.55.

???????

It is fantastic when customers bring in some show and tell to share, and even better if they agree to a photo for the blog...wow, Corliss's Civil War Bride, finished and fresh from the quilter to show us..congratulations K.P. it is beautiful and thank you for bringing it in to show us. Think it may be an inspiration to all of us with unfinished projects.

Finished and quilted

Delivered this week so far...Wickerweave from Andover Fabrics. This fabric is going to be such a handy fabric, it has lovely soft linen weave print and comes in a range of soft pretty colours.  So versatile, this fabric will be great for backgrounds or blenders and is already walking out the door.

Wickerweave

Sammy smells

It has been all fun and no photos at Threadbear this week. We had our Friday night 6.00 to midnight sewing group in last Friday for another night of great company, beautiful sewing and a heap of really yummy food....shame we were all having so much fun that we forgot to take any photos to share.

Then on Sunday we had our fussy cutting class with Di Ford.  Di is the all time inspiration Guru when it comes to fussy cutting and it was so good to see a class of happy sewers in the shop choosing fabrics with a new eye, all inspired to see the endless fussy cutting opportunities in a piece of fabric and at the ready with a nice sharp pair of scissors to cut holes all over it...great fun was had by all and once again we forgot to take even one snap of all that beautiful fabric being snipped.

We can however show you pics of the new fabric ranges delivered this week, another three ranges full of fabrics to tempt.  Townhouse Gardens by Paula Barnes, comprises 15 small to medium prints in a range of soft smokey colours..very nice.

Townhouse Gardens

Townhouse Gardens

Ashley from Windham has small florals, checks, stripes, and a beautiful all over floral in two colour ways.  Choose from a deep licorice green/black background or a deep beige background(pictured).

Ashley

Gallery in Red from Marcus Fabrics is a really great collection of reds & blues, twelve in total and all crisp vivid colours & great prints...all of the fabrics in this range will be perfect problem solvers for quiltmakers with sons, nephews, or grandsons.                                

Gallery in Red

We are having a good time preparing for our Applique School on April 6th, cutting lots of fabric as we prepare all the kits participants will receive for their day in school.  The day is fully booked but if you would like to add your name and email address to our waiting list you will be the very first to know of any school days planned for the future.

Kits for Applique School

Our sleepy little town is set to double in size for the next two weeks as it hosts the biannual Castlemaine State Festival. There are all manner of performances with something for everyone, young and old. The festival opens tonight with a big day planned for the first official day tomorrow, Saturday 16th March.  However, we won't have any time at all tomorrow to join the festivities as we will all be way too busy with needle and thread celebrating International Quilting Day! We hope you all find some time in your day tomorrow to celebrate with some sewing and absolutely NO housework.

We cant add any photos of Sammy to this post because he has been rolling in something disgusting and smells way too revolting to approach with a camera!

Fabrics in and Wasps out

It's all about the fabric today.

Party of twelve

 

Party of twelve

We have Judy Rothermel's new range, Party of Twelve. It is a huge range,36 pieces in total so it really required some shelf shuffling.  It is on our web site if you would like to have a closer look at all those great classic Judy Rothermel patterns & colours.

Tavern Reds

Tavern Reds by Paul Barnes arrived at the same time, 13 in this range, in rich chocolates and deep reds, also on the web site if you would like a closer look.

And five more of the prettiest blenders from the Americana Collection.

We have an addition to our Aurifil threads with some new 50 weight colours in a larger size,1300 mts, a handy size to have in your sewing basket in the colours you use the most.

Yuwa florals

and more

Last but not least we received a special order of gorgeous Yuwa fabrics. There are 15 soft and pretty romantic florals, all at the sale price of $24.00 metre. We more beautiful Japanese floral fabrics on order expected mid-year but these 15 will certainly have us wanting more.

The last of the Fabric Club mail out

Hoorah  to all the fabric club members..your next mail out is on its way.  We got our fabrics cut, packed and ready to send in double quick time today with the help of Megan's son Jack. Jack popped in for a visit at just the right time to join us for a bit of voluntary work experience.

Lucky lucky Jack

We can't end the week without a HUGE thank you to our hero Kurt, who saved us all from certain peril when he dropped everything and raced down to the shop to clear a European wasp's nest we found at the rear of the shop.  Megan was viciously attacked by the evil little creatures and stung 6 times so we have been saved from further injury by Kurt's brave efforts.

Wasp fighting equipment

Lots of new fabric

Wow...how beautiful is this fabric!!!!!

Antoinette blenders

Antoinette

It is from the Antoinette range and comes with several blenders that are all very pretty..but this is just stand out gorgeous.

Busy busy

and busy

Great fun was had by all at Margaret McDonald's class on Saturday..everyone left with their heads swimming with the new tips & techniques they learned from Margaret,& with quilt tops well on the way to completion.
Our next class, fussy cutting with Di ford is coming up this Sunday...Fussy cutting is such fun and very addictive...can you imagine how much fun everyone will have.  We have one place remaining in this class, due to a late cancellation, if anyone would like to join in...just call us at the shop if you would like the class details.

what will be inside

Look at all these boxes that have just arrived..we will dive in and unpack them this afternoon so it won't be hard to guess what our next post will be about.

That is lots of fabric to put on the shelves...Sammy is exhausted just thinking about it.