Spring has arrived

It's so good to feel the warmth of the sun again! The sky is blue and the birds are singing away merrily - and it's reminding me that Christmas is not far away. If you're from the northern hemisphere like me that sounds strange, but I have been here 11 years now so am gradually getting used to the idea of Christmas in the summer. The Shop Hop is only three weeks away and we are getting all the fabrics ready for those that have registered.

This week at Masterquilters our 12 by 12 group presented their quilts on the theme of Spring. There were some beautiful and very creative quilts, unfortunately I didn't think to take my camera but there will be photos later in the year as we are taking all of our quilts to the Christmas meeting. The other group had worked on the challenge of 'Baking', and came up with a great range of wonderful ideas from baking hot earth to scorched cakes!

Here's mine - I experimented with fabric dyeing, paints and decoupage.

Talking of dyeing, I have been experimenting a lot lately with procion dyes. It's interesting to see what you can create with a fairly random plan....

Some of these hand dyes will be for sale in the shop, and I have the Kaufman 60" wide PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric on the bolt, as well as fabric paints and discharge paste, if you would like to have a go.

One of my targets with the dyeing is to prepare some fabrics for my retreat class. Yes, next weekend is the Masterquilters retreat, and we are taking a class with Clare Smith of Wellington, making Spiky plant wallhangings. I still need to dye a lot more green fabric! I am really looking forward to the retreat, we have a great committee who organise some fantastic activities and we always have lots of laughs. Only 6 more sleeps..

It seems a long time since I was at the Taupo symposium. I have been reminded of it this week as The Quilt Show website featured a video made by Pam Holland on the symposium. Isn't it wonderful that New Zealand quilting is reaching such a large audience? Take a look at the video on their blog:

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/5991

There has also been a lot of material about New Zealand on Gail Garber's blog. I took a three day class with Gail and she posted lots of photos not only of the classes but also of her travels around New Zealand. Here's the blog entry that features yours truly:

http://gailgarber.com/2013/08/23/flying-colors-original-design-class/

Gail is a lovely lady with a real passion for quilting and for New Zealand. She lives in New Mexico where she has a sanctuary for raptors, and when she comes over here she loves to see all of our native wildlife and visit our sanctuaries.  Her quilting is amazing, and I am planning to put some of those flying geese into practice over the next year.

Back in the shop, there have been more arrivals - including lots of books (Gail's book included) and 100% wool felt. We also have Sue Spargo's Creative Stitching book to get your fingers itching. I am now planning something special for next week, so keep a look out on our facebook page, the news will be out soon....

Happy stitching (take a break from the garden!)

Sheial