It's nearly time............!

It's almost the end of an amazing 2012 here in the UK. Despite the weather's best efforts to make it the wettest year on record, we still had a glorious summer of sport and of feeling great about Great Britain with the London Olympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

 

The last year has been busy for me as I juggle the business and my editing work. My eBay sales continue to amaze me considering I only have a dozen things listed there (I really should find the time to list some more items!) Every UK quilt show has been busy and mega...........every single one! There have been lots of new fabrics delivered..............and I have become addicted to using pre-cuts!

 

So what does 2013 hold? More of the same by the look of it. In my quilting life I want to make more quilts for me...........and actually finish the ones I make to display the fabrics I sell to inspire you. I want to get out and visit more quilt shows. It is so inspiring to see what other quilters create.

 

More immediately, my annual sale starts in a few hours!! There are some great bargains to be had as usual. All the fabrics in the sale are now £5.00 a metre which is more than 50% off in some cases. The sale will run online until lunchtime Saturday 12 January, when I will pack what's left and take to the Quilters' One Day Fabric Sale at Farnham Maltings in Farnham, Surrey on Sunday 13 January.

So why not grab yourself a bargain? Once it's gone...........it's gone!

 

Have a happy and peaceful new year!

 

Joanna

New Fabrics......yay!

Finally found some time today to upload the fabrics that were delivered a couple of weeks ago. A D- for me for taking so long to do it!

So what new goodies do I have in store for you?

First up is Boyd's Bears from Spectrix; a cosy bear collection featuring a cot quilt sized panel and various co-ordinates

Next up is Bloom from Kanvas which is part of Benartex. A couple of great flower prints and a yummy stripey co-ordinate, although the colours of the images I have taken from the web don't seem to match the actual fabrics so I'm going to need to take my own digital images of these.

Next we have Dancing Cranes from Paintbrush Studios; some classic Oriental prints with a great main panel

And finally Vogue from Henry Glass fabrics. This is the collection I am going to play with first. I just love this stripe

So I tweeted this morning that I needed to decide either to upload fabrics, blog or sew...........well since I've done the first two that can only mean it's Sewing Time!!
Yay!

Finally!

Finding the time to blog seems to be my problem at the moment. I was all set to write a post about 10 days ago but somehow the time I had found to write it, suddenly evaporated.

But here I am. It's the beginning of November. And I know it's been ages since I blogged again!

I have been tweeting quite a bit recently so why not follow me there for quick and regular updates on what has been happening at The Crafty Quilter.

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with Facebook. I have over 400 followers on the CQ page and yet less than 25% of them ever see my posts. I could of course pay to promote my posts but that is just not a viable option for a small business. On the FB profile I use for quilting purposes, I have so many 'friends' that I have made a couple of lists of people or fabric companies whose updates I really want to see and yet when I was working my way through the updates in one of my lists the other day, I needed to refresh the page at one point and as I scrolled through  the updates I had already read, I found there were some that weren't there a minute ago. What was that all about? The whole point of making lists is NOT to miss any updates from people!
And so this is why you will find me more on twitter these days.

So what's new at The Crafty Quilter?

A few weeks ago the 5th Bali pre cuts collection from Hoffman arrived. These are now available in 5" squares, aka Snaps, and 10" squares, aka Crackers, as well as the original 2 1/2" strips - Pops. I really love these. I didn't order a large quantity of the new Snaps and Crackers as I wasn't sure how they would be received so have sold out of quite a few of them already. More are now on order and they will hopefully arrive later this month.
The most popular colour so far has been Brown Sugar, which is rather yummy.

My favourite is Parfait, although this has been the least popular so far!

The other new delivery just before the quilt show at Malvern was the first few fabrics from the Florentine 4 collection from Robert Kaufman. Pretty amazingly, I managed to upload the fabrics to the website the same day as they were delivered!
There are four colourways to this collection but I have only ordered these two subtle colours; Dawn and Mist.

I'll see what quilt kit I can design when the rest of the fabric arrive.

The last few weeks have been very busy with back to back quilt shows at Malvern last weekend and Duxford this weekend. Today is the last day of my last show this year, although I am working at an area day next Saturday too.
It will be nice to have a break and get some quilting done and to that end I have just bought myself a freemotion foot for my machine and plan to teach myself to machine quilt.

Anyone want to learn along with me?

 

Do you Pinterest?

Have you heard of pinterest?

 

It's another kind of social media site where you 'pin' images you like on virtual design boards. It's a great way of collecting ideas and inspiration together in one place. It's also a place you can get lost very easily wandering from board to board so have a cup of tea or coffee at the ready as you settle down to some wandering!

 

The site is now open for anyone to join, previously it was invite only. Why not sign up and follow my boards here?

 

I need to find the time to put some inspiration boards together too I think!

Where does the time go?

Yet again weeks have passed without me blogging.

 

Okay months have passed!

I really do need to rectify this, more so as I am starting to become a little disillusioned with Facebook and promoting pages. This has been mainly from a personal point of view that I have started getting 'sponsored' posts or pages in my newsfeed as well as seeming not to get some posts from friends when I have checked all the boxes to receive all the updates. What's that all about? I think I would like to decide what I see and what I don't see, thank you Facebook!
I will continue to maintain the CQ Facebook page but I think I will try blogging and tweeting a bit more for a bit instead. If you don't follow me on Twitter just yet (tut tut) click here!

 

So what has been happening these last few months? There was the Festival of Quilts of course which was mega busy as usual.

I have made a few quilt kits since I last blogged so here they are.....

 

I have already posted the main full width print in the Imperial Collection 8 from Robert Kaufman in my last post way back in June, but here is the quilt I made with the collection.

 

 

The original aim was to add a dark marble outer border. I did pick a good matching Marbleous fabric for each colourway, only to be told Robert Kaufman had discontinued Marbleous and replaced it with a new marble collection called Fresco. I ordered some replacements from a shade card, only to find out that when they were delivered none of them went! So frustrating!
The blue main print has just sold out this weekend at the Scottish Quilt Championships but there is still the purple colour left and a little bit of the brown.

 

 

Next up is Dutch Cottage also from Robert Kaufman. Most of the fabrics came with the Imperial Collection fabrics a couple of months ago apart from the main panel print.

 

And this is the quilt I have come up with this.

 

 

I'll try and get details of this up on the website this week.

 

And finally we have Magic Garden which is a collection which is a little different for me from a new company called Blend Fabrics.

 

 

I love how the sashing strips seem to shade in this.

 

And so that is what I have been up to!

 

See you soon...........promise!

 

 



Surprise Deliveries

I do like surprise deliveries! Its fun getting a delivery and not knowing what's in it. The down side with working from home and not always being in, is that of course you can miss deliveries, and I nearly missed yesterday's one of Robert Kaufman fabrics!
So what did I discover in the box?
More fabrics from the wonderful Imperial Collection 8 for starters. This collection was really popular at the quilt show at Sandown last weekend. I have a great quilt kit for this collection which just needs the addition of a darker marble outer border. Not sure if I have taken a photo of it yet.........
The delivery had mainly more fabrics for the purple/green colourway

And a couple more of the brown colourway

Also in the delivery were the first few fabrics from a collection called Dutch Cottage which is inspired by Delftware pottery. The main panel print is still to come but hopefully that will be in stock soon.

These prints are already on the website which means I am slightly in danger of being efficient!!
There is a short break now before the BIG one, the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in Birmingham, so I will hopefully have some time to create some new quilts together for the show.
This weekend there is an open day at one of my suppliers.................which means ordering new fabrics................its a hard life!! 

Just a Quickie (ish)

I did mean to do a proper post on the last few days using this mobile blogger app, but that would mean posting some pictures too. But seeing as I've taken all my pics on my camera and not on my phone, i have none to post!

So hopefully I'll get it right next time!

The last few days my son and I have visited the new International Quilt Festival of Ireland being held in Galway. This show has been promised to be something different, unlike other quilt shows, and so I felt I needed to see it for myself.
And I think it is different. For one, the predominant language at this European show seems to have an American accent!
The quilts are in different buildings throughout the university campus in Galway so it's reminiscent of the Carrefour du Patchwork in France. In that respect. There are some lovely quilts; I liked the Japanese Patchwork Promises exhibits (but then I like all Japanese quilts!). There were some great miniatures and I also liked the Chocolate Decadence quilts, complete with the smell of chocolate in the air as you looked at them!

This has been a little holiday for us and so we have also explored Galway a little too. Luckily the weather had improved from the awful rain on Thursday to the glorious sunshine there was today

I'll probably post some pics on Facebook rather than do another blogpost. I'll post a link on twitter when I get round to posting them!

New Kit of the Month Programme

So this is what I have been up to recently.
I did mean to start this programme in January.........and its now June!
The plan is to create a new kit each month ideally from new fabrics and each month to have that kit on offer and I am wondering about offering a free kit to giveaway each month via this blog too.

What do you think?

Now the fact that it has taken me six months to finally get round to doing this may mean that there isn't actually a new kit each month, but hey lets be positive and see what happens!

So to kick start the programme I have this new pattern I designed with the Grandeur 2 collection from Robert Kaufman.

The finished quilt measures 43" square and can be used as a table top or a wall hanging.

There are two colourways; the blue/honey colour that I have used and the pink/green colourway. In the second colourway the pink (cream) stars will show up more.Click here to see the fabrics from the collection.

The usual price for this kit will be £31.50, but during the month of June it will be available for £27.50. You can order your kit here

As is usual with my display quilts............I don't have time to quilt them. Its times like this I had the space and money for a longarm!

So how to arrange a giveaway for one kit? How about comment on this post telling me what is grand about the Grandeur 2 collection?

I guess if no one comments this will be a very short run programme or at least a short giveaway programme as I will still challenge myself to design a new kit each month..........!

So lets see how this goes!

Testing testing!

Just a quick post to try out something new . . . . Blogging from my mobile!
Yes I have downloaded the blogger app on my phone
It might come in useful when I'm out and about one day :-)

Blogging

Hmmm I'm not very good at this blogging business! I don't know where the time goes sometimes. I take a look at my blog and then suddenly realise how long it has been since I last blogged!

Things have been happening, I guess just nothing major to talk about!

I think maybe because I don't have a shop now, that not as much goes on.
I've made a couple more quilts to display current fabric collections but haven't been able to take a decent picture of them yet. This recent weather hasn't helped!!
The first is a rather stylish quilt that uses the last few prints left over from the Oriental Collection 7. It is a vertical style quilt which one customer at the recent Uttoxeter quilt show thought could be adapted for a screen. I'm really pleased with this one.

The second quilt I made uses fabrics from the Oriental Traditions collection with this panel in the centre:

I'm working on a new Patternista quilt for Quilts UK in Malvern next month, as the first one has been very popular. But I am running out of one of the fabric designs for this now, hence the need for a new one!

Next week sees the Open European Quilt Championships in Holland. Unfortunately I can't make it to the show myself. And of course a couple of weeks later its Quilts UK

I'm hoping to have some new Robert Kaufman fabrics in stock as they are overdue for delivery now. Really excited about those!

So hopefully I will have something to blog about very soon!

Wow!

I can't believe its been so long since I last posted an update on the blog!

Things have definitely been happening!
I guess I have been too busy to write a detailed blog post as opposed to a quick update via Facebook or Twitter.............

The remaining fabrics from Patternista by Benartex arrived last week which consisted mainly of the blue colourway which usually proves to be the most popular colourway in Paula Nadelstern's collections, so I'm glad they turned up at last!
The other fabrics have been selling well at the spring quilt shows. I can't remember if I have posted or indeed taken a picture of the quick quilt I made for this collection..............

Last weekend I made a quick Attic Windows quilt using some of the fabrics from the La Scala collection.

I also remade the Oriental Strip Panel quilt in the linen colourway of the Imperial Collection 7 as the main fabric in the other colourway is sold out now.
This colourway looks rather smart I think

There is a new 8th collection coming out soon and the fabrics in it are wonderful as usual. I ordered some a couple of weeks ago now. They are due in stock in the next couple of months.

The next quilt show is Chilford next weekend and then there is a short (ish) break until the show in Uttoxeter in April. Its been a busy few weeks!

Quilt Tops for Sale

I’ve just listed some retired quilt tops for sale on eBay. These are quilts I have made to display fabrics or kits that have now all gone so the poor quilt tops are now redundant and being a hand quilter I don’t usually have the time to quilt these samples before the fabrics sell out…………

        

They are all on auction style listings so grab yourself a bargain!

I have also listed a floral panel that was in the sale as I have quite a few left still and tried out listing it with a variation listing which is quite cool.

Must try that again sometime, although probably not for the 100+ different King Tut colours. Think I will just stick to the shade card images for those!

Its a busy few weeks coming up with the sale at Nantwich tomorrow, Ardingly Quilt Festival next weekend and then the traders day at Quiltfest in Llangollen two weeks after that.

And so it begins………..

Last Sunday saw the manic start to the first shows of the year that is the sale at Farnham Maltings. It often feels like a school reunion as the traders get together for the first time since the autumn and we all do our catching up before the doors open………….because once the doors open, its CUT CUT CUT until the afternoon! Its a win win situation for everyone; customers get great fabrics at great prices and the shops get to clear fabrics that have been maybe sitting on the shelves longer than they should have been.

I had a little helper for the first time this year.

He had everything he needed under there and is quite happy in his den! He’s actually getting big and strong enough to be a help now with the loading and unloading which is his favourite bit!

This Sunday sees the sale continuing at Nantwich Civic Hall. Check my facebook page for details of how to get there.

The following weekend sees the start of the Ardingly Spring Quilt Festival. Due to party commitments, I won’t be there until the Sunday but all my fabrics and threads will be there from Friday!

The 4th gen Bali Pops are back in stock again just in time for the shows and I have a thread order winging its way over in record time from Superior Threads so will have a full compliment of King Tut threads as well as their new Monopoly thread AND  the assortment packs of the titanium machine needles.

Last Few Days……….

There are just under two days left of the online sale. Lots of lovely fabrics still available for you to grab yourself a bargain.
I had made myself a makeshift cutting table in the conservatory and have kept the sale fabrics at the house as it was easier to do the cutting at home.
I have often had one helper with me sitting on the corner  of the table…….but today I had both of them!

Once the sale ends online on Saturday at noon, I’ll be busy packing the car and making my way down to Farnham for the One Day Fabric Sale at The Maltings. Check out the events page of the website or even better my facebook page for more details as this has a map of how to find the venue!

January is a busy month as the week after we have the second One Day Fabric Sale in Nantwich followed by the first quilt show proper of the year, the Ardingly Quilt Festival.

I should have some more fabrics arriving later this month but already on their way are MORE Bali Pops, so if your favourite colour sold out first time around they will be back in stock next week!