New Class List, UFO Night and a Sad Day.

Hi Everyone,

Another quick posting to keep you informed with the happenings here at Sawmillers, above is the beautiful quilt that Dianne Barnden designed and made when she was invited to submit work for the ‘The Circuit Riders Quilt” publication, if you would like an autographed edition lets us know and I shall include your order when we send to the US for copies.

The new class list is available at Sawmillers, if you would like us to mail it to you you can always phone 04 526 2517 or email us at enquiries@ sawmillersquiltery.co.nz we have limited space for the Baltimore Quilt class and are currently taking registrations for ‘Christmas Capers’ and ‘Star Beginnings‘ as well as the tote classes, bag classes and the popular beginners course too.

Our latest addition to our growing projects is the UFO night, we shall be holding these on the 3rd Friday of each month, you can bring along any project you are working on and if you are stuck we can assist you. The cost for this will be $10.00 including dinner before you start, 6.00pm – 9.30pm, bookings are essential to allow for catering.

As the title of this posting suggests, tomorrow will be a sad day at my home and Sawmillers too, as my daughter Samantha and her husband Lance return to the USA tomorrow, the fortnight they have been with us has flown past so quickly, but we have at least had an opportunity to spend quality time together and have had a wonderful time. Thank you to all those visitors who came to Sawmillers to meet them, they were so pleased to meet you all and will take many happy memories back with them. I shall miss them so much.

Until the next posting, Happy Quilting.

Fabulous ‘Fusions’ and the Sign

Hi Everyone,

Well here it is, the sign, at last, and as you can see I was out early Saturday morning with Barney Official Greeter and 2nd Assistant on his lead and brolly in one hand and camera in the other, the rain was heavy and cars fast but we got the picture, a big thank you to Mark Edwards who assisted us. Now we can tell our visitors to look for the sign on the Main Road North at Te Marua.

The fabrics pictured have just arrived, they are ‘Fusions’ by Kaufman and are truly lovely, there is a group of six all with a gold sheen to them and the colours range from coffee to purple shadings, I have put a selection of those we have available.

Last, but not least is the Baltimore Quilt class sample, it really is a lovely quilt and there are just a couple places remaining in the class, the classes will only be small to ensure individual attention from our tutor Judy Betts, they begin on Friday 6th March 6.30pm – 8.30pm so you can still arrange to go out afterwards. Judy has said there are alternative blocks you can use as substitutes, if you are not keen on those she has used. All the fabric is available here at Sawmillers so don’t wait too long if you want to join us or the places may be filled.

I shall finish now and finish making Kevin’s Quilt for our Advanced Class, Samantha and Lance return to the USA next Saturday, so it will be a sad day, but hopefully I shall see them soon. I shall also post pictures next time of the non attending, unwaged 4th Assistant, ‘Precious’ the new cat. He spends his day terrorising Barney and Archie but one hopes as he matures he will start to ignore them.

Until next time, Happy Quilting

The Arrival.

Hi Everyone,

As you will see on the Stonestead blog, we have posted the pictures taken at the quilt festival, Julie did such a great job and her posting on her blog is super, if you have the time go through and have a look, you can see the link on the right hand side.

Naturally the excitement around was the arrival of Samantha and Lance, unfortunately it wasn’t without a few dramas, their flight was delayed arriving in Auckland, their baggage didn’t arrive at all, and they missed their connecting flight to Wellington, but all was not lost, the baggage was found and has since arrived and they have unpacked, their flight originally due at 10.00am arrived at 3.00pm, but we didn’t care, it was just a thrill to see them again.

We have 3 Boxes of fabric to unpack, and as soon as we know what it I shall be sending out another posting, so be on the look out, I have Samantha coming up today to lend a hand too!

Until next time, Happy Quilting

Just One Sleep To Go

Hi Everyone,

So here we are all waiting for Samantha and Lance to arrive, and as the title of the posting says just ‘one sleep’ to go! Naturally, nothing changes here at Sawmillers as we prepare for our next classes to be held here. Don’t forget we have the Charmed Bag Class, this is being held next Saturday 21st February and is guaranteed a fun class, it is an all day class with morning and afternoon tea provided.

Another class which will be starting on Friday 6th March is the the beautiful Baltimore, we only have 2 places left, so don’t linger if you would like to do this, as I have mentioned before the cost is minimal after you have purchased the base fabric, which is available her at Sawmillers too, so why not call up and see the Baltimore, it is on display in the shop now and the colour possibilities are endless.

Last but not least the pictures from the Quilt Festival will be on the here very soon, I am just waiting to receive them and shall put them on for you, we do have the 1st Place Getters Quilts here at Sawmillers on display, so if you want to come and have a look at them they are  on quilt racks on the verandah, so until our next posting and hopefully a picture of my girl.

Happy Quilting

Victoria, Fire Disaster

Hi Everyone,

Whilst it would be an ideal time to tell you all about the Stonestead Outdoor Quilt Festival and the wonderful day we had, I think it would be preferable to leave that until the next posting, bearing in mind the tragedy that has occurred  across the Tasman in Victoria with the horrific fires and devastation they are currently experiencing.

I have spoken with Sue Burnett of Sue B’s Long Arm Quilting Service and Sawmillers is having the Heather Bailey quilt top (pictured above) quilted by Sue and then we shall be sending it to the co-ordinator for the quilt distribution in Victoria for her to send to where she thinks it will be of most use. It seems the least we can do at this terrible time. We have also decided that a selection of the Heather Bailey range along with fabric designed by Anna Maria Horner, Denyse Schmidt and Jennifer Paganelli will continue to be reduced for those visitors who would like to make a quilt for the fire victims too and this will help to keep the cost down. 

If you know which fabric you want and are unable to get to us, just phone or email and I can organise it for you. We shall be posting all the details and pictures of the quilts from the festival along with the winners entry details over the next week or so, so keep checking back.

On a more personal note, I only have 3 sleeps to go before my daughter Samantha and her husband Lance arrive from America, so we are getting very excited, the house is almost spic and span, Barney, Number 2 Assistant and Official Greeter  along with Archie ,Number 3 Assistant Unpaid) have been groomed in readiness for the arrival and shall be wearing their ‘special’ bandanas for the event, don’t forget Samantha will be spending the day at Sawmillers on Thursday 19th February, so call in and say hello, she would really like to meet you all.

Until our next posting, Happy Quilting

Long Weekend Opening Hours

Hi Everyone,

A very brief posting this time, but it has just dawned on me that there may be some who don’t know that Sawmillers will be open for the usual hours, that is Thursday, Friday (Waitangi Day) Saturday and Sunday (Quilt Festival Day) 10.00am to 4.30pm. This weekend may be busy for those who aren’t going away, as it is the Sevens Weekend, Martinborough Fair on Saturday, and of course The Stonestead Outdoor Quilt Festival on Sunday.

There will be another posting prior to Sunday with pictures of fabric that has arrived and yet to be unpacked, so until then,

Happy Quilting

Fabric Reductions and Quilt Festival

Hi Everyone,

We are having such a great time here, as we continue to receive  beautiful quilts for the Stonestead Outdoor Quilt Festival, I am constantly amazed at the terrific results that can be achieved with the most unlikely fabric and I am sure all those that visit us will be be really impressed with the standard of the works that will be on display. It will be great if we have visitors who are hoping to learn to piece and quilt or have no knowledge of this gentle art and they can see for them selves what can be accomplished as well welcoming all those piecers and quilters who I know will travel great distances to see display of work and glean inspiration too. So keep the quilts coming in we are still accepting them and we won’t close off until end of day, Thursday  5th February.

Now onto  exciting stuff, by which I mean fabric, because Sunday 8th February  is also Sawmillers Birthday, we want you to help us celebrate, and the way we have decided to do this is to give you, the visitors something. So we shall be reducing the  cost of the Heather Bailey ‘Pop Garden’ Range by a considerable amount, the only criteria is that there is a minimum cut of 50cm. you can see the range above, it is great not only for quilts, but also bags and clothes too, there  are just 2 Sawmillers Strips cut too & these will also be reduced.

There will also be other fabric specials including Ana Maria Horner, Denyse Schmidt and Jennifer Paganelli designs, we really need more space to accommodate the new ranges of fabrics we are expecting in and this way you the customer benefits too. Cheryl and Julie as I have said in previous postings will be here to help you and we shall also be taking bookings for the classes.

I expect you are all aware that we don’t stock many novelty fabrics at Sawmillers, we made the decision to do this prior to opening, as we felt that there are so many novelty prints available we just wouldn’t be able to do justice to all the lines as space would be the issue. But having said that, we couldn’t resist this Happy Hen fabric, it is a delight, I do have a soft spot for Happy Hens and always visit their home in Portobello, Dunedin when I go down

The other semi novelty fabric we have just received is this lovely Dragonfly fabric, the colours are beautiful with pinks, azures, golds and mauves on a black background, all these fabrics will be on display in the shop on festival day.

For those that visit us regularly, you will know that my daughter Samantha is my advertising lady, she is the person that creates all of our advertisements and I can truly say she is very inspirational not only in the creative process but motivational process too, she and I spend many hours on the telephone brainstorming, but the exciting news is that I only have another 14 sleeps before Samantha and her husband Lance arrive from their home in Delaware, USA for a short visit home, she hasn’t visited Sawmillers yet and relies on pictures I send via email to keep her up with our happenings here, so it will be an exciting time for us both, especially as she is a quilter too, so if you are passing by on Thursday 19th February call in and meet Samantha as she will be spending the day here with me.

So until my next posting, Happy Quilting.