Columbus here we come!

We are all packed and Fran and I and Kat from Cross Eyed Cat are catching a flight to Columbus tomorrow for the TNNA Summer Market.

Yes, we have new releases! There are 10 new silks bringing the number to 157 gorgeous hand dyed silk threads and we are also releasing 20 colours of 100% silk ribbons in 4mm and 7mm widths. Over the next few months, we'll add more colours.

I have also designed two new pieces, Mt Coot-tha - a new quilt block and Kwitchyerbellyakin which is a fun design with a Celtic border.

Janie from The Cat's Whiskers Design Studio has 3 cute Krazy Kitties charts for release. There is 4th of July Kitty, Halloween Kitty and Ned Kelly Kitty. These cute little guys are sure to be popular. Here is the 4th of July Kitty.



Fabulous Fall is the last of the Collaboration tuffets from Janie and myself. These very popular packs have the charts, full instructions and the specially dyed silk.

Speaking of kitties, Judith from Twisted Oaks Designs has come up with another fantastic design for a pin cushion and scissor fob. Trixie and Treat are sure to keep your pins and scissors under control. Silk packs are available for all the new release charts.

You can find the links to photos and information about our new releases on the Latest News page on our website. Hope you like them!

Things are crazy!

I'm exhibiting at Columbus market next week, so as you can imagine things are crazy around here. I always think I'm right on schedule, until the last week or so when reality hits and I still have way too many things to do.
Alicia bought me the LE Spring packs threads today and I stitched and made the biscornu yesterday and it looks lovely, if I may say so. I used the two LE silks and #51 Kakadu which is the green. There are still a few of the Spring LE packs available if anyone should want one.

You also get a sneak peek of a new silk in the above photo. That silk at the bottom is Mardi Gras which will be released next week. Each pack will contain one of our 10 new releases.
I've also been busy carding samples of our new ribbon line which I'll be giving away to stores at Columbus. So, if your LNS owner will be at Columbus, tell her to call around and see the new silk colours and pick up a sample of our new ribbon. Here are a few of the colours below.

I was finally copying the photos from our trip home to my computer. I thought you might like to see a photo of Shute Harbour in the Whitsundays. This is the region I call home. No beaches in this photo but can see some of the islands in the background as well as the beautiful blue of the ocean. Makes me homesick just looking at this!

Bright sunny days and gorgeous scenery like this is the inspiration for the colours I create.

Week 20....

My husband gave me a new calender for my office which has the weeks shown. We are already up to week 20! Nearly half the year has already gone. I can't believe how quickly the days go by.

I've had another busy week organising for Columbus market and working on my Spring Limited Edition pack. For those that don't know, I create a Limited Edition pack for each season and each pack contains 2 full skeins of silk thread, 2 full skeins of cotton floss, a piece of 13" x 18" piece of hand dyed fabric, a small chart and I always add a little extra something.

The Spring pack will contain opalesence lugana and the Spring tuffet design. This will make the full set of seasonals tuffets.

There are a few of the Winter LE packs left so if anyone out there reading this wants one, just e-mail me.



I've started dyeing the new range of silk ribbons and have about half dyed. I still need to work on the variegated ribbons. I love these colours!

New silk colours

I've finally finished working on the 10 new colours that will be released at Columbus. 3 of them were developed because of designer requests, one developed for my new grand daughter Taylor and the others are to fill in gaps in the current line.

Since I already dye some of my colours in silk ribbon, I am considering adding some silk ribbon to my regular line. This probably won't happen in time for Columbus market but they will be ready for the new St Charles market in September.

Here is a sneak peak of the 10 new silk colours. Hope you like them!

I'm Back!

It's been so long since I've posted to my blog. I have intended to do so but I've been so incredibly busy, I just haven't managed to get it done.

So, where have I been in the past 4 months? Working mostly.

The lead up to Nashville market in February is always so busy and then after there are orders that need shipping, threads that need dyeing and there are just not enough hours in the day.

I also have a new grand daughter, Taylor Leigh Fisher who was born on February 6th and my daughter, Jaime, was married on March 19th. We were back home in Australia for just over 3 weeks and I had plenty to do to catch up after I returned.



Over the past few months I have also re-structured my business and Toni, who has been working for me for about 2 years, now comes in more often,which has freed up more of my time. I still do all the dyeing and administrative work and Toni packs orders and handles the inventory control and organises the work for the other 4 ladies who work for me.

All in all, it is working out well and I've even had time to read the odd book on weekends instead of working 7 days a week.

At the moment we are preparing for the TNNA trade show in Columbus OH, which is the first week in June. I'll be releasing new silks and designs at this show and so we are busy with our normal day to day work as well as preparing all the new stock for release.

I'll post updates as we progress with our preparations but I can tell you I have a new Celtic design and new quilt block to release, Janie will have new designs as will Judith and Janie and I will collaborate to release the 4th seasonal biscornu... Autumn.

'The Wagon' Get Together

I hosted a GT for stitchers from The Wagon BB last Saturday. A few non-wagoners from Houston came as well and I think there were 15 people all up, so a good gathering. We had good company and good food and I think we all ate way too much.

It was Kat and Melissa's birthday this month and there was birthday cake!



Here is a photo of some of those that attended.



This week I've been dyeing ready for Nashville. I keep changing the number of new colours that I'll release but there will be 7 or 8. I'm also dyeing silk for Janie's wonderful new designs. She is going to blow you all away again next year with her new releases. I've seen the most wonderful photos but of course I am sworn to secrecy until Janie releases the images, which should be sometime in January.

Janie and I have been working on several collaborations, one of which will be a Nashville exclusive. Only stores who attend Nashville market will be able to purchase this unique collaboration pack. I'll be posting about all the new releases here and on my website as soon as the photos and information is made public.

I will have two new releases at Nashville, one of which is a new quilt block and I will also be releasing The Min Min in chart form. This design was previously published in the October issue of The Gift of Stitching . I'll add my usual recommendation here for this wonderful magazine. If you don't have a subscription, you really are missing out. Your local needlework store can purchase subscription cards direct from me.

December already!

I know I'm repeating myself but... Where has the year gone? It seems like it was Christmas only a few months ago and here it is again.

Which means I am elbow deep in dyes organsing the new silk colours for release at Nashville and making sure we have plenty of stock for all the new designs that are being released at market.

So, what have I been doing since the last time I posted? Besides dyeing, Ian and I went on vacation for a week which we both really enjoyed. I managed to make progress on the lace for my daughters wedding dress while we were away. Her dress will be purple and silver and I am beading the silver lace with swarovski crystals. I have finished 5 yards and have 3 more to go. The photo below doesn't show how lovely it is but it gives you an idea.



My friend Fran is going to come over after Christmas to help me sew the dress, so I need to get a move on with the lace. The wedding is just before Easter 2008 and I want to ship the dress home in January to make sure it fits.

Saturday I am hosting a GT here for any members of 'The Wagon' who can make it and some local Houston stitchers. I'm looking forward to having everyone here. If I remember, I'll take some photos to post.