The Last Piece

A Happy Valentine

Just when you think your hubbby forgot. He always comes through in the end.

They're field roses, aren't they devine? They smell wonderful.

Happy Valentines Day lovely man, I love you :)

Speaking of Valentines, here's this month's Dollies Online quilt. It's called Hugs and Kisses.

It combines reverse applique and the Windmill block. If you want to make it and other cuties like it, you should join up to the Dollies Online club I run with my friend and quilt sistah Amy! And while you're over looking at Amy's blog, you can see what beauty she is making from my fabric range, From Little Things. Come on, you know you want to. 

PS. Don't forget you can pre-order my new book by emailing me at [email protected]

Housekeeping

Morning sunshine.... Sleepless in Sydney here. Been up doing the computer housekeeping since 4am. No sleep for a week. Might as well blog, right?

I have a ginormous post about the rest of the classes in Holland to put up but that will require actual brain cells, so here are some things I needed to remind you of anyway today!

First up, Dollies Online is up and running for 2011. If you haven't already signed up run right on over to Sew n'Sell and do it now! For those of you who don't know, Dollies Online is a program I run with my friend Amy. Each month Amy and I alternately make a small quilt, usually smaller than 20", with a different technique. You can buy the patterns for $15 AUS monthly, but if you sign up for 12 months of emailed dolly pattern goodness they are only $10 AUS, plus you get a free 13th pattern to say thank you!

All the 2010 patterns are still available seperately for purchase. Amy has made this months pattern using some From Little Things! TOO CUTE.

The second thing is that my Queensland Flood Raffle ends at 5pm today Australian Eastern Standard Time. Thank you SO much to everyone who has bought a ticket, you have helped raise $780 so far, not to mention that this money is part of over $99,000 (can you believe that??) raised by quilters and crafters in Toni's flood relief program. Way to go everyone!

So lets have a last ditch effort to raise a tiny bit more today and see if we can get my raffle to $1000. If you haven't already bought a ticket go to this post and see how, and you could win one of my quilts. It's only $10 to have a go!

And the third thing is that Heather at House of a la Mode is having a giveaway thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop of my fabric! So run on over there, but first remember to check out Dollies Online and buy a raffle ticket. That ought to keep you all busy for a while, I'm gonna try and go back to sleep. Night....

A Bunch of 100 Rozen

Onwards from Tilburg to the beautiful town of Deventer. I have been to Deventer once before and I am pleased to report that it is just as pretty as I remember :)

I love the roof lines on the old Dutch buildings, and also their use of stripes in the brickwork! I saw some wonderful examples of this in Amsterdam, but that post will have to wait until I get home - I forgot my camera cord and had to borrow one to do this post :)

The shop 100 Rozen is in the old town of Deventer, where the town first began. The streets are paved with cobblestones and the little alleyways are filled with bookshops and antique stores. 

It really is just so charming and quaint, like stepping back in time. Once a year they have a Charles Dickens Festival in Deventer, where all the towns people dress in period costume for a week and the whole town looks as though the clock really has wound back. I would LOVE to see it! Maybe next time. It's scenes like this that have my imagination racing for people wearing cloaks and horse drawn carriges.

SO beautiful. 

Here is 100 Rozen, which means as it sounds, 100 Roses! When the owner, Jeltje, opened her shop 3 years ago, she decided she would try to have 100 fabrics with her favourite flower on them, and that's how she named the shop! She has recently moved into a new and larger shop next door, and here it is.

The space is lovely and bright and white, and a friendly place to have a class.

Jeltje had seen a quilt I made for the Dollies Online program last year called Star, Flower, Heart (which has started for 2011 - quick, go and sign up!) and so she made her own version for 100 Rozen - complete with a rose in the centre! She asked for me to teach her 100 Rozen version for the class. Here is my original (you can still buy this pattern here):

and here is Jeltje's quilt. 

We had options of green or blue kits, and after everyone had picked they got to work very quickly!

Thank you to all the ladies who came to class, I had such a nice time meeting and chatting with you all. Here is our class picture, although a few had left already so we are short some :)

That is Jeltje in the front holding the sign!

After the class was done and we had some show and tell, I went for a small walk back through the town to my hotel. There was the weekly market being held in the centre of town, with stalls full of tulips, fruit and vegetables, meats, clothes, toys...

And of course, cheese!

For dinner that night, Jeltje and her family put on a little party for me at her house above the shop. Her husband Henk and her son Roel were the Masterchefs, and they did an amazing job! The food was wonderful and the company was too. Thank you so very much to Jeltje and all her family and volunteers for making me feel so much at home in Deventer. I wont forget my stay!

PS. Because I don't have my camera cord I will have to wait to blog about the rest of my journey until I get home on Friday - but if you want to read about my trip to Birdblocks in Amsterdam you can look here where I have guest blogged!

PPS. Thank you SO incredibly to everyone who has bought raffle tickets for Queensland Flood Relief - the raffle is still open, please scroll down for the post.

Dollies Online 2011!

Yes ladies and gents, it's true, the rumours are true. Mrs Schmenkman and I will be continuing Dollies Online for another year! (wild applause, general rejoicing)

No seriously peeps, we have had SUCH a fantastic year of fun with Dollies 2010 that we thought we would give it another round. So if you are interested in Dollies Online 2011, here's how it works.

Each month for 12 months, you will receive in your inbox a PDF of a Dolly Quilt pattern, designed by either Amy or myself, containing full instructions, diagrams and photos. The quilts are of all different sizes, techniques and colours to challenge you and give you something different to work with. 

As with this year, you will be able to buy each pattern seperately for $15 from our Sew N'Sell shop. All this year's patterns are still available for purchase and the November and December ones will be coming soon. HOWEVER - if you want to

a) get the pattern first before everyone else and

b) only pay $10 AUS for it, that's a saving of $5 AUS per pattern and

c) get and extra free pattern JUST for Dollies Online subscribers, you can:

hit this link and go on over to sign up for 12 months worth of dollies, plus one extra pattern for just $120 AUS. Now there's an offer you can't beat with a stick. 

We have had so much fun this year, why not give yourself a holiday gift that lasts all year and come and play too? You can see what some of the girls have been up to this year on the Flickr page. I can't wait!

Sarah Fielke Dolly Quilts

The Dolly Program I am running with Rhinetex in Europe is well and truly off and running - if you would like to see the stockists and bloggers in the program have a look in my sidebar - and if you ARE a shop or a blogger and are not listed, please let me know so I can get you linked up!

Christiane at CS Quilt Designs has made a few of the quilts already - here is one she has in progress:

This quilt is called Colour Me Happy and it is the first quilt in the program, which runs like a BOM. This quilt is all about how to grade colours and how to see where your stash is lacking. It's great fun to make, and to turn your stash fabrics out and see what you buy a lot of and what you don't!

If you want to sign up for the SF Dollies program, which I'm sure you can do from anywhere in the world, just click on one of the Shop links in my sidebar and they will take you right there.

Christiane is also playing along with Dollies Online. (She must get really sick of my Dolly Quilts!) I have been very remiss in blogging the last few patterns, Amy has done some stunners:

This is the wonderful dotty baskets quilt she made for me for my birthday.

And this is "Wheelies". I have to try some Wheelies, they look like so much fun to make.

My latest patterns are Little Trees

And Star, Flower, Heart, which is this month's pattern.It's a wool quilt with wool embroidery, so you can have fun pulling out all your old coats to cut up for the background!

You can buy all these patterns either as single patterns or a 12 month program by clicking on the links above. It's not too late to join in the program, we still have 4 months unrevealed, and if you sign up for 12 months you get a free extra pattern designed by Amy of the Dollies Online logo. It's SO cute!

And what am I working on? Well aside from everything in the post below, which I am pretending doesn't exist this morning, I have signed up to the Glorious Applique blog, because I have been hoarding all of Kim McLean's patterns for a while now and I thought having to post about making them might give me a kick up the bum. I spent this morning rummaging around in my cupboard finding things for backgrounds so that I can post... but first I have to decide which of the quilts I'm going to make!

The good news is that I have FINISHED the hand quilting on the LAST quilt for the book, which is lucky because they need to take it's picture next week ;-) Nothing like cutting it fine.

Heads Up

Just thought you might like to see this! Check it out....

Grandma's House

Dolly is on her way to go shopping, but first she want to visit Grandma who lives in the deep dark woods. OK, you need to use your imagination on this one. 

 

oops, that came out a little bit small... no time to ponder the randomness of that computer burp.  

This is my version of my patterns for the Dollies Online quilt for this month, available now on Sew n'Sell for the individual pattern, or you can still join up for the 12 month program, it's not too late! Here is Amy's version of my quilt:

 Cute huh. Rather more of a sunny day in Amy-land. If you like Amy's cute little quilt - and who wouldn't - pop on over to her blog right now because she is giving it away! Yep, it's her blog-i-versary and you can win this little quilt, so go comment. 

Amy has also been busy beavering away on the free pattern that you get when you sign up for the 12 month Dollie's program. It's a version of our Dollies Online logo and it's SO cute! Go look, it's on her blog....

Dollies Online! Dollies Online!

Amy and I have been waiting AGES to tell you all about this. AGES. We are doing something very exciting together.

 

We are running a dolly quilt program together! Hooray!

Basically what will happen is that you can sign up for 12 months of Dolly Quilt Pattern goodness, provided as a PDF directly into your inbox by Amy and myself. We will alternate months so that you end up with 6 Mrs Schmenkman patterns and 6 Last Piece patterns, all of different techniques and different skill levels to expand your quilting knowledge and satisfy your inner desire to make cute, cute, cute little quilts.

This is the first month, called Hurry Home, made by clever Amy.

 

Aren't those Kaffe's beautiful? I love that shimmery border. And this is the second month, Drawn and Quartered, made by me.

 

The other months we will keep under wraps so that you have a lovely surprise in your inbox each month. Even better though, if you sign up for the 12 month program, you will get an extra FREE and very very cute pattern of our dolly logo, that is designed just for those of you running along with us!

So what is a Dolly Quilt? For those of you that don't know, a Dolly is a small quilt, usually no bigger than about 20", that traditionally were made by children for their dolls. We're not making them for our dolls though, we are making them for US. They look great on a wall all hung together, framed or even as cushion covers......

The patterns will also be available by the month, but you will have to wait longer to get them and also ifyou sign up for all 12 you get the patterns for $10 instead of $15 (all prices in Australian dollars). 

Happy dance and woot woot.... come and play along, we are going to have so much fun! Plus, if you play you get delicious, gorgeous, flashy dancing dollies button like ours for your blog roll!! Clever, clever husband.

Dollies Online! Dollies Online!

Sarah Fielke, Material Obsession, Material Obsession Two