Life is Good

I am slowly settling into retirement but I still seem to be busy.

There is still a lot of stuff left from the shop so I have started selling some fabric, books and kits on line.

Also  Natasha, Charlotte and I had a stand at Stitch in Pakenham earlier this month which is run by Craft Alive and we had a fabulous weekend. It is a beautiful venue and it was really nice to catch up with lots of customers.

Plus I have been invited by several guilds to come to one of their meetings as well.  I am slowly selling off the fabric. I always intended to continue selling my patterns to my original designs and maybe even doing a bit of teaching too so even though my husband has some ongoing health issues "Life is Good".

So till next time,

Happy stitching from Therese

Inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere. This sound proof fencing along a freeway in Melbourne has always ticked all my boxes and now that I have retired I want to explore why it appeals to me so much. I'm not sure if it is the colors or the geometric so I am collecting my fabrics and getting ready to play.

So till next time 

Happy stitching from Therese.

Back on line

I am back on line. The shop is now closed and I am in the process of setting up my work space at home. Actually it is Natasha who is doing the physical moving and organizing of the furniture, fabric and office stuff.

 The things I am really going to miss are teaching and the interaction with other quilters and of course the extra time I got to spend with my daughter and grandaughter.

My husband and I were thrown a real "googly" just before the shops final days.  He ended up in hospital for 8 days with heart problems and is still undergoing tests to find out exactly what is happening and why and what the treatments are going to be.  We had hoped to go away for a couple of weeks as soon as we closed but that isn't possible yet so we just have to be patient until he is stable and the doctors give us the go ahead to travel.

In the meantime I have been stitching some small quilts to donate to the 'Quilts of Love' program. I can stitch them by hand and as they are simple designs  they are great carry around projects especially for doctor's waiting rooms.

So until next time
Happy stitching,
 Therese

Home Stretch

We had our last Christmas Club class today and the star pupil Raelene had most of her rows finished ready to quilt each row before putting it all together. She has done a brilliant job and I think she is going to be over the moon with her quilt when it is done.

We have one more week of trading in the shop. It feels really weird to think that in another week I won't have that morning routine of "get up, get dressed, breakfast, collect anything I need for the day, out the door at a particular time so that I can open the shop door, switch on the lights, make a coffee ready to face whatever the day might bring". I have so many things to do at home I don't know where to start. So my plan is to write myself a timetable of tasks that I want to achieve in a certain time frame. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it. I intend to start my retirement in a positive way and a big part of it will be finishing started projects. I seem to have one or two of those!

 So until next time,

Happy stitching from Therese

New Designs

I am very happy with my latest finished design. It is in lots of shades of greys and taupes so is quite muted and restful.  It is a busy design with lots of applique and even some hand piecing. The pattern is half done and should be ready by the end of
August.  I have called it "Shades of Grey".

I have also been designing a new quilt for nearly a year and I am working on the final border which I decided needed to be hexagons! Why, you ask? Well, because it just needed to be. There is still a lot of work to do on it because there are two plain borders that are going to be appliquéd and embroidered before it is done.  I am using softer and prettier colors this time and aiming for a really feminine look.

So until next time 

Happy stitching

from Therese

New Shoes

Don't you just love new shoes. I purchased these to wear to my daughter's wedding. They are Hush Puppies so are really comfortable. There is nothing like a bit of retail therapy is there.

Now that the wedding is over I can wear them whenever I want. I love the color which I am finding matches lots of my outfits.  I just need to find a bag to go with them but as I have lots of taupe fabrics I am thinking of  simply making one.

I have several books written by Yoko Saito so I am hope to have some time over the weekend to have a browse through them and play with my Japanese Taupe fabrics. I am really looking forward to some creative time in my sewing room.

so until next time,

Happy stitching from Therese.

Ch- ch- c h - changes.

After 15 years I am making some major changes in my life and that includes closing the shop and just selling on line like so many other businesses. This will allow my husband and I to finally start the travelling we want to do. It will give me lots more free time to do the part that I love in this industry - designing new quilts.

The  things I will miss are my students and my wonderful customers who have supported me over the years and inspired me to push my boundaries way beyond anything I thought myself capable of doing.

So from Monday we will be starting our closing down sale.

I will still be selling my patterns and be available for trunk shows and to teach workshops so even though I am very sad to be closing the shop I am looking forward to the lifestyle changes ahead for me.

So until next time,

Happy stitching from Therese.

Huswifs

Sorry for not posting for so long but life can send us many challenges at times. Health wise and family wise!

While I have been away from Blogland, I have not been idle.  If  I don't do any sewing for more than a day, I actually get twitchy.  I always have some hand sewing next to  chair in the lounge room to make needle books or "huswifs" and I have just finished four with another three half done.  I sell them in the shop for $10 and they are one of those impulse buys that my customers never seem to regret purchasing. I use up leftover scraps from what ever project I have been working on at any given time so they are always different.

To me it is one method of  reducing the amount of scraps I have. However I could make several thousand and it probably wouldn't make a lot of difference.
But I can till enjoy feeling virtuous for a while.

So until next time,

Happy stitching,

Therese.

I love Christmas Club class. I love watching and sharing the process of choosing fabrics for the next bits of our row by row .

I have been encouraging these students to immerse themselves in the design and creative process as well as the construction of their rows.


It has been a real challenge for them and a step outside their comfort zone which is a good thing for all of us at times.

So until next time,

Happy stitching,

Therese