This Week's Tuesday Stack is Ghastly

Have I told you that I am in love with The Ghastlies?  I don't think they exist anywhere other than fabric, but they appeal to my sense of humour and the quirky.  This week's Tuesday stack is based on The Ghastly Reunion.

 
From top to bottom:

Astrid Tulli Poppy by Erin McMorris

Gracie Girl Sparkle by Riley Blake

Little Kita in Fog by Lotta Jansdotter

Sloane in Tawny Plum - Alexander Henry

Olavi in Rosey Cheeks by Lotta Jandotter

The Ghastly Reunion by Alexander Henry

Plaid Lilac by Denyse Schmidt

How is all the Christmas sewing going?  It is nuts here! Or maybe I am nuts?  Or maybe both - whatever the silly season is certainly here.

We Have Christmas Stitched Up - Extended Hours and Deliveries

Want to make for Christmas or buy gorgeous handmade gifts?  We have a huge variety of goodies on line and in store.

To help with that Christmas shopping we have extended our hours and will be open on Sundays from 10 am to 3 pm until Christmas.

The Underground Designer Market in Wellington is also open on Saturdays and Sundays until Christmas and we will be there every weekend as well.

You can also shop on line 24/7.  If you need your order in time for Christmas we recommend that you place your order before 10 am on Friday 20 December to avoid any disappointment.

Tuesday Stack - Retro Bake

Anybody for baking?  This last week has seen a lot of new fabrics come in store and I wanted to base the stack around my new favourites (they change on a regular basis).  The Retro Bake fabrics by Timeless Treasures are yummy (excuse the pun!) and this week's stack includes a couple of the prints.

From top to bottom:

Very Spotty Powder Pink by Kokka

Eleanor Ink Floral by Anna Griffin

Peace Garden Teal by Fabric Freedom

Retro Bake Kitchen by Makower

Sweetie Pie Yellow

Retro Crosshatch from Windham Fabrics

Retro Bake Utensils from Makower

I also have to show you on of the other baking prints, Retro Bake Spaced, because I love it so much:

What fabric or fabric ranges are you loving at the moment?

Tuesday Stack - Insect

Sorry for my absence last week, it has been a little crazy around here as we get ready for Christmas.  

The fabrics from top to bottom are:

Brush Strokes Multi on Black

Frames Aqua V & Co

Little Bits by Carrie Bloomston

Kona Pomengranate

Bird Dot by Carrie Bloomston

Insect Black by Echino

Acacia Hummingbird Honey by Tula Pink

This week's Tuesday stack is based around Echino Insect in Black.  This print is great and so versatile, I used it in the natural background for Midget's kindle cover (photo below), it is also available in a laminate.

I adapted the i-pad cover tutorial on One Shabby Chick's blog for the kindle cover.  I have one as well for my kindle and I can definitely recommend them. Hmm maybe this could be an idea for some Christmas presents.

Tuesday Stack - Inspired by a Quilt

This week's Tuesday's stack is inspired by Raewyn's quilt.  We spent an hour one Friday afternoon pulling out fabrics to get the combo just right.

Gingham and Spot Lime by Kokka

Kona Bone

Boy Crazy Cars by Riley Blake

Circus Green Stripe by Nancy Wolff for Kokka

Vintage Toys in Natural by Kokka

Gingham and Spot Red by Kokka

Sevenberry Espresso and Mocha Linen Spot

And the finished top looks amazing (please excuse my poor photos).  A close up:

The Vintage Toys fabric also comes in a beautiful Blue which looks lovely made up.  Here it is in a baby's bib and shoes that we sell in store.

Sunday Scrapping - Christmas Stockings

Yesterday afternoon I played in my scrap bag.  I have been making Christmas stockings which I will sell in the shop.  This one was the prototype.

Several more are now at various stages of production.  All I need now is a beautiful old mantle to display them on.

Have you started your Christmas crafting?

Tuesday Stack by Sally

This week's Tuesday stack has been out together by Sally of Salsysafrano.  Sally is a lovely customer who is passionate about quilting.  We sell some of her lovely quilts that in store.  Her colour combinations are cheerful and usually with a wee unexpected twist, just to make things interesting.  Unfortunately in the few days since Sally chose her stack one of the fabrics sold out :0(, so is not included here, but I do not think it detracts from the beautiful selection she has made.

From top to bottom we have:

Tulips by Kokka

Alice by Kokka (one of may favourites)

Sweetie Pie Blue 

Little Kita in Fog by Lotta Jansdotter

Handpicked Flowers by Jacqueline Savage McFee

Bold Blossom Grey by V & Co for Moda

Sing out Loud by Moda

I just have to share a photo of one my favourites from this stack, here is Alice:

Thank you Sally for choosing an awesome stack.

A Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway and the lovely comments about Adrianne's fabric selections.  She is pretty fantastic with her fabric choices.

I have used Random.org's random number generator to select a winner.  A first for me and I did not realise it was a free service so have just donated $4.95 to their business!

To make the drawing fair to everyone blog comments were as numbered 1 - 66 and the facebook comments were numbered 67 to 194.

  
And the winner is Helen M with her comment:

Adrianne's Tuesday Stack and a Giveaway

This week's stack was chosen by Adrianne who blogs at On The Windy Side.

Adrianne is a prolific quilter and still works full time (I don't know how she does it).  I love her sense of colour and design.  Ivy and Ralph, her two cats, are very wise and share their wisdom on her Saturday (Caturday) posts.

I am also fortunate to be part of a stitching group with Adrianne, (although recently there has been less stitching and more work on my part).  When Adrianne said she was thinking about having blog sponsors it was an easy choice to ask whether Stitchbird could please be a sponsor. 

I love seeing the combos chosen by others and I especially love this stack from Adrianne.

Dot Mustard - Echino

Kona Candy Pink

Gracie Girl Flowers from Riley Blake

Urban Garden Tea by Alexander Henry

Star Pods Teal by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller

French Navy Mini Spot by Kokka

Gingko Grey by Ellen Luckett-Baker for Kokka

If you would like to win a fat quarter of each of Adrianne's selections please leave a comment here.  Extra entries can be made by commenting on Stitchbird's Facebook page.  A winner will be drawn on Sunday 20 October at 8pm New Zealand.  If you comment here please make sure I have a way of contacting you.  All comers welcome.

Tuesday Stack - A Bears Tale

This week's stack includes two of my favourite fabrics:  A Bear's Tale and Nordic Bear.  I have almost sold out of Nordic Bear so it is a bit of a teaser putting it in here but I just love it too much not to include it.  It is one of those fabrics that I will feel very sad about when it goes.

This stack includes:

Sevenberry Mushroom Linen Spot

Nordic Bear

Comma News Black from Moda

Dahlia Chartreuse by Echino

Leafy by Kokka

Amy Butler's Memoir Zest

Dot - Olive from Echino

A Bear's Tale By Kokka

Lesley's Tuesday Stack

What a fantastic weekend.  My sister Lesley and her husband Murray came to stay.  I asked Lesley to choose this week's Tuesday stack. Lesley is an amazing glass artist and great at putting colours together (you can see more of her work here).  Her stack is based on a pink and green theme:

From top to bottom the fabrics are:

Kona Pomengranate

Peppy Poppy by Michael Miller

Eleanor Ombre Medallion

Green - Medium Spot

Hatbox Stripe

Essex Linen Lime

Modern Christmas Baubles

I love this colour combo.  Lesley also added a few more bits to the stack in the way of ribbons, a pair of glass earrings that she made, and the baby shoes we make.

Hope you are having a lovely Tuesday.

WOW of a Weekend

Rise from the Ruins by Nicole Linnell, which is made from old paint lids found in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes. 

This weekend is a biggy in Wellington with WOW (World of Wearable Arts).  I wonder what amazing things we will see this year?  We will be open on both Saturday and Sunday if you would like to come and visit.  The Underground Market is also huge this weekend and open both days.  We would love to see you.

Tuesday Stack - Inspired by the America's Cup

Gosh it's nail biting stuff!  I don't think there is much work going on in New Zealand between 8 and 10 am at the moment.  I am not really into yachting, but I cannot help but be drawn in.  So go Team New Zealand!

This weeks Tuesday stash has a yachting theme:

Circus Stripe Green by Nancy Wolff

Triangles Red by Ellen Luckett Baker

Stamped Cheater Multi by Ellen Luckett Baker

Red Linen Spot by Sevenberry

The Regatta from Kokka

Maruco Blue by Echino

No guesses what I will be doing tomorrow morning.

Website Work = Little Sewing

I am in the process of making some major changes to the website.  This is not my favourite part of the job, but it needs to be done.  I won't go into all the boring details, needless to say it is not always easy and it does mean that there has been less time for sewing.  But I have managed to do some little bits every now and then, all from my scrap bag.

A little pincushion.

And not that I have sewn on this, but one of my very dear customer's Mary brought this in for me to use in the shop display - her toy Vulcan sewing machine from when she was a little girl (and it works).   Mary's Mum was a dress maker and Mary used to sew too, when her Mum was sewing.    Isn't it a wee cutie?

I hope you are having more joy with your sewing.

Tuesday Stack # 2

This week's Tuesday stack has been put together by Diane who works with me at Stitchbird.  If she was making a quilt she would base it on the following fabrics.

This week's stack includes:

Big Apple from Kanvas

Little Leaves Red from Riley Blake

Bitty Buds by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller

Retro Crosshatch for Windham Fabrics

Socks the Fox by Patty Sloniger for Michael Miller (love,love love!)

Dumb Dot Grey by Michael Miller (does anyone know why they are called Dumb Dots? They look pretty smart to me.)

The Tuesday Stack

Welcome to the Tuesday Stack.  One of the things I love doing is putting different fabrics together.  In this spot I will be featuring a group of fabrics that have been selected because they look good together.  

Sometimes I will be selecting them and sometimes the stack will be coordinated by visiting "stackers".

This weeks stack:

Hooty Hoot Chevron, Riley Blake

Littles Leaves Red, Riley Blake

Bella Blue, Lotta Jansdotter

The Birds, a Japanese Fabric

Little Kita in Fog, Lotta Jansdotter

Green Medium Spot, Kokka

Beach Stripe, Kokka

La Paloma, Alexander Henry

Grey Dots, Amy Schimler

This week's stack was inspired by The Birds fabric:

Improv Blocks - the perfect choice for work procrastination

I should have been working but....

I thought I would play in my scrap bag.  I started out thinking I would make a needle book using my scraps but my blocks sort of grew.   I found this piecing method very addictive.  No measuring and in most cases I just sewed the scrap I had on to the block and trimmed it up afterwards.  

Now what to do with them?  Do I just keep on going making more and join them together for a quilt?  Are they bags? My scrap bag overfloweth so there is no shortage of scraps!

I loved doing them so much I know I will do more.  Any thoughts?

An Up-Cycled Linen and Doily Quilt for My Sister

This is a secret project I have been working on over the last couple of months for my sister Jane (nothing happens quickly round here) for a significant birthday.  

It is made from old embroidered pieces, a vintage irish linen sheet and tablecloths.  I also added a little of the light blue essex linen and a pink shot cotton I had in my stash.

It is quite big 180 cms by 180 cms.

The quilting was done by Sue Burnett on her long arm quilting machine and the binding is a Liberty tana lawn.

Some pieces were family pieces and others have been collected over the years at op shops.  This cat is one of my favourites.

The back also involved some piecing.

Jane now has her quilt and we are enjoying a lovely extended girls' weekend on the Sunshine Coast.  Bliss!

Modern Baby Quilts

Adrianne from On the Windy Side made these two beautiful quilts as samples for an upcoming quilting class that she will be running at Stitchbird.

The pattern is the same for both quilts but the choice of fabrics give a totally different look.  That is why as part of the class Adrianne will cover fabric selection and use of colour, prior to the sewing days.

By the end of the course you will have learnt how to cut and piece your quilt top,  sandwich your quilt and quilt it, and the final step of sewing your binding on.

More information on the course is available here.

Winners of the Felt and Ribbon Giveaways

Thank you to everyone who entered the recent giveaways on Facebook and my Blog.

The Winner of the Felt:
Congratulations to Rachael Burke the winner of the felt giveaway - Rachael commented on the Facebook page to take this prize.  Comments were numbered from the Facebook page and blog comments and the 8th comment on Facebook was randomly selected.

The Winner of the Ribbon on the Blog:
Is the 15th commenter Joanna H

Jo-Anna H said...

Oooohh I love the doilies ones - I've never seen them before - just beautiful!!!``

May 24, 2013 at 8:38 AM

Jo-Anna I do not have your contact details so can you please contact me.  If I do not here from you within 5 days I will make another draw.  

Blimey Another Giveaway

This time it is ribbon - 5 metres of it in fact.  If you would like to pre-select your winnings they can be see in store here

This giveaway is open to international entrants.  To enter all you need to do is leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favourite type of ribbon is - it maybe one we sell but it could be some other ribbon (we do not discriminate!).  Make sure I have a way of contacting you if you win!

If you would like to get a second opportunity to win another 5 metres of ribbon, then scoot on over to my Giveaway Page on Facebook and enter the competition there as well.  The Facebook competition is administered through Rafflecopter.  Apparently you are not supposed to just do a giveaway directly on Facebook, like I have done with the Felt competition.  So the blimey and other bad words you heard coming from this way, was me trying to figure out all this third party app stuff - phew I hope I have got it right because all I want to do is give some stuff away... 

Entries will close on Sunday at midnight and I will select a winner asap after then.  Good luck!

Because we are 1 and we felt like it...a little Felt Giveaway

One year ago today we opened our physical shop in Kilbirnie.  My how time has flown. 

To celebrate we will be hosting giveaways all this week and offering specials in store this week.

First up is a felt giveaway.  We offer a range of over 60 colours of wool rayon blended felt - a perfect felt to work with on any number of projects.  To enter our giveaway and win 10 pieces of felt - colours of your choice,  just leave a comment on this blog post letting me know what projects you might use your felt for.  Entries are limited to New Zealand residents this time but there will be giveaways this week which will be open to all comers!  Please remember to make sure I have a way of contacting you should you win!

The giveaway will stay open until Sunday 12 noon.  If you would like more than one chance to enter you can also comment on our Facebook page.

Also just to let you know if you would like to purchase some scrummy felt or anything else on line this week and receive a 10% discount - just add the discount code CELEBRATE in the discount area on check out.

Good luck!

Remembering Mum...

I have been without my Mum now for over 16 years and I still miss her.  We did not always have the perfect Mother - daughter relationship, but it was ours with all it's faults.  Her name was Marie, but pronounced like the end of Waimairi (the Maori place name).   

If she was still alive my Mum would now be in her 80's and she was a product of her times.  She had me in her late 30's, the youngest of 4 children and I always got the feeling that she and others thought this was quite late to be adding to your family.  As the youngest of 4, I do not have any photos of the two of us when I was a baby.  Again I think photos were more for special occasions and also my Mum was quite ill after she had me.  Although I am not aware of all the details, it may have even been post natal depression, not that it would have been diagnosed at the time or talked about.

She was quite the career woman in her day and owned a hair dressing salon from a very early age, but marriage, moving towns and babies meant the end of her career.  She had a love of beautiful clothes and always liked to be immaculately groomed.  I remember her always being very "dressed up"  even for things like school events and meet the teachers.  In fact she would most probably disapprove of some of the photos I am going to put on this post!  

Mum loved baking, cooking, sewing and gardening.  She made a lot of our clothes, not that I was necessarily grateful at the time, I remember desperately wanting store bought clothes.  But when I think back, my favourite clothes were those my Mum made.  

She had a little red Mini that she drove and on Fridays she would bring a bought lunch to school for me and my brother - we would run out to meet her at the school gates -  chocolate cream buns were the bomb!

We also went on family holidays (all 6 of us) in that Mini.  My two sisters (as the eldest) often had to catch the bus to wherever we were going.

I was 13 when my Mum had her first stroke and lost the use of her right side.  However she was very determined and worked very hard to get most of the use of her arm, hand and leg back again.  But her health was never great and  her heart problems were compounded by her own smoking.  Despite all this in her 50's she worked with young teenagers who slipped through the gaps, providing some one-on-one tutoring to give them life skills - helping them get their drivers' licenses, open bank accounts, set budgets, apply for jobs and do their own grocery shopping.  

One of our daily routines involved sitting down with a cup of tea at the end of a school day and tucking into some of her home baking and talking about the day.  How I wish I could sit down with her today and do that once again. 

Remembering my Mum on Mothers' Day.