We send out a Newsflash by email each Wednesday. This lets you know what is new in the shop each week.
You can receive these by sending us an email requesting that your name be added to our list. You will find the latest Newsflashes below.
Newsflash 1 September
There is only a week now until the Waikato Quilt Show - for those who haven't been before this is a big event in the Quilting Calendar. It is held at the newly remodeled Hamilton Claudelands Event Centre. There is a quilt show put on by the National Association of NZ Quilters which is always worth a look. Plus Expertise Events (the Show organisers) bring over the Best of Show quilts from all the Australian Shows and they are pretty amazing too. Then of course there is all the stalls - this is shopper paradise for quilters as so many shops come from around NZ plus some from Australia. You need allow a whole day to do everything justice. If fact some people stay overnight in Hamilton so they can go to the Show for two days.
So see you there - we are on stall D20.
New fabrics - what fun we have had this week - lots of variety with the new fabrics. Firstly Kaffe Fassett's new ones. If you are doing his class now is a really good time to start collecting as our shelves are fuller than they have been for a while. New ones are in reds, purples, blue/greens and darks.
By the way if you are doing his class we will be asking for your final payment before gst goes up on 1 October.
Japanese floral prints - these shelves are now also fuller than they have been lately. The new ranges are so nice - soft blue, grey greens with subtle gold overlay and a touch of pink and cream.
Then there is the rich Kashmir range with the strong gold overlay, rich paisleys and Byzantine designs - oh so beautiful
But wait there are more - some new ones to add to our Christmassy area - rich bold poinsettias with some equally bold co-ordinates in black, gold and red.
Di's Thursday Night Group will have a couple of spaces in for next term, so if you would like a dedicated night to sit and sew and chatter join her no. Thursday nights fortnightly from 7.00pm - 9.30pm.
New Staff - we have new people joining our team of experienced and passionate quilters, which is so exciting - you will see Malcolm in on a Saturday behind the counter as well as doing his usual termly classes. Cindy Sullivan and Karen Boalch join us on a regular basis working is the shop - we welcome there three to our team and know that you will enjoy working with them when choosing your new quilt projects or finding that difficult fabric.
Newsflash 25 August
We are flat out here getting ready for the Waikato and the Christchurch Craft and Quilt Fairs. Waikato is on from Thursday 9 September until Sunday 12 September from 9.30am - 4.30pm each day. Christchurch is on at the Westpac Stadium from 17 September until Sunday 19 September. It is exciting to be coming to the South Island for the time. We look forward to seeing lots of you at one of the Shows.
Our look this year will be different so check it out. We have had fun planning a new look and have lots of new samples and projects for you to see. We will of course still have our taupe fabrics with us - how could we go anywhere without them! We have two new Block of the Months to release. If you book in early when it is still the first cut the fabrics will usually be the same as in our sample. So even if you are in the shop on a regular basis do stop by and see what is new.
Karen's next series of her Squares on Parade class is starting on Monday 13 September. It runs for 4 nights from 7.00pm - 9.00pm. So why not join her on Monday nights (except for class 4 which is on a Tuesday because of the Labour Day holiday) to make this fresh, modern looking quilt. This class is suitable for beginners.
Jean Wells Tote Bags have just arrived. They are so cool - featuring one of her art quilts. They are made from reinforced plastic, have a zip closing, are multipurpose including being great for taking projects to class, they fold flat and measure and they are just $18.00.
New fabrics have arrived in - this time several Reproduction prints from the 1800s by various designers - just a few to top up the shop shelves.
New book: "City Quilts" by Cherri House. She takes photos and develops a quilt from them, but her quilts look very geometric and graphic. She has designed beginner friendly projects to help quilters move into designing their own quilts. She gives good ideas for achieving a dramatic look by using colour, value and placement affectively.
Newsflash 18 August
Wow we are 7 years old today and what a great seven years we have had - so thank you for your part in that.
We had the Japanese Quilt Exhibition over the weekend. Thank you so much to those who came to visit- we were thrilled with the way it looked - 49 quilts hanging, plus lots of cushions, arty pieces and Japanese bits and pieces were displayed amongst the kimono. We set up a traditional bedroom on the low stage and that looked so cool with tatami mats, futon covered with a silk kimono quilt, a traditional mirror plus quilted cover and a rack of haori jackets. I will get some photos up on the news page during the week so watch for them.
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| Torii Gate at the Entrance | View of the Hall | The Bedroom | Kimono |
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| Susie Pascoe | Anne Joule | Cynthia Hay | Yoko Edwards |
New this week:
Arty Books this week: "500 Art Quilts" is packed with an amazing and stimulating collection of art quilts - over 400 pages of coloured photos for just $52.00. "Layered, Tattered and Stitched" - another art book packed with ideas on how to create fabric art including how to singe, tear, stain, layer, bead and stitch fabric and paper for an amazing textural look. $47.00
Japanese fabrics - Asian style florals with gold overlay - one with cranes, fans, blossoms, etc with lots of red, a blue and gold chrysanthemum, subtle small gold or blue flowers and a big bold floral. Check out the photo on the News webpage
Rich murky stunning Japanese prints and wovens - these are in blue grey tonings and are quite different - already piece of art in their own right.
We have tickets for the Waikato Craft and Quilt Show. They are $12.00 each instead of $14.00 if purchased at the Show on the day. Your pre-purchased ticket can be used on any one day of the Show. They must be picked up from the shop - no postal service available on these. The Show is on at the totally rebuilt and modernised Claudelands Event Centre. As a result of all this building you will enter from what was the back side of the building this year. Dates are Thursday 9 - Sunday 12 September 9.30 - 4.30 each day.
We will be releasing two new Block of the Month Programmes at the Show so check them out, plus other new samples and kitsets. Our look will be a bit different this year, but we will still have baskets of taupe fabrics with us so don't panic!
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Japanese Prints and Wovens
Newsflash 11 August
It has been another big week for fabric arrivals.
Woven Taupes - several stunning new fabrics have come in to supplement our range - several lights and some more definite plaids.
Japanese indigo - we have repeats of some old favourites and a stunning new dragonfly design.
Japanese Florals - two sets of colours - murky blacks, taupes, grape, duck egg,and cream prints - oh they are so beautiful - several would look so nice mounted on an art board and decorated with stitching, beading, etc - they are just that stunning. The other set is pretty cherry blossoms with gold overlay - also quite beautiful.
Geiko Koke has a new range out and we have chosen a few dramatic graphic prints and they look really good with the Kaffe Fassett range - hot pinks and turquoise.
1800s Reproduction Fabrics - we have some of Nancy Gere's latest ranges. One is called "Vanity Fair" and it is quite different. It is in slightly clearer colours with turquoise, mauve, cream and blue. Then there is "Washington's Legacy" which we just have few of - deep reds and a couple of shirtings.
We have set new dates for Karen's Beginners Stage Two class "Squares on Parade" - so if you can rotary cut and sew accurate 1/4" seams and want to know more - this is the class for you. So join her on Monday nights - 13 and 27 September, 11 October and Tuesday 26 October (Labour Day is on the Monday). 7.00pm - 9.00pm. A photo and more detailed description of this class is on the Classes page of the website.
Our Japanese Quilt Show is on this Friday and Saturday from 10.00am - 4.00pm. It is in the church hall on the corner of Church Street and Galway Street - the Our Lady of Assumption Church - just opposite the side entrance to Dressmart. We look forwards to seeing you all there. Entry $5.00
Newsflash 4 August
There is big excitement as the latest range from French General has just come in and it is so lovely. Magnifique is the word that springs to mind. The colours are caramel, cream, a touch of taupe and deep Turkey red. The 'piece de la resistance' of the range is the red on caramel design with birds amongst bamboo and flowers. The range is called Lumiere de Noel, so is their Christmas range but it doesn't look Christmassy. Check it out as I suspect it will go out as fast as the previous ranges.
Other new fabric this week is a big top-up of the basics - a lot of them in the brights and almost plain ranges including Moda Marbles and Stoff Tone-on-Tones. A don't forget our Christmas fabrics are mostly all in now and some are going out quite quickly already - especially those feature style ones.
We have just cut 7" square packs of the new woven taupes and are going to cut today the 7" packs of the new brighter 1800s fabrics that came in a week or so ago. If you live out of Auckland these are great sample packs to order from. They are a useful size to add to your collection, plus they let you choose fabrics to mail order more of.
New books: Material Obsession 1 and 2 are both now in stock. They are stunning books for quilts with that modern look. And for our growing number of 1800s fans we have "The Civil War Diary Quilt" by Rosemary Youngs. This book has 121 stories and the quilt blocks they inspired. It is a great read - excerpts from the diaries of 12 women living through the American Civil War, plus it has a huge range of quilt blocks to make - what a great source book.
Don't forget we have a good range of quilting stencils, so check them out when you are next in.
Help needed - we would love as many people as possible to volunteer a few hours to help us mount our Japanese Quilt Show on Thursday 12 August from 2.00pm, down a the Church Hall - address is below.
Exhibition dates coming up and we will be at them all.
Our Japanese Exhibition on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 August from 10.00am - 4.00pm, a the Church Hall on the corner of Church and Galway Streets - just around the corner from the shop. There is heaps of parking if you enter from Galway Street - just opposite the side entrance to Dressmart.
Hamilton Craft and Quilt Fair - Claudelands Events Centre - September 9 - 12.
Christchurch Craft and Quilt Fair - Westpac Arena - September 17 - 19.