Queensland Shop Owners Retreat

I am coming down to earth with a bump after an amazing time in Queensland last weekend.  From the minute I arrived until the minute I left I was pampered by Sue Daley, Jim, Shannon and Greg.  Their generosity was amazing, nothing was ever too much for them.

Joining me on the retreat were Leonie and Diedre from The Quilted Crow.  And yes, we were all a little excited about our beautiful goodie boxes.

They came tied up with ribbon and a name badge complete with our shop logo.

We started each day with a delicious breakfast….

and a yummy lunch…

Say hi to Karen (on the right) from Somerset Patchwork and Quilting and Sharon (busing sending photographs back to her partner showing how hard she was doing it) from Avonleigh Country Quilting.

Then there was afternoon tea….delicious

And also joining us was Marilyn from MK’s Sew-Able, making a group of six in all.

It got a little warm in the afternoon so some of us cooled off in the pool.

And then there were the dinners…

and not to forget desserts - did I already use delicious, yummy??

But it wasn’t all food and swimming, we worked, learning Sue’s great techniques, we brainstormed, shared ideas, we shared our experiences of owning a quilt business and we laughed, boy did we laugh.

It was a wonderful weekend and as much as I wanted to get home to my family I so wanted to stay.  I will be back in the next post to show you what I stitched.

I think that maybe Inspired Stitches needs to go on the road - what do you think?

This Goes with That and the Fussy Cut Club - Block of the Month

I showed you a little pile of paper pieces all fabric wrapped and ready for stitching back here.  I have to say they are a bit addictive and I have thoroughly enjoyed stitching up some samples of our new Block of the Month This Goes with That and the Fussy Cut Club. You may have seen this new Block of the Month on Sue Daley’s blog, we have given it the Quilt Fabric Delights’ twist and made it in quite different fabrics to those chosen by Sue in the original.  In fact, I couldn’t decide what colourway to do it in and decided to offer it in three.

First up is Spring Garden - it is going to look so good with more hexagons added.

Then there is

Romance a pretty blend florals, soft blues, pinks and tan and there will be some greens in the future too.

and then I couldn’t resist one more to show that you don’t need to be only using small prints; that modern, bold fabrics work really well as well.

So we have Modern Eclectic

I would also highly recommend that if you don’t already have one in your sewing tool kit is to purchase a Sewline Glue Pen, makes it so much quicker, easier and dare I say it fun.  I also invested in a Superior Threads Bottomline Superbob collection.  Although a superbob is included each month, having one of these means that you have the perfect thread for every fabric.  The threads are superfine and you stitches all but disappear.  I am no needleturn appliqué expert but I imagine that they would perfect for this also, being such a fine thread.

I think this is going to be my new portable project, for Wednesday mornings when I take Rachel to her flute lessons.  I can just slip a few in my handbag and go.

Boutique Baby Bibs by Lisa Cox

Lisa has taken the cutest bundle of fabrics and made the most gorgeous boutique baby bibs, featuring applique and paper piecing.  They're so, so cute.

You will find the fabrics here, here, here and here.  We have more Minny Muu and Lecien basics to load on the website, so stay tuned and if you are looking for bias trim you will find that here.

You will find the tutorial here.  Thanks Lisa.