Welcome to our New Store at 25 Kilbirnie Plaza (just a 20 second walk from our old shop)

With a lot of help from Mr S (husband of the year), Midget and (the not so Midget) Son, plus sewing friends Anne, Adrianne and Vicki, we are all moved and sort of settled into our new shop.  Rather than Tuesday Stack I thought I would share some photos of some of the space.  And there is lots of space - if I was still of cartwheel age and ability, I could do cartwheels in the shop.  (While I am posting this at home I realise I have not included any photos of the front of the shop - I think it is a symptom of the sleep deprivation that has been happening here).

There are still messy bits!

Part of the new classroom/workroom space - still needing a wee tidy up!

Beautiful flowers from one of our lovely customers, thank you Terry.

Even the Queen wears Glitz

New in store HRH Queen Elizabeth II Blackboards.  Her magesty looked as though she needed a little something else. What better than a Swarovski crystal necklace from Glitz?

The blackboards are $25 and the necklace $170.
We have been playing around with the shop window.  Out went the frames and in went the paper doilly bunting and an afternoon tea theme.  One thing I have discovered is that it is incredibly hard to take photos of a shop window, the glare and reflection don't make for good photography.  I think I may need photoshop.  Does it help with this??  Does anyone know?

So this photo has been taken from inside.  Diane made these beautiful roses from prints charming fat quarters. 

welcome to the new Stitchbird shop

She is not quite ready yet as she is undergoing a makeover.  The shop is 5 minutes from home in the Kilbirnie Plaza, diagonally opposite from The Children's Bookshop.

We took possession last Monday and have had the builders in....

We hope to be open on 21 May which is just over a couple of weeks away and the To Do List is very long.  This weekend we will be painting, electrician, next week carpet, furnishings, then signage, the list goes on.

The shop will be called Stitchbird and as well as fabrics we will also be selling special things for you and your home. 

It is all very exciting and just a bit scary at the same time!

Remnant Sale

I have a new shipment of fabrics arriving this week, the ship arrived yesterday so it is time to have a sort out of all the end of lines and remnants.  I have loaded several into the shop already and there are still more to come. 

I will be sending out a newsletter in the coming week, but thought I would give a heads up to my blog readers first.  Some of these are fabrics that cannot be repeated so it is a last chance to get your hands on some of these fabrics at a reasonable price.

I have also received several new fabrics, patterns and magentic bag closures this week and they are now in the shop.  Included in the fabrics are some moda 100% wool fabric, I use this for a lot of my crafting in place of felt and it gives a lovely finish.

And after much waiting (I ordered this fabric in October) 2D Zoo has arrived.

I used this fabric in one of the quilts I made for the twinkies (my twin niece and nephew).

Hard to believe that this was made before I had a blog and before Stitchbird Fabrics even existed.

Anyhoo hope you are all having a stupendous weekend .... must dash to get my fix of American Idol (and Steven Tyler).

good bye to the old and hello to the new - baker's twine

If you have made a purchase through Stitchbird Fabrics your parcel will have arrived tied with a piece of red trim.  Unfortunately the red trim is coming to an end and based on the age of the spool it came from my guess is that I will not be able to re-order.  A google search did not even find Lawrence Textiles :(

So what to use in the future.....



Baker's Twine!  Not only will parcels come tied with Baker's Twine you can also buy Baker's Twine in the shop here.  With names like Maraschino, Peapod, Lemon Drop and Pink Sorbet who can resist.

Just a few photos to tempt...

Caribbean

Pink Sorbet

a joint effort

In my last shipment I received these bag patterns.

Echino Messenger Bag

Echino Pleated Bag

A lot of internet shops say how easy these patterns are to follow even though the instructions are in Japanese.  Either I am really thick (this is a genuine possibility) or they are stretching the truth in the interests of sellling a pattern. 

So with the help of Yuki, who translated the Japanese into English and my sewing knowledge we have tried as accurately as possible to translate these patterns into English for you.  So a long time later they have finally made their way into the shop.  When you order you will receive your patterns with the translated copy included.

Happy stitching

Japanese Craft Books

The shipment of Japanese Craft Books has arrived.  Oh what loveliness:

 

  So cute

  

Small Animals a fabulous needle felting book can be found in the shop here.

I have more books to put into the shop and will give a sneak peak inside some of the other books soon.

mail does not get any better than this

Did you here me squeal when my mail arrived?

How fast can I rip into that box to reveal....

The new Circa 50 organic cotton range by Monaluna!

And look at the selvedges

be still my heart - squirrels

cool cars

 

fantastic chairs

and lots more.

They will all be in the shop later this afternoon here.

See ya ,got to go, I have some fabric to fondle and a website to update!

wrinkle love

I love it when quilts go all wrinkly and crinkly after their first wash.

I backed and bound the quilt in Heather Ross's Dandelion Fields white.

I am so pleased with how this has turned out - it is beautifully soft and the colours have a wow factor.

For anyone interested in making a similar quilt, the strips of Heather Ross fabrics are 4 inches wide (cut 4.5 inches to allow for seams).  The vertical white sashings are 1.5 inches wide (cut 2 inches) and the sashings at the top and bottom are 3 inches wide (cut 3.5 inches).

Apart from the width I did not measure the length of the Heather Ross fabrics, I just cut and laid them out on the floor in an arrangement I found pleasing (I don't have a fancy design wall).  The finished size of my quilt is 97 cms wide by 115 cms long approximately 38 inches by 45 inches.

I have added a Heather Ross quilt fabric combo pack into the shop with a special price for anyone interested in making their own Far Far Away quilt.  There is enough fabric for the quilt top.  There will be left over fabrics (maybe for another quilt) or you could make a bigger quilt, or a different design.

Happy Stitching

**SALE**SALE**SALE**

To celebrate the Year of the Tiger and to clear some space for my next shipment of fabrics Stitchbird Fabrics is having a 10 day sale from Saturday 13 February. Enter the word TIGER in the discount code and you will get 15% off all purchases.

There are also some remnants in the shop. Not many, but a few and these will be in the Sale section on the website. So not only will you get these fabrics at a reduced price you can also get a further 15% off if you are quick.

Also in a world where prices seem to be continually increasing it is nice to be able to tell people about a price decrease. The price of shipping from Stitchbird Fabrics has decreased to $2.00 per order (for New Zealand customers only). Orders over $50 are still free. I have found that most of the time I can package and send fabric orders under $50 in value for $2.00 and I think you should only be charged the actual cost of the postage and packaging.

Once you have bought what you want tell all your friends!