Marg Low Designs

Craft & Quilt Fair - Melbourne Stand G29

At the start of the year I was planning and preparing for my first three shows, the AQC, Craft & Quilt Fair  Sydney and then Melbourne. It's hard to believe but the first two have been and gone and it's the eve of the third. Well it's the eve for Jan and I as tomorrow is set up day with a very early start in the morning. The first two shows have taught me that set up takes twice as long as I think it will. I've been trying to work out why this is and  feel certain it's because the majority of my designs are small, achievable projects -  little stuff that takes ages to hang.

For this show I've had help from Melissa (friend) and Bec (daughter). Melissa has packaged just about every kit with a Theodora Cleave button plus other bits & pieces and Bec, popped around after work, rolled every piece of felt and folded most  patterns. A big thank you to both girls for their efforts as there is no way I would have achieved as much without them.

Make sure you drop by Stand G29 and say hi. The samples for the four new Christmas patterns,  Must be Christmas, No Peeking, Deer Tree and Friday Girls Medallion will be on display. It's always so much nicer to see them for real.

  

 Hope to see you there.

and the winners are....

Thank you to everyone who entered the Christmas Giveaway. 

There could only be four winners and they are:-

Leonie (18/07)  -  Must be Christmas

Nola Larson (20/07)  -  Deer Tree

Alison M (18/07) - No Peeking

Michelle (20/07)  - Friday Girls Medallion

Congratulations girls, please email me with your postal adresses and your prize will be posted out next week.

Christmas in July - giveaway

It's that time of the year and I have four new patterns to giveaway.These patterns were released at the Christmas in July workshop held last weekend.

Many of you will know by now I make a red and white quilt each year. I wanted something a little different than the same block repeated over and over. With no real plan I just started playing with my red fabrics. The Friday Girls Medallion is a great way to use up scraps of your favourite reds.

For me Christmas is all about making and giving gifts. They don't have to be complicated and take hours and hours, in fact the simpler and quicker they are the better. It's such a nice feeling after a day of sewing to have a stash of gifts ready for giving.

No Peeking was very popular at the workshop. Lots of bags, pouches and stockings were made! These gifts could be easily personalised by stitching name tags.

And yes, I do have a thing for tags, decorations especially when they're stitched or embellished with one of Barb's buttons. Deer Tree is one of my favourites. The nice thing about this sort of project is you can carry it with you and do a little bit of stitching while waiting for the children or appointments.... It's surprising how quickly they come together when you snatch five minutes here and there.

Before I started making a quilt each year, I used to make a new Christmas decoration. Something a little more substantial than a single decoration for the tree. For ages now, I've been wanting to make a bunting and there have been many ideas floating around in my head.The flags are stitched with a Christmas alphabet with crazy patchwork ones in between.  Must be Christmas combines the things I love, stitching and favourite fabrics.

To enter the draw to win one of these patterns, simply leave a comment by Sunday 22 July.

Christmas in July - workshop

The weekend sped past but I guess that's to be expected when your'e in good company and doing what you love. If it went quickly for me then I'm sure it did for the girls attending. Luckily they have lots to show for their weekend of sewing.

Sue & Judy made a complete set of No Peeking but were hooked on the stockings and spent Sunday getting a head start on gifts for Christmas. Sue's effort of six in one day is very impressive. There wasn't a great deal of sewing time as there were yummy treats for morning & afternoon tea plus a delicious lunch and lots of talk and laughter in between!

 

The stockings and bag were popular. Belinda pieced hers from her stash of fabric selvages.

More stockings, bags and pouches. It is very rewarding to see so many things made from the one pattern.

This is Gabi's first quilt and it looks fabulous. Just a few more borders to go and it will be finished. The two red panels belong to Bronwyn & Beth.

 

Eilene and Kerry made the decorations with Barb's Reindeer button. Belinda was going to make just the one flag but found it impossible to stop at one. Deb decided to machine embroider the crazy patchwork flags and had all six done in the day and completed two of the stitched flags Saturday night. They look lovely with the little bit of green mixed in.

Thank you to Kay & Sharon for making the weekend such a success.

one more sleep!

I don't know why but I am constantly surprised at how quickly time flies by. It only seems like yesterday Kay, Sharon and I were planning the Christmas in July workshop at Avonleigh and now here it is, the night before...

This afternoon I dropped in at the shop and arranged a few 'festive looking things'.

Can't wait for tomorrow.

Oops!

The nice thing when ordering reprints of a pattern is you don't need to check it. It was carefully checked the first time and any reprints should be identical.  I have discovered this is not the case. Thank you to Dzintra who queried with me why she needed a 90 x 20 inch piece of felt for the Pear Tree pattern. It should read 9 x 20 inches. This pattern has been been reprinted many times and I can't pinpoint when the extra zero snuck in. If you've purchased this pattern please note the correct requirement.

Joyful - From Me to You club

Just look at the lovely fabrics the girls decided to use for their third project, Joyful. Beth even went as far as making her own felt. It's so nice to see the variety.

The original sample says 'Christmas'.

I didn't want the girls to think of this as just a Christmas pattern and made a second bag with the birdie. It also provided an excuse to try out this fabric.

I had thought some of the girls would have made the Christmas version, getting an early start on Christmas presents, but everyone has opted for a bag to use NOW!

The pattern and kits for the Christmas set and Birdie bag will be available at the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair.