A quilter's Essential!!

Last week we showed you a photo of Pam at The Cloth Shop staring the Quilters Essential Bag -today it's finished!! It really is a super bag - pocket for the cutting board, and quilting table, pocket for 6" x 24" ruler, pockets for threads, pocket for the notes folder, pocket for the cutter and spare pockets for what ever your hearts desires. We will be writing the patterns for the bag this week and we already have a class starting on the 30 April. You can see the inside of the bag on our Classes page on our website.

Today was a good day - Pam got her new glasses - at Last!!

Isn't this a fabulous bag!! Margaret comes from Auckland and in the weekend she brought her daughter down to Massey University. She decided to stay down for a couple of days and thought it would be a great chance to make the Claudie Jo bag at The Cloth Shop - her friend bought the pattern from us at Calico Christmas in November and gave it to her as part of her Christmas present. She bought a Husqvarna sewing machine recently so it was a good chance to get to grips with that as well. We have called the first photo "Happiness is Making a Bag" and the bottom one "At last it's finished" but we'll let you into a secret - the handles are only pinned on!!

Aiming for perfection!!

This week we started the first Beginners Patchwork and Quilting class for 2009 - the photos are of Roz - in the top one she is cutting her 3 1/2" strips and the bottom one shows her looking very critically at her first block - this is actually a practice block that we give them on the first day so they can practice cutting and sewing -at the beginning of the class we talk about choosing fabrics and colourways, so for their homework they need to buy their fabric and make this block again in their colour choice. The first day they feel very nervous about cutting - particularly after we give them the "Lecture" about never leaving the blade exposed and the dire consequences if they do - the ruler seems extrememly awkward, they have to start thinking in 1/2 inches and 1/4 inches and get their heads around strange terms like fat quarters and fat eighths but at the end of 9 weeks they will have made a quilt and really enjoyed the process!!

Magnificent Blooming Baskets!!

Looks at these spendid floral baskets!! Today we held the first Baltimore class for 2009 - the top two photos are of Jo's blocks - the one she is currently working on is at the top and one of her finished ones below. She has already made a large centre panel - on point - which we will be surrounded by four different floral baskets - she has chosen a colour pallete of terracotta, orange, blue and green on a muddy grey backgound - it looks wonderful!
The bottom basket is one of the blocks of Jennie's quilt - she has chosen a mix of magenta,purples, hot pinks, greens on a creamy white background - she has made sixteen blocks, sewn them together into a large quilt and has now started the quilting. You might think a hand applique embroidery class would be a quiet, sedate one - it is certainly not the case with this class. It's loud, noisy with lots of laughter and chat but as you can see there is some magnificent work produced - Rose comes from Wellington once a month to teach the Baltimore class - she said she just looks forward to coming and can't wait to seeing what the girls have done since she saw them last.

We thought it would be so easy!!

Today we started making a fabulous new bag. We have been asked lots of times if we could make a bag that would hold a cutting board, quilting table for the machine, rulers, square rulers, cutter, scissors and current projects - a bag that you could keep things in when you are at home and then when it's time for a class you can pick up what you need for the day and carry it all in one go.
Pam Smith has a bag that we are using as a starting point and she is going to teach the class for us - we are holding it on three consecutive Thursday evenings starting at the end of April. She spent the day at The Cloth Shop so we could make the sample and before she came we thought we would whip it up in no time. - it is actually a series of small quilts - one forms the main body of the bag and a series of different size quilts form various pockets and flaps. At the beginning of the day it was going to be Black and White with the Gypsy Chique girls on the some of the pockets, mid morning it changed to the paisley fabric - that is already quilted - in rusts and acid greens - a few dramas while we sorted out the Gyspy Chiques and by 2.00 we had one small pocket almost finished! We decided we needed a lunch break in the sun and after that it was all go! go! go! Pam has taken the bag home to finish it - we will show you how fabulous it is soon.

Jock 1999 - 2009
Jock was Katherine and Colin's miniature schnauzer - this week he was diagnosed with cancer and died on Saturday 21st February.

Special, Beautiful things!!

Look at this ring cushion that Francie has made for her granddaughter's wedding this weekend in Queenstown! She has crosshatched the satin background so that it has a luscious, shiny texture - the doily in the centre is one that Francie made when she was 17 and the tatting around the edge was done by the bride's great great aunt when she was in her 70's. The silver ribbons that are attached to the centre are for tying on the wedding rings - they aren't old, but she bought them at The Cloth Shop so that makes them special too!! It's a beautiful, sentimental thing - perfect for a romantic summer wedding.
Francie is in the top photo.