One more Lucy!

I cannot believe how different each Lucy Boston block is! This is one of mine and I love it, I can't decide whether I will work on a colour theme or simply random choices...... Too many decisions to make and too many fabrics to choose from.

The Lucy Boston 'Summer School' classes were so popular that we have scheduled another for this coming weekend Saturday 1st February from 10 am till 3 pm. SO - if you missed out and are interested in learning the technique - there are still a few vacancies. Just call the shop on (03) 9807 3399 to book your place!

Now what I have I been up-to over the Christmas/New Year break? I have been playing with these fabrics from Judie Rothermel. I will be using them in this years Block of the Month starting in late March! 

Here are some of the fabrics made into blocks, wait a little while and I will show you more!

I also had a play with these cute little things.... 1" clamshells from Patchwork with Busy Fingers and some left over fabrics from a previous project. They are so tiny! But loads of fun. 

You will have to wait and see what I did with them...

Until next time,

More Lucy Boston blocks...

The Friday girls have been very busy again this week making more Lucy Boston blocks! The fabric combinations are all wonderful and the fussy cutting is amazing!

These blocks are very addictive - once you start you can't stop. Each fabric creates its own special design whether it is a stripe, a pattern or a flower.

This group are inspired by fabrics from mostly one range. Keep watching because this one will be very special when finished.

The Friday girls turned up again on Tuesday this week .... with a few new friends .... to work on the hand appliqué technique class with Julie Adamson.

This is what they all made in the day ..........  Just joking!!!! (This is Julie's stunning sample)

Now this is what they really did yesterday. A super practice piece covering straight appliqué, curved edges, reversed layers, leaves and small (tiny) circles. Lots of lessons learned and heaps of fun was had by all!

Summer school is almost over, just a few classes to go. Then its back to normal shop activities. 
Lets see what the class participants get up to next!

Sit and stitch...

Ok... I am officially over the heat! We had our third day in a row of 43 C (110 F) today and we are heading for yet another one tomorrow with maybe a very late change. Yuk! I am sitting here at 7.30pm and it is still 38 C (100 F). The shop is getting warmer but the air-conditioning is coping well.

Todays class for summer school was 'sit and stitch', some of the girls were working on more Lucy Boston blocks! I liked this one. It was too hot to spend much time on anything brain draining so we played with a bit of this and a bit of that.

We found this interesting scrap of fabric today too! An Moonen came for a visit a few years ago and signed a quilt for Sue. Maybe she did a practice run on here!

The Friday girls are back in tomorrow... I wonder what they will be working on!

Todays class - Lucy Boston

Well.... and I do have to start with 'well', today we had our second consecutive day of 43 degrees celsius, it was HOT and HOTTER! The weather here in Melbourne is truly awful, we had 2 air conditioners, 2 oscillating fans and a few personal (hand operated) fans going from 10am until we dropped at 4pm. The girls were working hard at creating some gorgeous Lucy Boston blocks. This is a very small selection of their days activities. There were 14 enthusiastic students in the class and most of them made (or laid out) at least 2 blocks each!

There was a mixture of traditional hand piecing and English paper piecing and all of them were gorgeous!

 Do you have a favourite needle? Anne does!!!!!!! Actually she has 2....

I did try to convince her that a straight needle is much easier to stitch with :)

In tomorrows class we will be working on all sorts of things and I will hopefully take some more photos to share!

If you are in southern Australia, take care and try to keep out of the heat!

Until tomorrow,

P.S. If you missed out on this class, we will be holding another one on Saturday 1st of February (10am-3pm). Please call the shop (03) 9807 3399 to reserve your spot!

Summer School - Hand Quilting

Todays Summer School class was Hand Quilting..... BUT this morning we woke to the news that is was going to be 43 degrees celsius!!!!!!! Thats right - a top temperature of 43 C (or 110 F), not really the nicest day for hand quilting. 

The air-conditioners were motoring away all day and the girls worked diligently and achieved some very nice results.

Julie's samples were gorgeous. 

The featured special today are our red spot specials!

Odd sized pieces packaged into bags of approximately 1/2 metre in total.

Priced at $7.50 each.

We have these most of the time, but I have made lots more for tomorrows Lucy Boston class.

Back soon with lots more photos,

The Fridays Girls have started something new!

The Friday girls gathered for the start of a new year of stitching this morning and have started working on their new block a day project. This year the challenge is to make a 3 inch churn dash block 'most' days of the year! I think their aim is to do them every work day (Monday to Friday). The small blocks are then going to be set on point with a larger 9 inch setting square. Leigh has made a flying start to her quilt and is using a contrast fabric in the  setting square.

Lois is well and truly ahead of target too! Her quilt will have a matching setting square.

Shirley has completed last years quilt... Delectable Mountains. These blocks were a little larger measuring 4 inches! Every block uses different fabrics and have been set on point for a dynamic effect.

Sue led the girls on a class in elongated hexagons or 'Lucy Boston" as it is also known. These interesting blocks are fabulous for fussy cutting and playing with colour placement. Leigh has pieced these four blocks and is auditioning a background fabric.

Sue has made these lovely blocks. Ready for another 'Lucy Boston' class next week.

And our other Sue is making progress too!

Todays specials are threads! 

We are no longer stocking these threads and they are available at reduced prices. 

Our DMC embroidery floss both regular and fancy are currently priced at 50% off!

Tomorrow I have a group of beginners learning the art of rotary cutting and machine piecing.... I can't wait, I love introducing new comers to the magic of patchwork!

See you again tomorrow,

Summer School - Day 1

Christmas is over for another year and summer here in Melbourne has finally started to warm up! 

Therefore it is only natural that 'Summer School 2014' has started.

Today was our first class and the teacher was Julie Adamson. Julie's expertise is Hand Appliqué and Hand Quilting and she is a master at both. The students today learnt the finer points of Appliqué and were treated to a fantastic 'show and tell' which included her award winning Paisley quilt!

To celebrate the New Year we are having a TIDY UP SALE. After tidying up after our Craft and Quilt Fair shows last year I discovered there were lots of pre-cut 30cm strips floating around.... so they are all now on special at $5 a piece. Stock is limited so call in for a bargain! There are more specials in store too.

Day 2... the Friday girls are working on their next block a day challenge, would you like to know what it is? Call in tomorrow and see what they are up to!

See you soon,