The Joy of Giving - A Quilt for My Dad

One of the reasons I like making and sewing is the joy of being able to gift something you have made.

This year for Christmas I gave my Dad a quilt that I made from up cycled shirts.   I put out the call for old shirts amongst family and friends and received lots of lovely shirt fabrics.  

This quilt was improv pieced.  I had a love hate relationship with this - I loved randomly putting fabrics together but I did not enjoy the having to square things up to create the completed quilt top and it did languish in the to be finished pile for a long time.  So instead of a birthday present it became a Christmas present (whoops!).

The Back

The quilting is just straight lines, 1 inch apart (give or take).  Because the fabrics are up cycled they were very soft.

Tuesday Stack - A Stack of Sewing

There has been a stack of making going on at Stitchbird.  Lots of handmade goodies ready for the Christmas season.  I thought I would share a small selection of some of the making.  This is a few of the kid's messenger bags, lace zippered purses and purses we have made for the shop.

You won't find these in the on-line store as they are only one of two made of each design.  But if you see something you would like please comment here or send an email.

                      

Have you been doing some Christmas making?

Tuesday Stack - Earthy

Stella Intermix Grey from Dear Stella

Jardin de Provence Spot by Daphne B for Wyndham Fabrics

Country Life Cow Parsley and Bees from Lewis and Irene

Jardin de Provence Floral by Daphne B for Windham Fabrics

Country Life Sheep from Lewis and Irene

Irome Floral Taupe by Kokka

Shimmer Sphere in Stone by Jennifer Sampou

The fabric that started this stack is the beautiful Jardin de Proven Floral.  With each stack I usually have a starter fabric that the stack is based on and in this case this was the fabric.

This week's Tuesday Stack is available for sale here.

Anniversary Treats

It is a year since we moved across the drive to Shop 25, Kilbirnie Plaza. To celebrate we are giving away fabric. For every $50 spent on fabric in store you get to choose a fat quarter of fabric. So our on line customers don't miss out we have a treat for you too, with a free gift for every order over $100. Thanks everyone for being such great customers and happy sewing!

Golden Bay Toys are World Famous

This Golden Bay Toy's Caterpillar is going home with Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.  I wonder who will be the lucky recipient?  These toys are hand made by my brother-in-law, Murray in Golden Bay.  He does a wonderful job and it is great to see him getting this royal recognition.

And does this caterpillar turn into a monarch butterfly?  We think it might.

Stitchbird is proud to stock a range of Golden Bay Toys.

Tuesday Stack - Sherbet

Thank you Di for choosing this week's Tuesday Stack.  The colours remind me of Sherbet - sweet and delicious.  

From the top the fabrics are :

Atrium Eclipse Slate fron Joel Dewberry

Eden Wildflower by Tula Pink

Sketch Candy by Timeless Treasures

Atrium Cumulus by Joel Dewberry

Sketch Coral from Timeless Treasures

Eden Labyrinth Peach by Tula Pink and

Eden Deity Sherbet by Tula Pink

This week's Tuesday Stack is available for sale here.

Tuesday Stack - If you Go Down to the Woods

This week's Tuesday Stack started with The Woodland fabric and grew from there.

Mesa Spirit Animal by Alexia Marcelle Abegg for Cotton and Steel

Spring Street Calico Grey by Dear Stella

Dottie Goldilocks by Cotton and Steel

The Woodland by Kokka

Tokyo Train Ride Harajuku by Sarah Watts for Cotton and Steel

True Colours Lady Bug Mustard by Tula Pink

L's Modern Basic Raindrops Blue by Lecien

This week's Tuesday Stack is available for sale here.

Tuesday Stack - Because We Felt Like It!

A stack with a difference!  We have 80 different colours of felt.  The felt is a beautiful been of Wool and Rayon and each sheet measures 30 x 45 cms.  They are great for all sorts of crafting.

The Apple House Creative Card is one of Jodie Carlton's fantastic patterns that we sell.  

You can check out the felt selection on line here and our full range of sewing patterns here.

Tuesday Stack - Irome Spring from Kokka

This week's Tuesday Stack is a biggy.  To herald in spring it seemed appropriate to blog about the new Irome Spring range from Kokka.

They are:

Irome Butterfly Grey

Irome Floral Taupe

Irome Triangles Silver

Irome Spot Grey

Irome Floral Green

Irome Triangles Red

Irome Spot Pink

Irome Triangles Blue

Irome Floral Blue

Irome Spot Blue

Irome Spot Chocolate

There are 11 fabrics in this stack.  As a special Tuesday Stack offer you can buy the 11 fat quarters for the price of 10.

The stack is on sale here.

Tuesday Stack - Crazy Cat Lady

This stack is for the cat crazy people out there (like me!):

The fabrics in this week's stack include:

Dapper Cat from Michael Miller

Tiger Lily Marching Cats Pink by Heather Ross

Cat Drawings on Linen from Japan

Cats on Pink from Japan

Cats in Trees from Japan

Tiger Lily Kittens and Yarn by Heather Ross

Cute Cat Sketches Mint from Timeless Treasures

This week's stack is on sale over here.

And to put all your fabrics in, why not show your cat pride with a Cat Lady for Life Tote.

Tuesday Stack - Pretty Scary

With Halloween a little over a month away, these lovelies took my eye for this week's Tuesday Stack.   However I don't think they should just be used for Halloween projects - they are too cool for that.  I have my eye on some of the cats and the mummies for my scrappy bear paw blocks.

So from top to bottom we have:

Spellbound Cats Charcoal from Cotton and Steel

Mochi Mochi Lime by Rashida Hale Coleman for Cotton and Steel

Spellbound Mummies Charcoal from Cotton and Steel

Spot on Pomegranate from Robert Kaufman

Spellbound Doily Web from Cotton and Steel

Spellbound Elixir Black from Cotton and Steel

This week's Tuesday Stack is available for sale here.

Tuesday Stack - For the Boys

Some customers ask - where is all the cool fabric for boys?  This stack has really cool boy fabric (which many girls would also love!)

Little Flyers Patches Blue from Riley Blake

Very Spotty Pistachio

Little Flyers Beep Grey from Riley Blake

Little Flyers Flight from Riley Blake

Dottie Gold on Gelato in Cotton and Steel

Woodland Creatures Cream from Timeless Treasures

I have already cut out a cot quilt with these fabrics and am just plating with the arrangement of fabrics.  I used the Mod Cot Quilt Pattern for this quilt.

This week's Tuesday Stack is for sale here.

Tuesday Stack - Christmas is Coming

We have been receiving Christmas stock since about May, but it seemed too early to blog about Christmas.  But in the last couple of weeks we have seen more and more people buying Christmas pressies (far too organised - and I am jealous) and getting their Christmas craft on.  So this week I am hopping on that Christmas sleigh and doing a Christmas stack.

Jingle Polar Bears from Ann Kelle

Garden Pindot Red by Michael Miller

Merry Taupe Greetings Grey by Lecien

Postcards for Santa Gold Dots by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake

Postcards for Santa Deer from Riley Black

Merry Taupe Deco Toss by Lecien

Holly's Tree Farm Forest Grass By Sweetwater for Moda

Have you started some Christmas crafting?

The Christmas is Coming stack is for sale here.

Tuesday Stack - Spring Watercolours

Today is the first day of spring but it has been a soggy day in Wellington.  These fabrics remind me of watercolours, which seemed appropriate given the wet rainy day.

En Garden Natural by Nani Iro

Spectacle Pink by Nani Iro

Poppy Trip Red by Nani Iro

En Garden Pink by Nani Iro

Charms Plus Dots Gold by Ellen Luckett Baker

Mountain Views Neon by Nani Iro

This week's Tuesday Stack is available for sale here.

Tuesday Stack - Graphic and a Giveaway Winner

Heath Decor Weight Black from Alexander Henry

Charms Sheep by Ellen Luckett Baker

Samber Natural from Echino

Plus on Black Linen

Charms Half Round Metallic Gold by Ellen Luckett Baker

Monochrome Shades Charcoal by Ellen Luckett Baker

This week's Tuesday Stack is for sale here.

And now for the winner of last week's Tuesday Stack Giveaway.  Each comment on the blog and Facebook page was assigned a number and the True Random Number Generator thingamebobby used and the winners are....  

Sarah May Bowden and her friend Sara Chambers.  Congratulations to the two Sara(h)s.

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway - I am sorry you cannot all be winners.

Tuesday Stack - Introducing The Tinies and a Giveaway

This week's stack is based around The Tinies by Marisa of Creative Thursday for Kokka.  The colours and designs of these fabrics are great.  The range contains Cotton Linen mixes as well as 100% cotton prints.  I have also included one of the beautiful Yuwa Spots.  

From top to bottom there is:

Yuwa Pink Linen Spot

The Tinies Rosebud

The Tinies Floral Green

The Tinies

The Tinies Heart

The Tinies Floral Charcoal

The Tinies Stack is available for sale here.

We are giving away two of these stacks.  If you would like to win this Tuesday Stack for you and a friend just leave a comment here, with your friend's name and what you would like to make with these fabrics.  You can enter a second time by commenting on the Facebook post here.

Entries are limited to New Zealand and Australian residents.  Entries close at midnight Monday 17 August.  The winners will be announced next Tuesday.

Tuesday Stack - Lighthearted

Tuesday Stack was interrupted last week due to illness.  This was doubly frustrating as I had just received a huge shipment of fabric.  After almost a week at home I am so glad to be back at work.  Ordinarily I would think time at home to sew was a bonus - but I was too sick to sew.  (Yes such a state does exist!)

So...I am slowly getting through the new fabrics that have arrived in store and getting them on line.  With over 100 new fabrics this week's Tuesday Stack was hard to pick.  In the end I went with Ayumi Mills' fabric line Lighthearted. 

I have followed Ayumi's blog Pink Penguin for a number of years now - I like her design aesthetic so when she designed her fabric range for Kokka I knew I had to order it.

As well as designing fabric Ayumi writes a column in Patchwork Tsushin a favourite Japanese quilt mag and last year published her book Patchwork Please.  I blogged about her book here.

This stack is for sale here.  As a special to celebrate our new shipment of fabric you will buy a fat quarter in all 10 designs for the price of 9.

Tuesday Stack - Cotton and Steel

I am loving the new Cotton and Steel in store.

Mochi Moon Rabbit Navy

Mochi Floral Purple

Tokyo Train Ride Shibuya

Tokyo Train Ride Harajuku

Heath Pink/Hot Pink from Alexander Henry

Mochi Hot Cross BunsTaupe

This stack is sale for on line here.

Tuesday Stack - What's all this about Low Volume Fabric?

This week's Tuesday Stack is all about Low Volume fabrics.  I get people who ask; "what do you mean by Low Volume?".  So I have attempted to explain what it means to me below, with some examples.  I am not saying this is the definition as I am sure others may interpret it differently.

The term low volume fabric is a relatively new one in the quilting world.  It refers to fabrics which have a white, cream, taupe or light grey background which when put with other fabrics in a quilt read as white or light.  Low volume fabrics can have prints on them, but the prints do not tend to have colour in them or if they do very little.  

Fashion Magazine White by Suzuko Koseki (included in this week's stack) for example features a little colour.  I love this fabric and have used it a number of times as a low volume fabric.

This Mini Quilt using Rachel Woodenspoon's Raspberry Kiss Block was made for Mrs Moog as part of a mini quilt swap.  And features low volume fabrics.

The old white on white and cream on cream fabrics were perhaps the first low volume fabrics and whilst I might use these I like to have a little bit more "going on" on my low volume fabrics.

Low volume fabrics are generally used to provide negative space in quilts and modern quilting.  To me negative space is that place where your eye can have a rest from all the colours and designs in a quilt.  The negative space helps the rest of the colours and designs to "pop" and be noticed.

I like using low volume fabrics in my quilts because they provide interest in the background. However be warned once you start using them they do become addictive and another fabric collection is born.  I have a special section in store and on line which is dedicated to Low Volume Fabrics (just in case you catch the low volume bug). 

Currently I am using low volume fabrics in a scrappy bear paw quilt.

So this week's stack is all about low volume fabric and features some of the newer low volume prints in store, as well as some old favourites.

This week's fabrics clockwise from top right are:

Whisper Shadow from Robert Kaufman

Black and White Tiger Stripes by Alexia Marcelle Abegg for Cotton and Steel

In the Jungle by Sevenberry

Kitten's Meow Toile by Heather Rosas

Pythagore from Yuwa

Fashion Magazine White by Suzuko Koseki

Medallion Bunny Cream from Moda

This week's low volume stack is available for sale on line here.

Tuesday Stack - Gorgeous New Linens

These beautiful new linens are from Yuwa in Japan.  They are a generous 130 cms wide and can be used for quilting, bag making and home decor items.  The linen has a very soft and lightly washed look.

Included in this stack (left to right and then down):

Yuwa Powder Blue Linen Spot

La Brise Blue

Yuwa Pink Linen Spot

30's Collection Strawberry Field

Yuwa Soft Green Linen Spot

Yuwa Little Red Linen Spot

Yuwa Red Linen Spot

Whether you are buying for a specific project or are stash building these would make great additions to the fabric collection.

You can buy a fat quarter of each of these fabrics here.  Plus as a special if you buy this Tuesday stack there is $1 off per fat quarter for a limited time.

Tuesday Stack - So Soft

There have been so many new fabrics arrive in store it is hard to know where to begin.

This week I was drawn to the soft and subtle colours of these fabrics.  The fabrics are (from left to right):

Spot on Pink -  a great spot from Robert Kaufman

China Blue and Pink Floral from Sevenberry

True Colours Daisy Buds Silver by Tula Pink

Pretty in Pink Floral from Sevenberry

Spring Street Calico Grey from Dear Stella

Arbor Rose Red Butterfly from Andover

I just want to cut some now and go and sew.

This week's stack is for sale here.

Stay warm and happy sewing.

Tuesday Stack - Tammy's Stack

This week's stack was put together by the newest member of the Stitchbird team - Tammy.  Tammy is originally from Canada, where she ran her own event management company.  She has been a quilter for a number of years and also enjoys other crafting and sewing.  Tammy works in store on Mondays and Thursdays.

Tammy could not resist the bear fabric.

True Colours Lady Bug Lava from Tula Pink

Bears on Bikes from Sevenberry

Pipi Blue/Green from Echino

Bears with Berries from Kokka

Medallion Bright Green by Ellen Luckett Baker

Sevenberry Mushroom Linen Spot

This stack is sale for here.

Modern Baby Quilt Class and Peasant Top / Dress Class

I have been very bad at blogging about all the lovely things that are being made at Stitchbird recently.  

Last night was the last class of the Modern Baby Quilt tutored by Adrianne of On the Windy Side.

And here are the lovely class attendees with their beautiful quilts.

Aya, Ann and Nancy

Colleen, Rachelle and Amanda

I love how each person's fabric selections make their quilts individual to them.  

Beautiful quilts ladies!

And last Saturday saw the first Girls Peasant Top/ Dress class tutored by Trish

Lisa, Megan, Sharyn, Amanda, Gloria, Bex

Super cute!

There are more classes still available if you would like to come and sew with us.  You can check out the class listings here. 

Tuesday Stack - The Return of the Stack

Lately the stack has been looking bit like this (a bit like my sewing).

A big thank you to everyone who supported our Third Birthday Sale.  I hope you got some great bargains and are sewing up a storm.  Please feel free to share your creations, I love seeing what gets made.

Normal Tuesday stacking has resumed with this week's stack:

Cats Mice Pink from Makower

Moon Shine Doe Eyed Sky by Tula Pink

Dashwood Cats

Colour Full Words Indigo by Jennifer Sampou

Fresh Cut Sweet Pea Candy from Moda

Fresh Cut Tulip Field Ink from Moda

This stack is available for sale here.  

Happy Stitching.