Recent Items from the Home Page ( Late 2008)
The Colours of Houston Fall Quilt Market
We have just returned from Houston Texas and the latest releases of quilting fabric ranges and quilting gadgets that will find their way to our shelves early in 2009. We thought we would share some photos to whet your appetite featuring offerings from new designers and the established market leaders.
Amongst old friends were Amy Butler and Kaffe Fassett. They both have new ranges coming through. For those who participated in Kaffe Fassett's visit to the store last year, you will remember Brandon Mably who helped Kaffe with the workshops and presentations. He now has his own fabric range
and the colours blend in well with Kaffe's own designs as can be seen from a photo on their distinctive booth at left.
Amongst the new designers were two from Michael Miller Fabrics - Patty Young and Paula Prass. Their booth designs were eye-catching.
Another new designer from the Westminster label may be familiar to you. Jay McCarroll showed his designs for the first time at Houston. Do you recognise him? He was the inaugral winner of the cable TV series Project Runway.
Our Kits Page has been updated
We have added another six kits to the page, ranging from a very simple panel quilt to some summery specials and the rich colours of Joel Dewberry's latest range (see quilt opposite) Don't miss the hand-printed Whoops A Daisy quilts from Prints Charming. Our first batch sold out within two days and a new order has just arrived - so be quick. They are wonderful, yet simple designs (see left). Our Kits page has details.
Prints Charming Visit
Kirsten Junor from Prints Charming was a welcome visitor to the store last weekend. She agreed to give some of our customers a fascinating rundown on the joys and perils of the fabric design business and showed some of Prints Charming's current fabrics and quilts. She even gave us a sneak preview of the next fabric range and we all look forward to seeing it on our shelves when it is released early 2009 through Marcus Bros. We are delighted to see Aussie designers doing well on the international stage. Their fabrics are much loved by young and old alike - Cameron(left) is a big fan!
Beginners Course Display of Quilts
On Tuesday evening, our latest beginners quilt classes gathered to show their quilts and enjoy some refreshments and good company. Their tutor, Wendy Saclier, again guided them to complete some wonderful and varied quilts. We are always amazed at how far students come in a few short weeks. The group also welcomed special guests to the party - Maragaret Rolfe, Beryl Hodges and Kerry Gavin. The last class for the year starts on 14 October. the evening course is full, but a copule of vacancies remain on the day course. Contact us if you are interested in this wonderful and gentle craft.
Our Latest Shipment of Japanese Fabrics
It was only a few weeks ago, we were noting the holes in our shelves. Now we're well and truly full, but we could not resist a wide selection of the latest releases from Japan. Our regular customers will know how much we love the quality and rich, quirky designs from Kokka and Yuwa. The latest ranges loves up to that reputation and will look great on your unique quilts and bags. The childrens prints are also marvellous - they will inspire some precious hand-crafted gifts for Christmas, we are sure. Click here to see a sample of these ranges.
Class List Updated
Our class list for the rest of the year was updated on 19 September 2008
Yes, the latest Kaffe Fassett book is in store
We do have Kaffe's latest Country Garden Quilts in the shop. Many of our customers are great Kaffe fans and enjoyed his workshop and lecture evening at Addicted To Fabric last year. Not only do we have copies of the book, we have a huge range of Kaffe fabrics and limited numbers of kits made up from the quilts in the book, including Zig Zag, Gift and Whirlgig quilts.
When The Boat Comes In
As in the famous ditty, our boat has come in! Laden with new ranges of patchwork fabric and filling our shelves to overflowing again, we have had a big shipment during the week. Have a look at the new ranges page for some very tasty fabrics from new and established designers.
Kerry Gavin Featured in Quilters Newsletter
Congratulations to our hard working Quilter In Residence, Kerrilyn Gavin, whose quilt Summer Harvest is featured on the cover of the September/October edition of US magazine, Quilters Newsletter. The magazine includes an interview and workbook with Kerrilyn. Customers will have seen the quilt in store and on these pages - Kerrilyn taught it to a dedicated group at Addicted To Fabric and later won several awards for the quilt, including Best in Australia. We have had many e-mails and calls from around the world to congratulate her on the achievement. We are very proud of this the latest of Kerrilyn's accolades.
Aunt Millie's Garden Block of the Month Shipping
Wow, what a cutting job was undertaken in the last week or so. We cut well over 100 fabrics for our latest BOM and these are now shipping out. The overseas orders went out on 5 September and the local orders are being collected/posted today 6 September. For those buying the whole BOM in one swoop, we thought it would look nice in its own window box!
A Flush of New Ranges are on the shelves
We recently talked about the holes opening up in the shelves as a result of our sale and recent projects. Well, we fixed that problem!! Some great new-season ranges are now arriving and we have put them up in the last week. Joel Dewberry's Ginseng, Erin McMorris's Park Slope, XOXOXO the Cat and Art Gallery are some of the fresh ranges in store. Check out our new ranges page.
Another Two Kits are Up
We have put another two new kits on the website today. Simplicity and Paper Roses are shown here and the details are on the kits page. That brings the new kits to ten and we will now take a break while we get the new season fabrics into the store. We have a few holes in the shelves for the new ranges which are now overdue from our suppliers. Some are due in the next few days so we should have the details up on our new ranges page on a week or so. So keep an eye out.
A Few Less UFOs
The winter cold in Canberra has given the opportunity for quite a few of our customers to get to those UFOs ( Un-Finished Objects) completed. Jenny was in during the week with two of her UFOs from recent classes. We think she has done a great job on the Kimono quilt form Hitomi Fujita's recent course and a spectacular hexagon quilt from Daiwa Ceicys' Happy Hexagons workshop. Daiva is conducting her final workshop at the shop at the end of the month and there are a very limited number of places left if Jenny's quilt inspires you to have a go. Check out the current class list here
Looking for a Great Gift?
If you are looking for something different for a gift, we are now stocking the Scissoroo hand-crafted scissors, with the stylish kangaroo motif. These distinctive, high-quality scissors have been designed here in Canberra by Trevor Robertson and hand-made in a family-run workshop in the Italian Alps. They are not only stylish and functional, but their unique design features finger holes shaped to fit the finger and thumb of the user perfectly. Priced between $34.95 and $49.95, they are great value for money. Contact us if you would like a pair.
Our Favourite PFAFF Sewing Machines on sale
For those of you thinking about upgrading your sewing machines, we wanted to let you know that PFAFF is having a stocktake sale with substantial savings on some of our favourite sewing machines. You can save up to $800 on machines such as the Expression 2058 and 2048.
Most of the staff at the shop have a PFAFF in their homes and it is the only brand we sell and recommend. The sale will run through September, while stocks last, so if you are interested, come and have a play. We have never seen these machines at a better price.
Sashiko Class
Hitomi Fujita from Quilting Heart visited the shop on the weekend to demonstrate her sashiko by hand and origami techniques to our lucky customers. The techniques were perfected whilst making some gorgeous little kimono quilts.
Another Kit Added
We have just added another kit to our kits page. It is a traditional pattern with a twist from Kerry and is easy to cut and piece. And it is exclusive to Addicted To Fabric. That is a total of eight new kits and a new block of the month we have finished in the last few weeks - phew!!!
We only make limited runs of our quilt kits and rarely repeat them so when they go, that's it. Contact us if you are interested in any of them.
Funky Town Class
We hosted a great workshop here on last weekend – Beth Miller had a packed class out of their comfort zone cutting freestyle without rulers. They had a ball and by the end of the workshop Funky Towns was more like Funky Cities around the walls of the class as shown above. Beth will be teaching this technique again next year so let us know you are interested and we will let you know the dates. Just ask anyone who participated what fun they had and what they achieved.
New Nursey Quilt Kits
Like all shops when one of the team makes a quilt everyone then thinks of what they could make. So we have some fantastic and easy nursery quilts for you to consider, and there are still more in production. Both these kits are simple projects and look great.
We hear there is a baby boom out there so we are ready! Details are on the kits page
Two more brand-new kits
We are using a new contemporary pattern for novice quilters for the Oceans Eleven kit shown here with details on our kits page. It uses Batik-styled fabrics from our extensive range. The finished quilt looks bright and cheery and is great for males - not a pink fabric in sight. Ladybird Garden is one for the girls and you can use your favourite applique technique to make this simple yet delightful quilt, just in time for Spring.
New Kits Available using New Fabric Ranges
Two new kits have just been added to our kits page. Both are super-easy to make. The Little Owls quilt uses an appliqued owl motif and looks very cute on the wall. Nest is a kit made exclusively from layer cakes and jelly rolls and features the Nest range of fabrics, shortly to be released, from Tula Pink the designer of the popular Flutterby range. Nests and little birds - we must be yearning for Spring!
We will be adding five new quilt kits in the next week or two. The first is a new kit featuring Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The earlier Kaffe's Quarters quilts was so popular we wanted to add another easy to make, but spectacular quilt using Kaffe's latest zinger stripes. It's a real stunner and what's more, it is so easy it can be made in a day!
As with all our kits, we assemble limited quantities and rarely repeat them - so get in quickly if you like them. We put this on the wall a few days ago and we have sold five already. Click here for pricing and other details. Click on the picture for a bigger image
Brand new Block of the Month
Kerry has just completed this striking new quilt which will be offered as a block of the month over 8 months from September. Cost will be $40 per month. It has been up in the store for just one day and is attracting a lot of interest, so if you are interested in this project, let us know or drop in and visit the store to have a look at this beautiful quilt. This quilt can be made using your preferred method of applique. Click on the quilt for a larger image.
Our mid-year Sale
We decided this year to only have a three day sale and advertise it exclusively to our bag ladies, members of Canberra Quilters and regular customers. It was a huge success - we hope you found a bargain or two. We stacked up a serious range of very cheap fabrics that we took off our shelves to balance up our collection and then offered great savings on all fabrics and books in store. All sold well and we now have few holes in the shelves. Let me see! Perhaps we might fill the gaps with new ranges - watch this space!
What sale would be complete without some door and bolters pizes including a PFAFF sewing machine and top-of-the-range Ott Light? Plus some of our generous suppliers - XLN, SSS and Victorian Textiles contributed prizes. So well done to Valetta ( PFAFF Sewing Machine), Robyn (OTT Light), Robina, Melissa, Joc, Lil, Karen, Margrit, Lesley, Marion, Liz, Patricia, Beth, Finn, Judy, Narelle and Karin.
The Thursday Ladies Friendship Group Update
We peviously highlighted the work of our wonderful Thursday Ladies Friendship Group as they embarked on making 12 quilts for donation to the Grandparents Group, supported by the Canberra Mothercraft Society. We are delighted to record that they have just completed thirty quilts and these were presented on Thursday 3 July to Emma and Mary representing the Grandparents Group. They have done a fantastic job and everyone was delighted with the results.
Amy Butler Bags
Amy has released new bag designs including a notebook and IPod bag. Jenny checked them out at Amy's stand in Portland and we have rushed them to Australia . They are here and will be available for purchase from Tuesday 10 June, so come in and check them out. We have a great range of Amy's fabrics and others that make up into colourful and stylish bags. Bag patterns and classes are one of our specialities.
Anna Maria Horner New Range of Fabrics
Portland Quilt Market was huge - the organisers said their biggest yet! One designer that stood out was Anna Maria Horner's new offering. We are probably one of the first quilts shops to have her new range Garden Party. We put it on the floor this week. Have a look at it on the new ranges page and we have include a sample on this page to whet your appetite.
Kaffe Fassett wows us again
One compusory stop on our Market tour is always to see what Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably have been working on. Kaffe's fabrics are enormously popular at the shop and we stock and sell a huge range. We were not disappointed. Kaffe showed us his new 2008 range and we are delighted to report that all 68 fabrics have arrived and have just been put on the floor. We took this picture of Kaffe surrounded with his quilts from the new range ( he is a bit hard to spot amongst all that colour and pattern!). Check out the range on our new ranges page and we suggest you move fast - we often sell out quickly. We look forward to a new book from Kaffe later in the year and hope we will have a chance to host him in Canberra in the future. His last visit in 2007 was a huge success with our customers.
Children's Designers
One of the features at Portland this year is the fantastic new and innovative childrens' clothing designers using beautiful patchwork and other fabrics in their designs. We have brought back quite a lot of patterns for you to try and will be importing more in coming months. Some of the stands were quite inspirational so come in and have a look at the new patterns as they arrive!
Melly and Me
Wow, these designs have been popular! We have been delighted with all those cute animals that have walked out the door as both patterns and in kits with individual fabric selections by our staff. They are easy to put together and look a million dollars, made with bold and modern patchwork fabric designs. They have been particularly popular with our younger customers, but quite a few grandmothers have been joining in lately - they are ideal gifts. We continue to get new patterns in - including a range of bag patterns shown in photo opposite. Do come in and have a look at the range we have on display at the front counter.
Earlier postings are here