Its Christmas Time

The end of this year has been eventful to say the least.... Our oldest boy is finishing Primary School so there has been a lot of presentations and celebrations that we thought we would need to go to.  That was until he came down with Chicken pox!!!! And yes he was immunised which basically seems to mean you get a mild dose which is great but doesn't let you be with your friends when you really want to be...

All going well (?) our youngest should get it on Christmas day.... yes he is immunised as well....

So cards and calls and messages haven't happened and presents have only just been finalised ..... but we have got there. 

Tomorrow Threadneedle will be closed until noon on December 27th, so go and have a safe and enjoyable festive season with your loved ones ... XXX

Put a little bit of Prints Charming into your festivities

What a year!!

I cant seem to keep up with both family commitments and getting all I want to say to you about the things that are happening at the moment....

You might have heard that the wonderful girls at Prints Charming have created another range of absolutely beautiful fabric - we are hoping to see this very soon.

I am happy to say that we have also ordered and received some fabulous hand printed panels and kits from them.  The following birds are simply stunning... they go with the new range and are just begging to be embroidered on.

And here are the amazing Christmas decorations that come with 12 prints to stitch on, backing fabric and threads - all you need!!

Both the birds and decs come with a great little stitching guide that gives you all you need to get going and trying some new stitches.

But wait there is more .... but that will have to wait until next week as I need to show you all the beautiful prints Kristen has sent me as well....

And don't forget that the Daylesford Makers Market Twilight Market is on this Saturday at the Primary School from 3.00pm until 7.30pm so come on in and get those last minute presents (I know I said the p word ... how far have you got!!)

Wool, glorious wool

When our friends at Purl's Palace had their store, I must admit that I would wonder over every now and then for a chat and to look at all the beautiful yarn in their store.  Mostly looking at the beautiful garments, a lot of them designed by Zoe which made them even more special.

Secretly I had wished that I could knit well enough to make something for myself that looked decent enough (for a beginner knitter) for me to actually wear.

Well I did.... It was finished a while ago and I have worn it through a lot of the winter months and it has been wonderful.  Its called Stingray made with boucle wool (to hide the bad knitting) and I often wear it with one of Kristen's lovely brooches.

Hello new addiction ..... I need to do something with that Noro over there and make some.......

A little bit of stitching...

Do you every go through a phase of looking at all your half completed things and then promptly ignoring them???!!!  Do you look at them and think they will never get finished - the pattern you have devised that needs to be written, the little "quick" stitchery that is now months old and half finished.. the quilt pieces done at primary school that need to be finished... that patchwork bag that well... sort of looks like a bag........ !!??

And then you go and start something else....

I am having one of those times .... with heaps of things to plan and do you would think I'd pull my finger out and get them done... but no.

This is a Rowandean mini kit called Echinacea.  They come with everything you need and some, like this, have different fabrics and threads to play with.  Best part is that even though they have the basic stitch instructions only the fundamental pieces (in this case the flowers) are actually printed on the fabric so you can make it your own without much effort.

Sigh... back to the finishing.....

New things

I know its been a while but there has been a flurry of activity at Threadneedle and at home.
Our first exciting bit of news is that we have introduced Wool into our Shop!!!  We now stock Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and Eco Baby Cotton as well as the magnificent Noro Silk Garden and Silk Garden Sock... But wait there is more... we also have Rare Yarns in 4 & 8 ply as well as Boucle and Brushed.  

I have been busily knitting away (very slow at it I must say but getting there) and will have some photos soon of finished items.

On the home front we have two new additions to our family - more boys - but the cutest boys you have ever seen.  Meet Cusi and Tupac (Incan names), our gorgeous Alpacas!!  They are only about 10 months old so we are hoping they will become comfortable with us - so far so good...

I am about to go out again and tempt them with some more food - basically just to coo and tell them how gorgeous they are really.

Daylesford Craft Experience - Oh My

That's about all I can say about the amazing weekend that was!!

With the help of our three gorgeous designers and their equally stunning designs we went to Peppers and had a great time!!

(Melly, Jodie and Kristen found out that they can grapevine together - always important to learn new skills... )

I must thank a whole lot of people in addition to the designers.  First of all my helpers and sanity keepers during the weekend, Jill, Mark, Claire, Jody, Michelle, Gaynor.. just to name a few - through injury (that was a sharp rotary cutter!) and smiles they all did a fantastic job and are the real stars of both days.

A lot of people also kindly provided items that were in the goodies bag or as door prizes and they should be recognised as well...

Peppers, SSS Sewing group, Craft Book Wholesalers, Victorian Textiles, Birch Haberdashery, DMC, Zoe and Andy from Purl's, Lark, The Bathhouse, Black White & Rouge, Sweet Decadence, She-Tea, Cleopatra's Soaps, Lily loves Pearl, Jules Soaps, Crafty Squirrel and the support of the Daylesford Makers Market just to name a few...

And finally, and most importantly, thankyou to all those who came - I hope you enjoyed being with us and just ... well ... taking time out of your busy lives to ... indulge in your craft.

So with that.. the tired (and emotional!!!) Threadneedle will go and eat some chocolate and maybe have a glass of wine...

.........................and start planning 2012..........................

Daylesford Craft Experience

Soooo....

I wonder what's going to be in these???

Are you coming?

Don't forget the Makers Market on this same weekend

Check out our Weekend of Craft.

Westalee at our shop May 14

I met both Leonie and Bill the quilt trade shows in Melbourne a couple of years back.  Being a relatively new shop I was still finding my way but I thought the Westalee products were fantastic - and promptly bought some for the shop ... and ... me.

Leonie and Bill have created a fantastic range of quilting products that take the pain out of getting perfect corners and clean lines since then and guess what? They are coming to demonstrate them at our shop next week !!!

Why dont you come on in and see what you can do with this fantastic products - both Leonie and Bill will be with us all day.  She has even got this amazing competition going with the Westalee products which she will also talk about.

        

PS.. Guess what!! Daylesford Craft Experience is less than a month away and I am getting a little excited (and a lot scared)!!! I can happily confess I have seen all the designs and they are gorgeous.... I think you are going to love Melly, Jodie & Kristen's work...

Stitching

April seems to have disappeared in a blur.  I know there is still a little bit of it left but with school holidays and two birthdays in them - I am ready for a sit down!!!

So when I get home at night some stitching in front of the telly is a nice way to wind down and relax with the boys. Its amazing how I can cope with Man vs Wild eating who knows what when I  have something nice to stitch!!!!!

A sweet stitchery was required so I picked one of Kristen's beautiful peacock garden designs and decided to use some Threadworx overdyed thread to stitch it .... what do you think...

It's a lovely stitchery to do, as are all of Kristen's designs.  What to do once it is finished?? Bag... Stretched over a canvas... in a hoop...

Answer:  ...it will be a cushion with about a 4" border all the way around in this lovely teal fabric - I know it is simple but I like it. (I must admit there has been a bit of cushion overload here as I have also been playing with charm squares - more of that soon).

The problem is that the boys have just noticed that Kristen also does robots....

Take a look at all the lovelies over at Kristen's shop and remember she will be with Melly and Jodie here at the Daylesford Craft Experience in June!!  I dont know about you but I am getting a bit excited (and a bit nervous too).

Hope you have a lovely Easter and if you are heading this way, don't forget to drop in to the Daylesford Makers Market at the Primary School.

Stuff

It seems that this year is going to fly - and I am going to be catching up all the time!!!

There are heaps of things about to happen so I thought I would talk about them in no particular order.

First.... school holidays are just around the corner!!! We have some fun things to do in the shop during the two weeks

Click here to take a look at what's in store for our talented kids.

Second... Westalee.... The very talented Leonie and Bill are coming to visit Threadneedle on  Saturday May 14th!!! 

Leonie created a different approach to quilting rulers and went on the New Inventors a few years ago.  Well she won the People's Choice on that particular evening and then for the whole year. 

The great thing about these rulers and now templates etc.etc. is that they are all Australian designed and made.

Third...Resin Class.  We have had lots of interest but not for April... so... we are going to delay the series of resin classes until June, commencing June 11 and going for three weekends.  Looking forward to this immensely. So if you interested in joining in but were one of those that couldn't make it in April, drop me a line.

Fourth...Daylesford Craft Experience .. we are running out of space so if you want to come and play with Melly, Jodie, Kristen and me drop me an email asap...I am lining up the goodies as we speak and drooling over designs..

And finally... if you are heading out to Daylesford the Makers Market is on with a Frock Swap & Chop - believe me it looks fantastic.  If you can't make it this weekend come at Easter.

Phew....  I think I need a coffee

Resin Classes in April

You might remember in November we did some great resin classes with Sylvia Nevistic and we had an absolute ball creating beautiful pieces.

Well she has kindly offered to come back and let us have another play!!  This time we will be starting with the making of the moulds and then creating our own individual resin pieces from them.

This will be a series of 3 classes held on the first three Saturday afternoons of April. More details are available on our web

I can't wait - I keep looking at things thinking that they would look great as a brooch or a bangle... or on a chain... or in a ring... or.... or....

Hope you can come and join the fun.

Inviting a Little Menagerie to Tea

When Melly's lovely Little Menagerie fabric came in I just kept looking at it.  Then I looked at Jodie's Tea Set pattern... and well...

Ellie and Claudine needed a chat and a cuppa...

So I made them a tea set so they could be refined ladies ..... discussing all things crafty....

I think they might be talking about the Daylesford Craft Experience and what will be made by our three crafty designers...  (Saturday is nearly booked out!! Yay)

Or maybe about next weekend's Chillout activities and what time they will visit the Daylesford Makers Market..

What ever they are plotting I am sure it will involve craft and lots of tea!! (and probably chocolate as well)

Anniversary Sale - Its on again

Our Annual Sale starts today for two weeks. 

I can't believe we are actually 3 years old!!


There are bargains available all over the store with up to 20% of our range of products.

Hope to see you there!

Sewing Bag

I have been playing with the Tailor Made Fabric range from Cosmo Cricket.  It has all things sewing and it just had to be made into Rosalie Quinlan's  Nellie's Sewing Bag.

What do you think....

What else could a sewing bag be made of? 

There is a little bit of Wordplay from Benartex in there as well as you can see from the inside.

Its a lovely pattern - even though it is a older one that has been out a while I have been looking for just the right fabric.

Well we're off on a little break for a week to laze on the beach with our boys... just before school starts.  Hope you have a great last week of School Hols.



Daylesford Craft Experience

We have started sending newsletters out and contacting people with respect to the Daylesford Craft Experience.  If you haven't received any information about it you can go here to get some information and the booking form.


 Last year we had a great time at the beautiful Peppers in Hepburn where we were well fed and cared for.  So this year we thought there was no other place to go and therefore on either June 4th or 5th you can come and indulge...

Our talented designers include Melly and  Jodie, who were both there last year and provided so much fun and inspiration that we cheered when they both said yes to come again. 

Our final designer is Kristen Doran who is from NSW and does some amazing hand printing and design.

 

 Unfortunately with all the excitement comes a little sadness... Zoe from Purls Palace, my lovely friend, mentor and partner in last year's Craft Experience is closing her doors on Sunday, February 6 for good ... due to family issues.  If you can drop in prior to then to say goodbye I am sure that she would appreciate it immensely.  I am absolutely sure that Zoe will succeed in anything she undertakes.

I have promised to bring her to the weekend (ie threatened to "kidnap" her) so that she can come and say hello and have some fun.

So I hope you can come and indulge yourself in craft with us in June...

School Holidays

Happy New Year!!! (slightly belated - there goes the first of the NY promises - blogging more)

I can't believe its 2011.  The end of last year was full of both sadness and happiness for some of our friends and family (some of which is still continuing). However, I am truly glad that we are in a new year and am looking forward to all the adventures that it holds.

Once again we have a schedule of school holiday activities for kids available.  They can be downloaded here.  (The pyjama class has commenced but there are still vacancies for others.)

This year I was also asked to do some classes at Jubilee Lake Caravan Park.  Below is some of the results from the Design a T-Shirt/Library Bag class which was just before New Year.  We had 14 kids of varying ages participating.

These textile textas enable kids to create and wear their own creative styles.  It was lovely to run the class outside under a marquee instead of inside and basically have a lot of fun.