Precious sisters!!

This is a photo of Margaret and Maureen - they are sisters - one from Paraparumu and one from Feilding - and have spent today at The Cloth Shop at our regular Friday Open Day. Margaret is making one of our Blocks of the Month called (appropriately) Brothers and Sisters and Maureen is finishing off her quilt called Papver Pizazz. She has done the most amazing hand embroidery on the centres of the poppies - and - it is the first quilt she has made. She started it last year in one of Quilt in a Day classes - of course there is no way you would finish this quilt in a day but she really wanted to come to the class with her sister and her sister in law so she used our Quilt in a Day class as a starting point. Today she was sewing on the Piped binding.
Jan was back to today - she hasn't been to Open Day Friday for year beause she has been fighting cancer - it was great to see her again -and she is looking fantastic!!

Wednesdays are for Quilting!!

Yesterday morning I had to drag myself away from TV- I was enthralled by the scenes at Barak Obama's inauguration - the speech, the song, the poem, the benediction - emotional and inspiring......BUT...... Wednesdays are for Quilting!! Dot Hooper-Smith (top) and Frances
Crothers (bottom) were the first to arrive yesterday morning just after 9.00. Frances is making Tall Poppies pattern "Clowns" and Dot is making a Beginners Sampler - actually she has made three quilts already, but now thinks it's time to brush up on a few techniques!
They were joined by others during the morning and they traced, cut and sewed -sometimes unpicked -until about 3.30. In the evening between 6.30 and 9.30 we did it all again. Great way to get things done and nurture the creative spirit

Don't worry! We are not the Quilt Police!!

We love it when you share your quilts with us! After we get over "it's in the car - shall I bring it in" or "don't look too hard - it's not perfect" or don't look at the back" or "it's not as good as yours" we are thrilled when you show us what you have been doing. It's a scary thing showing your quilts to other people, isn't it? Don't worry -we know about the pleasure of making a quilt - it's the most fabulous thing for your self esteem -and we love seeing what you do.
This is Doreen Badger's quilt(it's in the car shall I bring it in!) - she and her friend Toni Weygood were in The Cloth Shop today and she is showing us her quilt - she made it from a gorgeous feature fabric and strips of soft co ordinating fabrics. Lovely! and the backs's good too!

Loving every minute!!

This is Mary Whale. She was asked by a friend ,who has recently been ordained, if she would make her a stole to wear on special occasions and although she had some great ideas she had no idea how to get them to work. She has chosen a Paua theme for her stole and a traditional fish hook design - she used a tattoo on the arm of one of policemen from her office as her design source! We told her to come in and spend the day with us at The Cloth Shop and we would show her how to get started. This photo shows her thread painting the fish hook - she is using paua coloured polyneon and metallic threads. She said she loved doing it felt so happy doing something she loved surrounded by quilts and great music!! - and The Cloth Shop Girls

This is the first week we have been together since Chistmas so thought it would be a good time to take a photo!! A beautiful hot summer's day in Palmerston North today, but we basking in coolness because we have air conditioning!! Anne has come back to work for us for a few days and has been busy updating the website - it's great to see her and so good to have the site updated at last!! http://www.clothshop.co.nz/index.php

Link to Our Website

www.clothshop.co.nz

Today Jill Maas released her new pattern Violet. Jill is pictured here with dolls made at a class at The Cloth Shop in December when she taught Violet.
Violet likes to think of her self as a "Goth Chick" she's seen pictures of those kids dressed in black and thinks her mum needs another challenge anyway: she's enjoying being the one to provide it.
Deep down she just loves dressing up, last year it was princess pink, but this year she is amazed, the black outfit demands more attention.
It seems to worry adults, and even has her Aunties talking about her when they think she's out of earshot. Violet sees the uncertain looks on their faces and hears the guarded words they utter when she comes out of her room.
It's all about non conforming, being her own person and standing her ground......just until she feels like a change or it doesn't have an effect anymore.
Patterns are $20.00 each.

New beginnings!!

This is our new Blog!! We look forward to showing you what is happening at The Cloth Shop on a regular basis. Today we packed up the Shoes! ! Shoes! patterns - at last we have finished the quilt - started making the blocks for 2009 Saturday Sampler - we have decided on simple easy blocks this year, giving our blocks a fresh, contemporay look. Jill Maas called in to The Cloth Shop to give us two City Girls - no pattern for these yet they are samples for the class with Jill which will be held at The Cloth Shop on 28 and 29th March.