New Fabrics

I have been beavering away uploading new fabrics to the website

New Collections you can now view and order include:

Hard Hats from Avlyn. Its not often you find a great collection for boys but this has to be one and I have made a fun single bed size quilt which uses all the fabrics I have from the collection. The fabrics are £9.60 a metre and the kit is costs £37.95 and is very quick and easy to make.

Happy Haunting from Avlyn. Just in time for Halloween, these fabrics feature bats and spiders’ webs and are painted with non-toxic glow in the dark ink

Grandeur from Robert Kaufman. Boy are these fabrics Grand! The feature print of the collection is a full width print which is available in 3 colourways.

This is the Spring colourway. Pics to follow of a quilt kit which makes full use of this print.

Also new to the site in the last couple of weeks are the Outback collection designed by Jinny Beyer for RJR fabrics and Swinging on a Star a cute bear flannel collection from South Sea Imports. Both collections are featured in the new issue of Fabrications magazine but here’s a sneak peek of the panel from the flannel collection

Oh My!

I can’t believe it has been sooo long since I posted a blog entry, maybe because so much has happened since I went to Quilt Market back in May!

My world has been turned upside down since then as my partner Steve and I have gone our separate ways. Its not easy coping when you have had your heart broken for the first time and I’m not sure it was any easier that I am 42! Life does go on though and I think I have reached that light at the end of the tunnel at last. Having a 9 year old son tends to keep you going anyhow.

The main change as a result of the break up has been that I have had to close the shop at The Olde Watermill. It was a sad decision to have to make but one that was unavoidable. The shop HAD to be open 7 days a week and it was not possible for me to do that and look after my son. So at the end of August we gradually moved everything out.

         

         

Until all that was left was an empty shell

The business is still going strong though online through the website which I have just revamped and also through my eBay store. I am now busy uploading all the new fabrics that were ordered back in May

Those just uploaded include 10,000 Years BC from RJR Fabrics and Elements Too from Studio E.

10,000 Years BC is a fantastic dinosaur collection featuring a 36” panel and co-ordinates

More collections will appearing over the next week or so. The website also has bigger and better pictures of all the King Tut and Masterpiece threads which should make choosing colours easier.

 

The next quilt show will be the Scottish Quilt Championships in Edinburgh on 24-26 September. The Highland showground is just minutes from Edinburgh airport if you fancy a trip to a different quilt show than usual.

Quilt Market – Days 1 & 2

Been a busy couple of days walking all the booths. Yesterday was looking for fabric and today was spotting new block of the month programmes.

I have a couple of great new BOMs coming in  a few months when I will then need to buckle down and make samples of them. There is a pieced star one and an circular appliqué one.

As for fabrics, I have ordered a wonderful collection called Grandeur from Robert Kaufman. This features a full width print with some great co-ordinates and should be in stock in July.

I will do the rest of my ordering of fabric tomorrow.

The frustrating thing always is that you have to wait several months before the fabric is ready!

Off to the Mall of America this evening which is supposed to be the biggest mall in the world.

I have a late flight home tomorrow and will be back in the UK monday lunchtime…….and hopefully back and still awake to surprise my son, Thomas, by picking him up from school!

Quilt Market

Well here I am in Minneapolis at the Spring Quilt Market, THE trade show for the quilting industry.

I can’t believe it has been soooo long since I posted anything! Life has been rather hectic in the last couple of months both with the business and personally.

I flew in from London yesterday direct to Minneapolis. I was hoping to post some pictures while I was here but not only is my camera playing up but I forgot to bring the right cable with me to download them to the pc! Maybe because I didn’t put that on my list?

Anyway today is Thursday and that means Schoolhouse and Sample Spree. Schoolh0use as the name suggests is like being back at school where about 20 different 15 –20 minute presentations are put on by the Vendors in different classrooms at a time and you decide which ones you want to go and see and then when they are finished you go and see another one. Its a great way of finding out very quickly about a lot of the new products and fabric collections that are being released at the show.
Sample Spree is MAD! It is not quite a free for all but its every woman for herself as you enter this massive room where loads of the vendors have tables set out for you to buy samples of fabrics, patterns, notions, you name it at discounted prices. The best places to head for are Benartex and Moda as they have fantastic bundles of their latest fabrics.

Tomorrow the show starts proper and I get to walk around all the vendors booths looking at things in more detail. Think Festival of Quilts……but bigger!!

Busy Times continued!

Wow is all I can say about Chilford last weekend! Very busy, especially the first couple of days. I showcased the Nuance quilt for the first time and luckily took the fabric bolts with me as it inspired a lot of you!

It is such a simple quilt with various borders surrounding the centre Kaleidoscope panel and is single bed-sized. Kits are available for £34.95 and can be made in the rust colours shown here as well as a slate and plum colour way. The kaleidoscope panel is also available in turquoise/purple and purple/olive. The kit will be available on the website shortly.

The Ceylon wall hanging quilt is also available now, made using fabrics from the Ceylon collection from Hoffman. It measures approx. 45” by 47”.

Again this is a very simple quilt which makes full use of the fabrics. The brown and plum colours are available now and the blue should be ready next week. The price is £25.

I returned from Chilford to a big delivery of Robert Kaufman fabrics. The new Imperial Collection formed the bulk of the delivery but there were also some more Sevenberry fabrics; I am stocking the pink/blue colour as well now, and some Alice in Wonderland fabrics. All will be up on the website as soon as I can photograph them but of course are in the shop now.

And the really exciting news is that I will be going to Spring Quilt Market in Minneapolis in May where I can see and buy all the latest products released in the quilting industry. I can’t wait as this is the first time I have been able to go since our move in 2008……mind you there is the matter of Uttoxeter, OEQC in the Netherlands and Quilts UK in Malvern first!……like i said busy busy busy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Busy Times Ahead!

Its busy busy busy at the moment; what with the quilt show in Edinburgh last weekend and in 10 days time it is the show at Chilford Halls near Cambridge.

The fabrics from the oriental collection, Twelve Moons, has sold really well at the shows this year and yesterday I had a delivery of some new fabrics that are going to prove to be just as popular. The Disney Dreams collection designed by Thomas Kinkade has panels featuring Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, Pinoochio and Snow White.

I have lots of exciting fabrics coming in the next few months, including a new Oriental Collection from Robert Kaufman that will make another great panel quilt kit like the one below.

 

The Sevenberry fabrics continue to sell well, in fact hardly a day goes by without some being sold in the shop! I also have lots of fantastic kids prints on order.

And talking of kids, I have just started this year’s block of the month programme. It makes a single bed size quilt and is really cute and has been great fun to make. You can sign up on the website or visit the shop to pick up details.

I have also been busy designing new quick quilts for you to make using fabrics from the Nuance  and Ceylon collections. Pics to follow shortly.

The other news is that the show in Trentham Gardens the week after Easter has had to be moved to Uttoxeter Racecourse Conference Centre as the pavilion it is usually housed in collapsed under the weight of snow last week and it can’t be guaranteed to be up and running in time for the show.

New Oriental Fabrics

The new Oriental fabrics from Robert Kaufman arrived last week. Called Twelve Moons the collection features 6 panel prints, two designs in 3 colourways. One design features a fish centre panel and the other a swirl pattern. Then there are various co-ordinating prints.

As soon as I get the chance I will be making a quilt using fabrics from the collection.

Other fabrics delivered last week were some heart fabrics just in time for Valentine’s Day and some space prints from a collection called Intergalactic.

The first quilt show of the year kicks off on Friday at the South of England showground in Ardingly, West Sussex where you can see all the new fabrics in the flesh as well as most of this year’s block of the month quilt….yes its nearly finished! The quilt is a cute kids one called Sleepy Acres and has been great fun to make so far. The animals just come to life once their eyes and features are embroidered.

 
Details for the bom will be up on the site shortly.

Sale Now On

The fabric sale has just started on the website with many fabrics at £4.00 a metre. The fabrics are also available in the shop in Barton le Clay along with many other bargains.

The sale will continue until Saturday 16th January when it will then move to the One Day Fabric Sale at The Maltings in Farnham on Sunday 17 January and then Nantwich on Sunday 24 January.

Oh and Happy New Year!