Guess How Much I Love You....

I have talked about this on Facebook and Twitter but I thought I should show the Guess How Much I Love You quilt that I made very recently.

This is the quilt to before it was quilted.  It sat there looking at me for a couple of weeks and then I thought I really should get on to finishing it.

I don't know about you but I think this is a lovely story and have read it many times to my two boys.... In fact my oldest (who is now taller than me at 13!!!) saw it and simply said... "Mum... to the moon and back!!"

 (I am guessing if I tried to read it to them now I would get an extreme eye-roll or "Can't you see I am on the playstation/playing minecraft/etc/etc !!!!!)

The fabric is available at our on-line shop (the backing fabric is also at our shop but is not online and not part of the GHMILY range).

And no, I don't have the book available for sale... too many memories in mine..

HiJinks first and then School Holidays... what ... wait.... already

I am really trying to catch up but seem to get even further behind. One thing I have to say that has been really enjoyable has been catching up with some crafty minded souls. Last weekend I went to Crafty Hijinks in Ballarat and had a great time.  (Thanks Nicole of Dabbling all day for letting me use your photo - much better than anything I took!!)

The dynamic duo Gillian and Jodie doing their stuff!!
Photo by Nicole

It seems like an age ago I got the chance to sit, giggle, eat lollies and oh yes... sew with friends.  A really lovely time... Congratulations to both Jodie and Gillian for all the effort put in we all had a great time.

Usually during this school holidays we do some different sorts of craft activities and try not to think of Christmas.  Until this year....

Bead & Ribbon Tree

 We have always tried to do something "Christmassy" just before Christmas but we usually find that the kids are absolutely exhausted in December so apart from a couple of successful soft toys we have not done too many after school classes.

Yo Yo Tree

So this time its operation Christmas Decoration during the School Hols.

Felt Bauble

As you can see we have quite a few different designs to do. You can see our program here. And maybe we will see you at one of our classes!!

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!

Sweetie Petites

I know I was going to talk more about Izzy and Archie, but I had to show you these ...

Sweetie Petites

Aren't they cute?? 

They are called "Sweetie Petites" and are from The Red Thread.  Their names are (from L-R) Freddie, Mimi, Molly, Ginger and Daisy, and they come individually as kits for $20. 

Each kit contains instructions, printed fabric (each one has a "little friend") and toy fill to make it up.

I'm going to make Freddie today ...

Journal Secrets

I have a regular group of school girls who are becoming very accomplished with a needle & thread.

The journal cover design below, from "The Janelle Wind Collection", will be the the project for our next class during the Easter school holidays.

As usual, we will have other school holiday classes as well, including papercraft & beading. 

The workshop schedule can be viewed by visiting our website.

What are you doing Maisy?

I've just finished my "Maisy Mouse" quilt.

This simple cot-sized quilt (135cm x 110cm) designed by Michelle & I, has been in my project basket for a while.

The fabric is from a range of Maisy fabrics designed by Lucy Cousins for Andover Fabrics.

I have Maisy fabric packs available that contain a panel & 5 fat quarters for $49.90 (plus postage).

Photos of the individual fabrics can be seen by following this link to an earlier post.

Rudy the Reindeer

This is "Rudy" the Reindeer, a Christmas creation from Melly & Me.

I've helped to make about ten of these cute critters, with a group of local school girls who have been learning to sew with me during the last few weeks.

We will have more workshops for kids during the school holidays. You can view our class list at www.threadneedle.com.au

Best wishes for Christmas to all our customers ... I look forward to seeing you again in the new year!

Learn to Sew for Kids

Here are photos of some very accomplished young ladies who have just finished making handbags in our recent after-school "learn to sew" workshops.

The workshops were held over a 4 week period during the beginning of the school term.

We will soon begin another after-school workshop series where we will make "Rudy the Reindeer", a cute soft toy from Melly & Me, just in time for Christmas.

We will also begin a machine sewing class for adults on Tuesday evenings for 3 weeks, commencing 3 December, where we will make the Bella handbag by Moonshine Designs.

Maisy Mouse

We've just received a great new range of "Maisy Mouse" fabrics designed by Lucy Cousins for Andover Fabrics.

The range includes a fabulous picture-book panel & alphabet design that would be ideal for a sewn fabric book for young ones.

The fabrics from this range are $26.00 per metre (plus postage).

Maisy Mouse panel

Alphabet panel

Maisy Mouse design on white background

Stars - Red & Yellow

Wave - Blue

Flower - Red

Bonza & Beaut

These two cute creations are "Bonza & Beaut" designed by the talented girls behind Melly & Me.

I love making these popular patterns because they can be made from any pieces of left-over fabric from your scrap-bag.

The fabric colours & patterns don't have to match (as you can see below) & children absolutely adore them as gifts!

These great patterns retail from Threadneedle Craft for $17.75 + postage.

Wheat Bag Pig

So much has been happening since my last blog!

First, I want to show you a talented group of girls having fun making wheat bag pigs. We started with four in the class, now there are seven!

The girls have been working hard after school every Thursday this month. The design for the pigs is from the book, "More Softies".

Also shown below, are two I made for my boys so they could be cosy in bed during Daylesford's cold winter!

More news to follow later this week ...

Jordyn, Georgia, Isabella & Lily (with me in the middle)

Cute Wheatbag Pigs from "More Softies" ... my boys
have named them "Pig-Boy & Piggle"

Dumpling Dynasty & Rosie Flo

We have some fantastic new products for kids from Lark.

They include the "Dumpling Dynasty" Sewing Kit & Easy Sew Bunny Kit ($29.95 + postage). These introductory sewing kits for children are extremely popular.

The Bunny Kit contains instructions & all the materials required to stitch a cute felt bunny.

We also have the "Rosie Flo" & "Johnny Joe" colouring book series.

These beautiful colouring books by Roz Streeten feature clothing & costumes & are printed in the UK ($14.95 + postage).

Gift Ideas for Kids from Lark

Dumpling Dynasty Easy Sew Bunny Kit

"softies" & "more softies"

We have both of these great books available in our store.

The "softies" & "more softies" books each have 22 "friends" for you to sew, knit & crochet.

The books have been extremely popular & the soft toys are easy & fun to make.

The books may be purchased for $29.95 + postage via mail-order.

The "Pocket Gnome" from "more softies" is pictured below.

The fabric in the background is from Moda Fabrics'
"Wonderland" range by Momo ($24.00 per metre).

Paper-craft Journal

Our last class of the School Holidays was this great journal created by Pam Cetinich.

Just look at the fabulous colours using Kaiser scrapbooking papers.

We have a few kits available to make your own journal for $10 each.

Trio of Earrings

A School Holiday's favourite is beaded jewellery.

Meet Nel, one of our talented beaders who has just completed a trio of beautiful earrings.

I love seeing things that you've made, so please do not hesitate to send me photos of your fabulous creations for our blog!

Xmas School Holidays

I hope you've had a great festive season!

Kids will have fun during our School Holiday's program. We are doing a few different projects this time.

Do you remember DAS when you were a child? It's still available ... now, in a variety of great colours.

In this class, we've used DAS to create stylish chameleons. Here are a few creative examples!