Hi Everyone,

As the title suggests there is only one more posting to go before the Holidays. We hope you have all been able to get those last minute jobs done, if you are stuck for quilty gifts call and see us, don’t forget we close on Sunday until early January.

We have also just received some lovely Dragonfly fabric, we had stocked one of these before, but we now have another with slightly smaller dragonflies and a lovely pastel shaded dragonfly fabric, with sparkly wings, this would be great for a little girls quilt.

There are still a few pieces of Jim Shore Figurines remaining and some Fat Quarter novelty containers too, we also have the new X Block Rulers and Patterns just arrived from USA, as well as the new acrylic templates, these are all on display on the new nortion and patterns stand that Kevin has made.If you are really stuck on what to get why not call and get and a  Sawmillers Gift Voucher, these are a great idea and solves lots of dilemmas.

So until next time,

Happy Quilting

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was a busy day for Kevin and I as it was the final Medal Test for the year at DancZport, Kevin’s dancing school, we were very lucky to have Carol and Julie look after the Tea House and Sawmillers, freeing us up for the afternoon to partner our pupils through. We had great day, with high marks attained by everyone, the youngest candidate was about 10 years old and the eldest was 70 years young. Kevin and I partnered pupils in the evening who went to great efforts to dress accordingly, so Kevin and I also wore our competition wear, Kevin in tails and I in my ’sparkly’ dress. The pupils did a variety of styles from Ballroom to Latin American to New Vogue, some pupils danced two dances and some as many as five.

Well Done  everyone, you all did so well, and a big thank you to the ‘quilty’ people who also joined us and even had a dance too.

Barney and I still have some of the Christmas goodies that are remaining, so if you are stuck for gifts for quilters come and see us and don’t forget there are also vouchers available to, which are great if you can’t decide what to get, but we can also make suggestions in the price range you are looking at.

Because piecing and quilting followers need to see fabric, the range pictured has just arrived, it is by the English company Fabric Freedom, it is really scrummy, come and have a look at it.

The Registration Form for the 2010 Stonestead Outdoor Quilt Festival is now available to print off, just go to the link on the right hand side and follow the directions. Don’t forget the summer is a great time to finish projects off .

Until next time,

Happy Quilting

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick posting today to remind you the days are passing very quickly before the ‘big’ day, mind you there will be those who would prefer not to know yet, and I have to say I would be one of those, why does it seem that every year we say we are going to be more organised and yet it never seems to happen. Anyway pictured above are the lovely designer Sewing Machine Totes by Tuzzi, these would be a great gift from a husband, partner or a collective gift from the family. Come along and have a play see how easy they are to move.

This Jim Shore Father Christmas is one of my favourites, I just love his curly shoes, we only have this and one other figurine of this size remaining, we still have Felicity the Cat, Fire Engine, Angels and Hanging Ornaments and a few more figures, these are so lovely with beautiful colours, but the most important thing is that the prices are very reasonable in comparison to elsewhere, we also still have a few block pins and charms, fat quarter sets, little quilt books and lots of other goodies which will be ideal for Secret Santa and Stocking Fillers and not forgetting Sawmillers Vouchers with a Christmas theme.

Pictured here is Cooper, he is Barney and Archies cousin in the USA, he is keeping the Guthrie home on tenterhooks as he becomes an established member of the family. Barney Official Greeter and 1st Assistant is very festive at the moment as he is wearing one of his Christmas Bandanas, he would love to see you all once more, so if you our way call and see hello.

Until next time,

Happy Quilting.

Hi everyone,

It doesn’t seem possible that Christmas is only 23 days away, we seem to have only just got home from Houston. Anyway the Sawmillers Tree is up with its’ famous quilt block lights and bows, but more importantly to all our visitors we have also got a huge variety of quilters block pins to pin on your totes, lanyards etc and charms for bracelets we brought these back with us from Houston too, great stocking fillers for quilters or for Secret Santa gifts.

Now how about this for a display of Jim Shore figurines, from the large variety we had a few weeks ago to just these, they are beautiful pieces and would make lovely gifts, come in and have a look at them, they are all reasonably priced.

Now this table has got quilty goodies on it as well, which we brought back from USA, they are the cutest containers, ideal for quilters but containing fat quarters too, so once the fabric has been used the container can also be used for pins, thimbles and other sewing necessities, we also have little books and rulers from Intercourse,PA as well. Don’t forget we also now have Best Press in stock, this is the best substitute for spray starch, has a lovely scent and doesn’t leave a starchy residue, I use it in Sawmillers for projects and have found it invaluable, all the bottles have atomisers with them and we can also refill the bottles when they are empty.

Oh yes I forgot to mention that the X Blocks, Patterns and Books have all arrived as well as the new acrylic templates for Dresden Plate, Apple Basket etc.

Don’t forget if you are coming to Upper Hutt on Saturday for the Santa Parade come on up afterwards and see our goodies and perhaps have a Devonshire Tea as well.

Last but not least we hope you like the latest blog header of Barney, Official Greeter and 2nd Assistant and Archie 3rd Assistant ( Unpaid ), Samantha surprised us with this and we think it really is cute, thanks Samantha. For those wondering where Archie is these days, he has become a bit anti social and prefers to sleep either in my car or stay at home in the chair.

So until next time,

Happy Quilting.

Hi Everyone,

After the terrible weather yesterday it is glorious here now, we have had lots of out of town visitors including the Vauxhall Car Club, great cars. I had a lovely afternoon yesterday when I went to the Capital Quilters Christmas meeting, there was lots of fun and hilarity, the challenge bags were displayed, lots of Show and Tell, beautiful food and a glass of ‘glop’ or soft drink and the ‘piece de resistance’ was the ‘The Fabric or the Bag Contest‘ what a hilarious time we all had and congratulations to Pat and Gaynor for doing such a wonderful job.

The peonies pictured above were grown in the garden here by Kevin at Stonestead, they are so lovely, but since taking this picture, Mr Wilkes from across the road has brought in some more, these are a delicious deep crimson,

These beautiful sewing machine totes are a great Chrismas gift from a husband, partner or even as a combined family gift, they turn on a sixpence and there is plenty of room for all the necessities, Kevin and I bought them at Quilt Market and it was interesting to see them being used for carry on luggage on the flights out of Houston, come along and have a look, we only have four remaining so they are going pretty quickly, we can always put them aside for you.

This range of fabric along with the blue colourway only arrived on Thursday, so we rolled it onto bolt cards straight away and it went on display on Friday, it is a slightly heavier cotton, ideal for totes, bags and even baby slings, I made the club challenge in it so have decided I shall do a class after Christmas.

Kevin has built another stand, this time for all our patterns and we have just put the long awaited templates on the notions stand, come and have a look at them.

Anyway until next time

Happy Quilting.

Hi Everyone,

After the great success of the Houston Info Evening we still have some of the Jim Shore Figurines remaining, for those of you who are unaware of this delightful and clever man, his figurines are becoming famous throughout the world for having either a quilt block design or applique design somewhere on the piece, they may be on the skirt of an angel or on the base the figurine is standing on.

Kevin and I had the great pleasure of meeting Jim and his sister in law Houston, they were wonderful people and Jim is such a lovely person and as you can see by the pictures very clever too.

Most of our products are Christmas themed, but we do have other pieces that would make ideal Christmas gifts, including Snow White and a beautiful Fire Engine, these are becoming collectors pieces now.

So why not come up and see the display, they are very reasonably priced and the variety is huge, we shall be transferring the display to Sawmillers eventually, but until then they can be seen and purchased over at Stonestead Tea House.

I shall add a few more pictures here, so until next time,

Happy Quilting

Hi Everyone,

I am sorry I have been so slow getting this post done, but we had a great evening on Saturday, when those visitors to Sawmillers who filled out our survey during October were invited to our Post Houston Info Evening and their names went into a draw for a Houston Goodie Bag, the winner was Adele Nicholson who has just become a regular visitor and class participant too at Sawmillers, she is a new quilter, so it was great that she won the big prize.

The Runner Up was Heather Harding, she has just held a Hand Quilting class at Sawmillers which everyone thoroughly enjoyed, so it was especially nice that she should win.

Throughout the evening we also had about 6 Spot Prizes of Fat Quarters and other little quilting gadgets and these were won by guests from throughout the Greater Wellington area. Dianne Barnden did a great job demonstrating the X Blocks pictured below, we brought back from Houston, so well in fact we sold out, and I have just reordered more, which should be with us by next week.

The main event for the evening was the presentation we did to show everyone what it was like to go to Houston Quilt Market, this gave everyone an insight into the workings of the event, how it was run, the designers who attended, the lectures, the wholesale floor and of course the exhibition, despite a few technical hitches the night before, everything went very well and all those who attended seemed to really enjoy it.

We had a display of goodies that we brought back from Houston with us, these included the new Creative Grid Rulers by Rachel Cross, Wallhangings by Rachel Pellman, Patterns by Debbie Caffrey and Jackie Robinson as well as a myriad of other patterns and kits and the highlight were the Jim Shore ornaments pictured below that only arrived from America the night before!! We still have some of these available and are currently on display at Stonestead.

Kevin and I would like to thank all those who attended and what a great night it was, I couldn’t finish this posting without thanking Dianne, Julie, Cheryl, Carol and Mamie and also my Official Greeter and 2nd Assistant Barney who was wearing his USA Bow Tie a gift from Samantha and Samantha herself for her idea.

Until next time,

Happy Quilting

Hi Everyone,

My apologies, I haven’t been very efficient with the blog this past week, but we do thank all those who have visited us despite this. As you can see from the above picture we have another lovely range of fabric, it is ‘Celebration’ by Lecien I don’t feel the pictures are a true representation of the beautiful pink/terracotta, you really need to see it to appreciate it.

We also finally have our new threads, these were originally coming from Australia, but due to so many delays we spoke to the CEO of the company at Houston and they were sent direct from Canada, anyway we now have Invisafil,  it is a 100 weight, this thread is beautiful and recommended by many of our regular visitors to Sawmillers, it can be used for piecing, quilting and applique, it has an invisible quality to it and hopefully I shall have a shop sample alongside to show you all what it is like, we also have Mirage in variegated colours this is 30 weight and can be used for quilting, thread painting and applique and also have Deco Bob, which you can use in your bobbins as well as a top thread.

Kevin has also been really busy and has made a super notions stand, so no more rummaging around in the baskets, everything is on display, it is surprising what we have, apart from the stand we also now have a window display, so you will see fabric on display as you go past.

We have also been busy with classes, Adrienne Nelson was with us yesterday teaching a ‘Stack n Whack’ class and Dianne Barnden is continuing with her ‘Christmas Capers‘ class.

Last but not least is the 2nd Annual Stonestead Outdoor Quilt Festival, this is being held again on Sunday 7th February 2010, we shall be calling for registrations shortly once the Stonestead Blog has been updated, but if you require details now just phone Sawmillers on 04 526 2517

Hi Everyone,

It is almost Halloween and to celebrate we have our carved pumpkins and lights along with our window decorations. In the northern hemisphere it  means that the winter weather has arrived, with snowfalls already in many places, in New Zealand it is a way of welcoming the spring weather and the temperature getting higher. Unfortunately, this year that isn’t the case and we are still feeling wintry blasts and rain, but it will be nice and warm soon, I hope.

This range above has just arrived and is on display in Sawmillers, ideal for a garden trellis quilt, and we have just heard that our new thread Invisafil has arrived in Auckland from Canada, so I can’t wait for it to arrive and unpack it and display it.

These fabrics from Kaufman are wonderfully rich with golds, reds, greens and a delicious cerise pink, these would look great in an asian inspired quilt.

We hope you like our new Welcome banner, we bought this in Fredericksburg, Virginia from a shop full of all type of flags and banners, this particular one is classed as a vintage banner as it was the only one left of it’s kind and we thought it ideal for our visitors to make them feel welcome.

Last but not least here is Cooper, isn’t he a delight? this is newest member of Samantha and Lance’s family in USA, he is full of vitality and there is somewhat of an uneasy co-existance between Cooper and Olive the cat, like all toddlers he still requires a degree of guidance in his general behaviour and potty training, I am sure you, will along with us, send him huge hugs and look forward to hearing about progress in the coming months.

Until next time,

Happy Quilting.

Hi Everyone,

Well Barney Official Greeter and 2nd Assistant is well and truly settled, he has really enjoyed seeing everyone again, and has just found out that he has a little cousin in USA, a Jack Russell named Cooper, he has just been collected from Fredericksburg and is now in his new home with Samantha and Lance.

We are slowly putting the stock we bought whilst in USA into Sawmillers, for those who have filled in the Survey Forms entitling them to attend the Post Houston Info Evening we have kept some goodies for you to have first pickings, we have patterns, kits and natty notions!! So if you haven’t been up yet to fill out a form, you only until the end of October.

I shall be posting pictures of the latest fabric arrivals in the next posting.

Until next time,

Happy Quilting