Melly & me

What a weekend!!

Rosie is sooooo busy moving house at the moment, but I am doing a post for her via phone!!  She wanted to share some of the beautiful photos from the weekend's "Spring Stitch-In" that she and Leanne held at Glen Harrow.   

I managed to pop in for a bit of a visit on the Saturday and was lucky enough to see how fabulous the event was.  There was sinfully delicious food, fabulous projects and great company!

Lots of beautiful show and tell from amazingly talented women was shared

The weather was glorious and of course the venue was absolutely perfect!

Since Rosie can't be here to type her impressions I will leave you with this photo of her taken at the retreat, which I thing Says it all!!!! - Melly

 

   

Daffodil day = Spring!!

What a beautiful day it is here today in Melbourne.  We are having a gorgeous week of weather that looks like it is only going to get better over the next few days!!  What great news for Rosie and all of those attending her and Leanne's "Stitch-in" this weekend. 

It is also Daffodil day here in Australia, which is a great chance for all of us to donate money to the The Cancer Council.  I love Daffodil day, not only because it is such a great cause and I love Daffodils, but also because it is a day that always feels like spring!  It is only a week away now and the garden in showing us all of the signs - Hooray!!!  I love the feel in the air at this time of the year.

On the designing front I feel like it is only the beginning of winter!!!  I seem to have lost all mo-jo for the last couple of months and everything I try to create ends up being added to a pile I like to call "get away from me until another day!!"  Sometimes things in this pile will be taken out and adapted another day and sometimes they will simply find their way to the scrap draw.  When I have these moods I get an itch to create things that I know will work out - the good-old tried and true patterns that we have already released.  This week I decided to use some gorgeous Japanese fabrics that I found here to make up some new Wallys and also felt the mood for some more Sangsangs and Little Kittys.  They were, of course, made just for fun and to give me a little pat on the back to say "I can do this thing" so they have all made their way to the etsy shop for sale.

Hopefully making these guys will give me enough of a boost to actually churn out something new.  As you can see they are celebrating Daffodil day too with some beautiful blooms I picked from my garden.

Have a fantastic weekend and may the floss be with you! - Melly

A kitting frenzy...

You may have noticed that I have written very few posts lately and Melly has been wowing you with her creative genius.  Leanne and I have been getting ready for the annual Glen Harrow Stitch-in that we host in early spring. As a result, we have spent the last week turning this:

into this....

Using a lot of elbow grease, an iron, cello bags and many hours of back breaking rotary cutting! It will all be so worth it on the day.

We are looking forward to this weekend sooo much as we were unable to host it last year. So, see you this weekend if you are coming!

By the way, did I mention that I am moving house three days after the Stitch-in??? Crazy planning there! Mr Floss and I have finally bought a house after years of renting and being moved on by landlords who want to sell or move back into their own homes. What makes it even more exciting for me is that we have bought the home Melly and I grew up in from my parents! I am so excited that I am not even thinking about how this move will happen when Mr Floss has a bad back and I am supposedly not allowed to lift heavy objects after my surgery! I guess thats what removalists are for if I can let go of the control factor!

Of course, Melly and I are still trying to get ready for our trip to Houston and have added some things to the etsy store. Take a peek!

Rosie xx

"Back to our roots"

We're from Holland, isn't that weird??!! (pardon the Gold Member reference - LOL!)

We have decided to extend our Houston experience by travelling to Holland as soon as the show finishes.  That way if Houston is a complete flop for us we still have a wonderful trip to see our relatives to look forward to!  We have been corresponding with our fabulous Aunty Yda about our visit and are becoming very excited. 

We were lucky enough to find out that one of our customers, Daniella, in The Netherlands is featuring some of our designs at a craft fair called Kreadoe in Utrecht at the exact time we will be visiting.  Of course we will now be going to the show on the 3rd of November to see her and some of the ladies who have been emailing us from our blog - how exciting!

While we are talking about Daniella from "Hip Handwerk", she shared this photo with us of the most adorable interpretation of our "Clancy the cross-eyed frog" that she has made.  We just had to share it with you all.

You may have noticed that we have been a little bit quiet lately.  We were getting ready for the Melbourne Craft & Quilt Show.  We had lots to do trying to get patterns ready.  We visited the show on Thursday and were lucky enough to meet up with Cathy, Kirsty, Jhoanna and Nicole which was so much fun.  Thanks to Lynn from Patchwork on Central Park for promoting our designs on her stall.

Until next time, may the floss be with you, Melly & Rosie x x

Hip Hip......

HOORAY!!!!!!

A huge happy birthday to my beautiful sister and friend, Rosie.  I hope it will be a wonderful day!  Love you muchly Flossie! - Melly XX

Fun in Nundle

Hi guys! I'm back!!! I have just had the most wonderful time in Nundle with Kerry from cottage on the hill. Kerry kindly invited me to come and teach at her Christmas in July retreat. You have never seen such beautiful country as up there in Nundle. (near Tamworth in NSW) Kerry's home and shop are a paradise waiting for a visit! I was lucky enough to meet beautiful women and share laughter and stitches with all of them! Teaching with me were Janelle Wind and Natalie Ross, both beautifully talented designers with fabulous patterns they have made! I feel like I have met some fabulous friends!

I taught a cute Christmas angel which I have called "Nundle". The pattern is now released under Rosalie Quinlan Designs so keep an eye out at your local patchwork store.  

Here is a photo of myself and some of the gorgeous new friends I made this weekend. I look forward to returning to teach at Kerry's in March next year!

May the floss be with you all!

Rosie xx

P.S. The giraffes name is "Mrs Perkins"

Katie Jump Rope creations

After our post about our fabulous new collection of Denyse Schmidt fabrics, we can now happily show you that we have put it all to good use!!!

Rosie has made this very cool version of her "Rebekah Amy's" quilt in one colour way...

And I made this new bag in another...

The colours really are so much fun to work with!!

Some other news for any of you who are based in Melbourne - we have a few class dates coming up at for term 3 at Patchwork on Central Park

- "Black Forest" bag class on Sunday 29th July from 10am - 3pm.

- A softie class where you can choose to make either "Lottie & Little Lady" or "Hooty & Tweet" on Friday the 10th August from 10am - 2pm.

- "Sherbet" class on Saturday the 8th September from 10am - 3pm where teens (12+) are also welcome.

If you are interested in joining us for a day of fun or know of any teens who would be interested in the younger class, please contact Patchwork on Central Park to book in. 

And are any of you heading out to the Melbourne Craft & Quilt Show this month?? We will be there on Thursday the 26th July at the "Patchwork on Central Park" stand. We would really love to meet some of you, so please come and say Hi!!!

There are a few more new bags on their way, so back to work we go and hopefully they will be ready for release at the show.  May the floss be with you!!! - Melly.

Excitement turns to nerves

Thank you so much to everyone for your congratulations and wishes of success for the International Quilt Market!  Our initial delight has now turned into nerves.  We have four months to go until we will pack our bags for Texas and boy, how much preparation needs to be done before then?!  And of course there is the anxiety about whether it will be a success - Can we make an attractive enough stand? Do we have enough designs? Will we stand out enough? Will there be interest? Can we do it!!?? 

We are, however, feeling a great deal more excited and hopeful this afternoon after Rosie came up with the most ingenious idea for our backdrop and display - I hope we can share it with you at some point down the track - it is going to be oh so very cute!

To keep myself distracted and to help the "Texas fund raising effort" I have spent the last few days working on these little fellas who had been intended for the etsy store.  Today though, we had a phone call from a delightful shop owner who wanted to order some of our toys for her fabulous store.  Amongst other items, part of her order just so happened to be for Mad Mozzies and Little Kitties so some of the work has already been done!  How very convenient!

Now to get the rest of this order whipped up while we are both bursting with new design ideas that we hope to find time to create!!! 

I really hope that you will be seeing lots of great new designs here in the next few weeks.  Fingers crossed!  - Melly

WOO-HOO!!

How exciting - We are actually going!!!!!!!!!!!

Im back!!

Although I missed my sewing machine oh so very much, I have had the most fabulous 7 nights away with the family.  The sun, beach, shopping, giggles and of course a great deal of eating were the highlights!  But back home to cold Melbourne we had to come and even though we had such a fabulous time it is also nice to come back to our home, loved ones and of course my sewing machine!

I just had to take along Minkey, my beautiful little monkey from Julie and she had so much fun at the beach!

Little floss (4 years) also tried his hand at photography while we were away and here is his best shot of his little sister, Baby Floss.

After wearing himself out with photography he felt it was time for a fairy floss moustache - very suave!!

While I was away, Rosie did some sewing for the etsy store.   She adapted the Scrappy Cabin pattern to make these lovely mobile phone pockets.

Anyway, off to the well rested sewing machine now - I'm itching! - Melly