The Last Piece

Big Stitch Hand Quilting!

All the excitements! I've been dying to officially announce my new hand quilting thread collection for Aurifil. 

As I'm sure you all know, I LOVE to hand quilt. I would hand quilt everything if I possibly could! Alas I have only 2 hands, 24 hours and one lifetime :) However I do hand quilt wherever I possibly can and when I do I always use Mako 12 weight from Aurifil these days - it's a beautifully smooth and finer alternative to perle cotton, and comes in the most delicious colours. 

My only issue with this collection was having to choose my faves from all the wonderful colours Aurifil makes....but I finally managed to narrow down to 15.

To be as useful as possible, (and still get all my favourites in!) I went for a dark and light blue, a dark and light green, light and dark pink, red, lavender, two greys and of course, black and white. Shown above is my large spool collection and below the small spool collection.

For a chance to win a large spool box and a copy of my latest book, Old Quilts New Life, pop over to the Auribuzz blog, have a read about my hand stitching journey and how to enter the competition!

Thread boxes in both sizes, hand made Australian quilting hoops and quilting needles are all available at my website. Happy quilting!

 

Giveaway Winner and Some Thoughts

Sorry to be a little late on the giveaway winner! The winner of a copy of Sam's lovely book is Kathy Davis, Kathy please send me your details to [email protected] and we can get your book out to you!

I feel my blog is severely neglected lately.... I wonder if blogging is becoming less needed due to social media? I know I spend a lot of my work related computer time on Instagram and Facebook. Especially when Quilt Market is on and I'm not there. I think this is the first time in ages I haven't been - while the relief of not having another overseas trip this year is huge, I miss all my friends and I miss not being there to SEE everything!! 

The reason I'm not there is largely due to the huge piles of work surrounding me for my new book. The sewing hours are becoing terrifying as the deadline looms closer... I can't wait to be able to show you all though, this book is so exciting to me, and I hope it will be to all of you as well. It isn't due for release until October next year though so you will all have to wait - and I will have to get my skates on in a serious way!! I've also been working on this:

which if you follow me on Instagram you will know is my nect collection for Windmam! It's not out until next year so a little wait on that too but they let me give you a tiny sneak peek.

In other news, the Litle Quilts Blog Tour is over and all the peeps are starting to get their parcels! Take a hop around over the next few days to see what everyone has received and some of the amazing things we've all been making for each other.

http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com

http://pamkittymorning.blogspot.com

http://cactus-needle.blogspot.com/

http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com 

http://poppyprintcreates.blogspot.com/

http://quiltdad.com

http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.com

A few of these peeps are at Market and so they may not yet have their parcels. Mine arrived the other day and I was SO SO excited to see that Lynn was my partner and I had been sent the gorgeous version she made of my Drawn Together quilt!! I had watched her put it together on Instagram and just LOVED it so much, hooray for it being all for me! Its going to live on my studio wall with other little quilts from the peeps over the years. Not only did she send the beautiful quilt, but a fab Union Jack mug and some scrummy Oakshotts too. 

Speaking of quilts I am still being asked regularly whatever happened to my birthday quilt?

I've posted a few times about it but here again! Earlier this year I had a very bad bout of pneumonia and was in bed for the two weeks "personal stitching" time that I had allovated myself. Since then the full steam ahead and 16 hour sewing day nature of my timetable has meant that I haven't had a moment to sew my teacups together. If you didn't make me one and still wanted to you have time - I wont be putting it together until the book has gone to the publisher and I am back from teaching at New Zealnd Symposium in late January! I have hundreds of blocks which is just lovely and I am so thrilled. If I have too many (which I think I will) I will make two quilts and auction one off for charity. 

Other than that life goes on as ever... my dad was awarded the Order Of Australia which was very exciting! We are all so proud of him.

And those boys of mine are getting bigger by the day. Charlie is 17 and is going into his final year of school, and Oscar is nearly 15 and is sport crazy and so fit it's ridiculous. The FOOD peeps, the FOOD!!

Anyway back to the sewing room..... ::cracks whip::

Enchanted Look Book

 http://baumtextile.uberflip.com/i/310569 

Sarah's hubby here - thought you might want to have a geek whilst she is travelling - also those going to market don't forget to drop by and say hello at her booth in the Windham Fabric stand. :)

Excellent Mail

Wow well loads of things have happened in between but the time to blog has just not appeared... So many things to tell you about but today I'll show you the delicious Pink Castle Kawaii Club post that arried yesterday :) 

They're just so cute!! I can't decide what I'm going to do with them yet but I think a quilt that's all Japanese novelty may have to come into being. 

Like last mailing I have a for sure favrouite... I am not a cat girl, but these kitties are just killing me. 

I'm in the middle of packing to leave for the USA tomorrow... three weeks in the States and a very busy time of it too!! More about that tomorrow from the Qantas lounge. Today though I will say to all of you who have been asking about my birthday teacup quilt!! The blocks are all ready to be sewn together but between trying to get a new range of fabric, a thread collection and two new books ready, teaching on the cruise to New Zealand and almost getting pneumonia - there hasn't been a lot of time to sew them! It will be done though and it's going to look just FAB and I can't wait to show you all. I know I haven't done the prize drawing yet for everyone who sent cups, I thought I would wait until I have this new range of fabric in hand and do it when I come home from Quilt Market. So stay tuned! xx

Pretty Things

2014 is setting out to be a HUGE year for me and it's all feeling a little unwieldy.

At the risk of being completely overwhelmed and freaked out by the tidal wave of Things That Need Doing around here, I took this morning out to tidy up my work space a little, make things pretty and feel a little more Under Control. 

I think sometimes it's important to have pretty and tidy and happy things to look at to remind yourself that you aren't being swept away. 

Playing with the new Waterlogue app on my phone was probably not constructive but it made me feel better to have pretty pictures of Things I'm Not Supposed to Show You to blog this morning. And since they are Waterlogued you can't really tell what they are, right? 

Pretty things are brewing everywhere. Off to work I go. Happy Monday everyone....

Announcing a Millefiori Competition!

Hi everyone! I'm running a competition with my Millefiori fabric range that is now available from Spotlight stores in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and from me directly for people not in those countries. This will be fun!

All you need to do it post a picture of your Millefiori fabric stash, or something you have made with Millefiori, to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the correct tags and I will enter you in the draw.

For Instagram: tag @sfielke and hastag #millefiorifabric

For Facebook: tag Sarah Fielke and hashtag #millefiorifabric

For Twitter: tag @sarahfielke and hashtag #millefiorifabric

There are already a few fun entries on Instagram so hurry and get yours in! The winner will be drawn in late January when I have sample fabrics - because the prize is a fat quarter bundle of my NEW fabric range for Spotlight coming early next year - which I can't show you because it's a secret! So you will be the first to have it, before it's in the shops.

Entries are open worldwide. 

Don't forget too that you can still send me a teacup for my Birthday Quilt Along, the deadline has been extended until January as it is mentioned in the latest Quilter's Companion which hasn't come out yet! You can find all the details here and check out all the incredible teacups people have been sending using hashtag #birthdayquiltalong on Instagram.

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent a cup (over 150 of you!) and if you have sent me an email about patterns and had no reply, please try again because I have had email and spam issues in the last few months. Everything is OK now though and we are up and running! yay, Happy Thursday xx

Millefiori Mystery Quilt - Week 6

Oh man I have been so so naughty and behind on my blogging. Have you all been following along with the mystery quilt? For those of you who don't know about it, I am running a mystery quilt along with my new fabric range for Spotlight, Millefiori.

This quilt is free (for personal use only) on the Spotlight Facebook page and the Spotlight web page. You can also follow along with progress and updates on the Millefiori Facebook page. We are up to Week 6 (shown here) but if you want to join thats still OK - the patterns are all still available and you can catch us all up! 

A reminder that I can't sell my Spotlight fabrics in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore contracutally, but I CAN sell them to customers everywhere else! If you would like a fat quarter bundle of all 16 prints or a kit for the Mystery Quilt, you can email me [email protected] and I will let you know what the postage is to your country. 

Have a good weekend everyone xx

Millefiori Mystery Quilt

Well my new Spotlight range, Millefiori is in store on the bolt, and flat fats and bundles will be arriving shortly! I'm thrilled with the response we've had so far and thank you all for the lovely messages you've sent about it. 

The Myster Quilt program is on again - the patterns are available through Spotlight's Facebook page or from their website under Projects. If you are making the quilt be sure to join the Millefiori Facebook page to get updates or to share your work.

Make sure and read the intro page before you start, and remember if you can't find the applique gear I am selling it at my website. This link will also show you each print seperately.

 

The same as last time - the fabric is ONLY available in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, from Spotlight stores. If you are overseas and would like to purchase some fabric, you will have to do it from me directly - send me an email or a Facebook message. I only have a VERY limited amount to sell and it is nearly gone. I am doing kits for the Mystery Quilt and FQ bundles. I am not allowed to sell the fabric to anyone in countries where there is a Spotlight store - if you don't have a store near you you can use Spotlight's Shop at Home feature on their website, and they will fix you right up! 

I hope everyone has fun with the program, and I can't wait to see your progress! 

A Birthday Quilt Along

So, life's a little rough around here at the moment, for reasons I won't go into. No one in crafty quilty blog land likes hearing things like that - everything is supposed to be sunshine and roses, gorgeous fabrics and beautiful sewing rooms and perfect projects. Who knew?

Anyway to cheer myself up a bit, I was thinking about my last post about Floydie and thinking that I have always wanted a community quilt - a quilt with blocks made by others. Believe it or not no one has ever made me a quilt except my mum! So I thought I would finally launch an idea I actually had last year and I was going to do for my 40th, and never got around to it. I'm going to ask you guys to make me a quilt!

The idea is this. If you would like to participate and make a block for me, I am going to use the teacup block from my quilt, All That and the Hatter in Hand Quilted With Love. This is a quilt I wanted to make bigger at the time I made it, and just ran out of moments to get it done.

The teapots are a very fiddly affair so I won't ask you to make those!! :D Just a cup please. If you would like to participate and don't own the book, no problem, just email me [email protected] and I will send you a copy of the teacup pattern. If you already have the book, please drop me an email anyway when you're ready to send your block and I will give you my address!

*You will need four fabrics for the block - two for the striped background, one for the cup and one for the handle and saucer.

*Please use a patterned fabric for the cup, and a small graphic like a spot or a thin stripe for the base and handle.

*I don't mind wether you hand applique or machine applique the handle of the cup, that's up to you.

*The pieced background is made from solids, you need two contrasting solids of the same colour - two contrasting greens, two pinks etc. as shown in my quilt.

*The background fabrics need to have contrast with your cup and handle so that we can see all your lovely work (ie. don't have a pink cup and a pink background).

*There are some pattern issues in this book despite every effort from myself and editors. Please see the errata page for issues with other patterns - for this pattern, please DON'T use the template for the small triangle. Instead, cut a 1 7/8" square and cut it in half to get the 1 1/2" triangles for the bottom of the cup. The template is too wide.

*Please use clear colours for the block, and please sign it along one of the seams either in a permanant fabric pen or embroidery or whatever so I know who made it when the quilt is all sewn up. 

So. What's in it for you?

Everyone who makes a block and sends it will go into the running for a prize pack from me, containing a Fat Quarter bundle of my next (as yet unreleased) fabric range for Spotlight, Millefiori, as well as some other nice little bits and pieces. I am happy to post anywhere in the world to the winner. There will be two prize packs up for grabs. I will also send the pattern for the quilt free via email after I make it to everyone who participated, as the blocks will be set differently etc. and I'm planning a few extra details too.

So I hope that having a virtual cup of tea together sounds fun to you all! The Quilt Along will stay open until December 1, so you have a while to make the blocks. Please tell your friends, and if you decide to make some teacups too or even start your own teacup community quilt, make sure and link me to your blog post or whatever you're up to so I can spread the word and let everyone see your work. And of course I would send you a block if you're doing a community quilt of your own! 

Happy Tuesday everyone.

 

 

 

Hey, GIVEAWAY! Spread the Word!

Ok ok so I've been promising things around here for weeks and weeks, I have been a bit busy though!! No excuse but I've finally at least gotten to my Spring Market giveaway post. I had a lot of fun loot to I decided that I would do FOUR seperate prizes.

Two first prizes - the first is a copy of my mad friend Tula Pink's new book, 100 Modern Quilt Blocks! Thanks Tula! 

The second is a signed copy of Hand Quilted With Love:

Which, I am EXTREMELY proud to say, is already in it's first reprint after only 3 months. THANK YOU everyone ::mwah::

And two runner up prizes. The first:

A Mo Bedell embroidery pattern and badge, a Happy Zombie badge, a fat 8th of brand spanking new Art Gallery fabric, an Oliver and S Spool Dog card and 50% off my Craftsy class!

And the second:

A Mo Bedell embroidery pattern and badge, a Happy Zombie badge, a Carnaby St bunting kit from Art Gallery and 50% off my Craftsy class.

AND, all four of the prizes come with one fat quarter of my fabric, your choice from my website.

To win....hmm... Ok I never make you guys jump through the hoops but today you can! To win leave a comment saying why you would like to win and which prize you would like. Giveaway open everywhere in the world. For extra entries you can:

Tweet: Enter at www.thelastpiece.net to win @sarahfielke's Spring Market Giveaway!

Facebook: Enter at www.thelastpiece.net to win Sarah Fielke's Spring Market Giveaway!

Instagram: Enter at www.thelastpiece.net to win @sfielke's #springmarketgiveaway (and a pic of whatever you like)

Leave a seperate comment for each, and a seperate comment if you blog about it. 

Entries close Friday June 21 at 5pm Sydney time. Ok go forth and have fun, and good luck - I hope you win! :)