Marg Low Designs

Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair

It's hard to believe this time last week the first show day was almost over. Jan and I were incredibly busy and sold out of so many patterns and kits we decided to take orders. That's what I've been doing since I arrived home Monday. I'm happy to say everything has been posted, except for the orders of the Christmas Trimmings Kit, and they'll be in the post tomorrow.

The layout of the stand wasn't quite what I expected and it took me a while and a lot of help from Jan to work out where things would go. You'd think with Trade fairs, the AQC and other small shows behind us it would be simple, but each show is different!

Once the wall was decorated, work started on the tables. I think this bit takes the longest.

And just in case you were thinking it was all work and no play, Friday night was girls night out. It was so good to finally put faces with bloggers. Good company, a delicious meal and a fabulous view of the city, what more could you ask for!

I always get a buzz seeing a finished project. Annie and Debbie stopped by the stand, spotted the Bird of Happiness purse and mentioned they had both made one. After a little prompting, they got them out. So nice to see their lovely purses being used!

It was fabulous catching up with girls from Mamre House and Pioneer Patchwork and those who belonged to the Christmas, Red Quilts , Red Treasures &  From Me to You Clubs. Thank you to the girls who offered and brought us coffee and lunch and a special thank you to Christine Book for the yummy muffins she dropped into the stand on Sunday. And of course a huge thank you to Jan!

 

Sydney here we come

Well I'm all packed for the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair and I squeezed in some extra samples.

A little bit of Christmas!

And some pretty things for everyday!

 
The Aurifil Cotton Mako thread I love stitching with. Make sure you drop by and see why I'm so delighted with it.  I have these colours and more for sale plus the pattern for the cute pouch to pop the threads in.

And if you have time for a bit of sewing and would like some tips on working with felt, book yourself in for Gem's Needle Keep.

Choose from these kits. The cost is $17 and bookings are essential at Stand B18. The class is held each day at 2pm at Craft Circle 4.

 See you there!

Stand B18 

From Me to You Club - Joyful

There's been a lot happening this past week. Monday was my deadline for the Craft & Quilt Fair next week. Samples, stock & props were packed and loaded onto pallets. At one point Barb asked me if I was sure I wasn't moving house.  I rang yesterday to confirm they'd arrived and was relieved when the answer was 'Yes'. Now all Jan & I have to do next Tuesday is unpack and set up. Sounds easy doesn't it but after setting up for Trade shows and the AQC I know it takes hours!

The third club project was out this week too. The class girls all decided to make a bag.

It's great to see the different fabrics they chose. Robyn was very close to finished, she only needed to thread the ribbon through and was going straight home to do that. I was really pleased to see how much was achieved in the 3 hour class.

We were spoilt Saturday when Else brought in her finished Clamshell quilt.

Else started this with Susan Smith from  Patchwork on Stonleigh. All the fabrics came from Else's stash! This has to be one of my favourite scrap quilts.

Craft & Quilt Fair - Sydney

The nice thing about geting ready for a show is trying new fabric and button combinations for kits.

A perfect combination -  Barb's Moggy decoration and a piece of the new fabric.

It's easy finding two fabrics that work together, but finding the third can often be elusive. By chance these three fabrics were stacked near each other. The steel colour was just right but the white - well it was a bit too white. With no time to think about it I tea-dyed a piece. A much better match, don't you think?

When I first started out, I was always tea-dying something, fabrics, calico, felt, ribbons etc. and then I stopped. Perhaps my tastes changed, the fabrics I used were already antique looking enough or maybe I just got lazy! Looks like I'll be buying extra tea bags on the next visit to the supermarket.

 

fabric, fussy cutting & a show

Winter is well and truly here, 8 deg C and it's mid afternoon. I guess if you live in the northern hemisphere you're thinking that's not that cold, but here in Albury it is. It's been awhile since the last post but I haven't been idle and preparations for the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair are well under way. Each day I keep thinking I must be getting close to the finish line, then I think of something else that needs doing. At some point I will have to stop adding to the list.

Then these fabrics arrive.

Such a tempatation. Who wouldn't be distracted from the job at hand for a little dreamtime about what to make with these.

Jan called these happy fabrics and aren't they! I ordered them thinking they'd be perfect for my Dressy Hangers pattern. 

Last Sunday Jan, Sue-Anne and I travelled to Threadbear, for a fussy cutting class with Di Ford. It was a fabulous day and Di was very generous sharing with us the way she sees patterns within fabrics and how to cut them. While stacking these I realised the large floral and geometric print could be just right for a little Di inspired cutting.

First things first though, there's a show to get ready for and these fabrics need to be cut and kitted.

The stripe will be ideal for a red version of Tis the Season Table Runner.

kits & christmas

Right now I can't decide if I should be focussing on preparations for the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair in June or working on the projects for the Christmas in July workshop at Avonleigh.

Receiving an order of buttons from Barb made the decision of what to do easy.

Yes, Simple Pleasures Kits. The fun bit is chosing the fabrics and threads and then it resembles and feels like a production line!

I've been fitting in a few minutes here and there on one of the workshop projects. I'm very excited about it and as you can see it combines the things I love - a little stitching and crazy patchwork in my favourite colour!