A New Year

What's the best way to start a new year?  Have a little re-arrange, isn't it, and that's what Natasha, Sharon and Cheryl have been doing at Patchwork Pumpkin over the last couple of days.  It's nearly finished apart from the last little bits of tweaking and it's amazing how much it freshens up the shop so thanks girls, it looks fabulous.

I have tried for 5 minutes to get this photo up the right way and still can't so sorry for the crick in the neck view.









Till next time,

Happy stitching from

Therese.

(I can't take any credit for the shop looking so good because I have been nose to the grindstone with pattern writing. One more day and it will be done. Yay.)

Back to Work

After a wonderful break of nearly two weeks I am back at work.  Natasha will be back tomorrow. Why do holidays go so fast? We try to make the Christmas fun last all year round with our class called "Soon it will be Christmas". 

Sharon got a book full of inspiration that we have all been drooling over.

I have spent most of today proof reading the pattern for my new  Block of the Month, Country Album which is due to start in March so I am busy costing it and making sure the diagrams match the numbers in the pattern and that all the applique and stitching bits are drawn properly.

I did take some time during my busy day to enjoy a coffee break and a browse through the December/January issue of one of my favourite magazines.  It takes a bit longer for us to get it in Australia but it is always worth the wait. I have a quick flick through it and then over the next couple of days I read it from cover to cover.

So happy sewing, from Therese

Christmas Spirit

It is hard to believe that it is only a couple of days to Christmas Day.  There has been so much to organise for next year that I have given very little thought to the Festive Season.  But I know as long as I have family there to share a special meal and spend some time together which is what is happening what more do I really need.  It will be more than many people have at this time of the year so I intend to count my blessings every day. In some ways to have spent lots of money on things none of us really need would have felt wrong somehow.

We had our shop Cristmas get-together last Sunday and exchanged Kris Kringle gifts.They have to be hand made and we have all year to make them.  I had mine done by June because I know how frantic things can be at this time of the year.  Some people were still stitching the night before and some are not quite finished but will be by the end of the week and are worth waiting for.

I enjoyed making my gift so much I am planning on hand making all my gifts for next year.  So on New Years Day I will be making my gift list and starting the stitching in January.

Natasha and I would like to wish all our Blog readers and followers "A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year for 2012".

We wanted to show you a couple of photos of our free pattern made by Sandra. The top is finished and she is planning on having it quilted by next Christmas.  I love the applique she has added in the middle.  This quilt looks so festive and yet she has only used a couple of scraps of actual Christmas fabric. It is gorgeous and the photos really don't do it justice.






Happy stitching

Preview Night

The shop is tidy again the dishes and glasses are washed and put away.  We had a great night with lots of the ladies indulging in a bit of retail therapy, oohing and aahing over our class samples for Term 1 in 2012. Some of the new classes are nearly full, so we are happy too.

Cheryl (aka Santa's Little Helper) really got into the Christmas spirit.

So cute.

This is one of the samples for the string piecing class and when I started it I thought "I am going to use up so many scraps." I was only kidding myself if I thought one quilt was going to make a dent in the tub. I think it's either the extra air from digging through the tub or the scraps and strings are breeding overnight while I am asleep. Whatever it is - the tub is still overflowing.

Till next time,

Therese

Chance Encounters

Since July I am not in the shop every day as I have been spending two days each week at home designing so it is a bit hit and miss to catch up with people.

I met a lovely lady from overseas today who has her own quilt shop and we had an indepth discussion about running a patchwork business and doing Mail Order over the internet.  It was really nice to talk to someone else with the same goals and interests.


 I love designing quilts and now I actually only do stuff that pleases me and hope that other people will like it too.  I have tried to do designs that I think people will like and then find that I am never happy with the finished result.  So I have learnt over the years that I have to be true to my own vision.

I have been "head down, bum up" (as the saying goes) for the last 4 weeks because we are having our Preview Night on Wednesday 7th December between 7.00 and 9.00pm where we reveal our new classes for next year and our new Block of the Month.  It is also our way of thanking our loyal customers for their support through the year with a cuppa and some nibblies plus some door prizes and extra special disounts.  So if you are local and free, come and say Hi and share in the fun.

Happy Stitching,

Therese

No Connection

We had no internet connection for over a week due to technical difficulties with our local tower.  Aaarrgghhh! After several phone calls to our provider we were told it was going to take a while to fix.  The people at the other end of the phone were wonderful and very helpful but sometimes things like that are beyond anyone's control and we just have to go with the flow.

It actually gave me the incentive to do something I have been procrastinating over for about four weeks.  I have been working on a new Block of the Month for 6 months and I am really happy with it so far.  I am up to the borders and it kept telling me it needed applique on them.  (My quilts often talk to me you know !!!!)  I kept wanting to just sew a border on and send it off to be quilted and it kept saying "no, no, no, I need applique."

So in the end I listened and this is the result!

 

 Scraps in the bin and the applique is being stitched onto the border.

Till next time,

Therese 

Wordless Wednesday