My Adventure to the South Island

Hello wonderful people,



I thought it was time for another blog post to let you guys know what I've been up to lately and what's on this weekend.



A couple of weeks ago I had a trip to the South Island. Flew in to Christchurch visited a number of Quilt shops:



Quilters Quarters in Rangiora it's a lovely big shop, helpful staff lots of different fabrics;



Bernina Dress Sundries ,they have moved since the Quake and are now in 466d Papanui Road;



Stitch at the beginning of Colombo street. Their specialty is all those gorgeous modern fabrics;

Cottonfield at Avonhead ,Beautiful store, stock those lovely Japanese Taupes among other styles of fabric. Took some pictures to show you all how flat the Canterbury plains are. Southern Alps in the background. Had the most beautiful clear days.

Then off to Ashburton to visit with Cindy and her team at Bernina. They have moved and are now part of the Hands Ashford village. If you have time well worth stopping for lunch and a wander around the super specialty shops.

Oamaru is well worth spending time checking out the lovely old buildings.Pics 4 5 6

The main purpose of my trip was to teach for Jan’s Patch in Dunedin. First a one day class “Circ-Elation” this covers 3 techniques to create circle blocks. Here are the girls and what they spent the day enjoying.

I had a wonderful day off on the Friday and took the opportunity to check out the local tourist sites. Again had the most wonderful sunny days (cold for a Nth Islander but mild for those hardy Sth Islanders) and the company of hubby who decided perhaps he could have a game of Golf in Dunedin and notch that venue up on his belt.

Saturday and Sunday taught my Lickerty Splits Class. This is creating a quilt using strata made with a Jelly fabric Roll . They all nearly completed their quilt tops on the weekend and Sue has sent me a picture of hers finished. Its beautiful.

Over the last couple of days I have been preparing for our local Quilt Show. The Whangarei Patchworks and Quilters hold their show every two years . There is amazing talent here in Northland and I know it will be stunning. Here are the details, please come for the drive if you can.

Whangarei Patchworkers & Quilters Club 2012

25th Anniversary QUILT SHOW



Forum North, Exhibition Hall

Rust Ave, Whangarei



10am to 4pm

Fri 3rd, Sat 4th & Sun 5th August



$2.00 entry fee

(children with adult have free entry)



100's of Quilts on Display

Local & Out of Town Merchants

Great Raffles

Demonstrations



Check out the Quilt Whangarei Blog. There is a quilt made after my class a couple of months ago.

http://quiltwhangarei.blogspot.co.nz/



Thought I would show you a little of my slice of Heaven here on earth. OTP and introduce you to just 1 of my Furry Helpers (Spencer) you will meet the other soon.

Happy sewing!!

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Stargello Pattern

A few weeks ago I promised a showcase of the new Stargello Pattern that has been flying off the shelves; at the shows I've been to this year.

The Stargello pattern is made using the Gem Thirty Tool which is a companion tool of the Jewel Box Set.  Phillips Fiber Art have included  a paper template so the Jewel Box is an option rather than a necessity. However I like quick, easy and accurate so would reccomend using the  acrylic Gem 10 Template.

 The Jewel Box tool  set is made up of two pieces, the large piece is called the Gem 10 and the smaller the Gem 5. The Gem Thirty tool is one third of the Gem 10 so you  can sew three pieces together to make the Gem 10. You can create some wonderful effects within that shape.

                                                             

This is the free pattern that comes with the Gem Thrity tool. Like the Jewel Box, an endless number of effects can be achieved with using different colours and patterned fabrics.

Here is my version. I have squared the quilt off using the Framing paper template .

The Stargello Pattern is one of those quilts that looks very difficult to make but is in actual fact, incredibly easy to construct.

To demonstrate this, below are a series of pictures showing the process of making the quilt. It all starts with a strip set . I have cut most of my pieces already so it looks a little odd  shaped.

The Gem Thirty tool and Stargello pattern are available on my website under Tools & Accessories

Gem Thirty RRP $28.00NZD

Stargello pattern RRP $18.00NZD



If you have any questions regarding the product, feel free to email me at kerry@tulis.co.nz

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Sydney Quilt Show

For those of you who didn't know, the Sydney Quilt & Craft Show was on over the weekend.

 

The 5-day show is the biggest in Australia and is on in June every year.

 

As usual I had a lovely time catching up with friends and getting to know some of my customers.

 

It was surprising how many New Zealanders I ran in to during the show.

I was lucky enough to have a number of helpers on my stand this year. My friend Karen Merseides, a keen quilter, came down from Brisbane for the first two days. On Friday and Saturday Doreen, from Rolleston NZ and Denise, from Blenheim NZ. For those of you who are from the Blenheim area you may know Denise, she works at The Quilter's Barn. I owe an eternal gratitude to my helpers, at the the big shows I couldn't get by without them.

 

Once again I did the Mariner's Compass Workshop. And it was wonderfully received, so much so I had another 25 bought over on the Friday.

 

For the second year my stand was next to a couple of super guys, Wayne and Peter. For all you keen embroiderer's out there, they specialize in cross stitch and needlework fabric. Peter has also invented an amazing self framing system for all embroidery and cross stitch needs. He demonstrates it on the stand. They operate a mail order shop on their website.

Check out their website here Click Here

 

The most popular item I sold over the week was the Stargello Pattern. Keep an eye out because over the next few weeks I'll be showcasing the pattern on the blog.

 

Check out more pictures on my Flickr Account Click Here

 

Jewel Box Class at Whangarei Quilters Group

Over the weekend I went up north to teach a class at the Whangarei Quilters Group. I have sold the Jewel Box for a number of years now, it has been vey popular at the shows. I created a class which I have taught at a number of quilt groups around Australia and New Zealand.

The Jewel Box is a tool created by Phillips Fiber Art. The tool creates quilts that are not quite like anything else out there. Its popularity is largely due to its simplicity, a quilter of any skill level can create something beautiful and unique. As you'll see in the pictures below; although the pattern is the same for all the quilts, colours and patterns are used to create unique quilts. Fussy cutting can create something else altogether, check out the first quilt below, Sue fussy cut the fabric for the borders.

There are a number of patterns that accompany the Jewel Box tool. The class I taught over the weekend used The Swirl pattern. I'll have a link to my website at the end of this blog, you can see the different patterns available. Also in the last 12 months Phillips Fiber Art have released new sizes for the tool. Check these out on the website too.

The best thing about this tool is creates a quick and easy quilt that can be completed in ONE DAY!!! One of the ladies finished her quilt top during the class and the others finished theirs at home.

 

 

Here are the links to my website:

The three tools and various patterns can be found on this page Click Here

This will take you directly to the Jewel Box Tool Click Here

This will take you directly The Swirl pattern Click Here

 

Lastly just another reminder for those of you in Sydney. The Quilt & Craft Show started today (Wednesday) and finishes on Sunday. Come visit me at Stand E-12.

Here is a link to the show website for more details Click Here