haberdashery & some sewing

A few months ago I came across an excellent new online store called 'The Village Haberdashery'. Have you seen it?


Well I pretty much fell in love with its clean lines and easy to navigate pages and the retro feel that the store has. I like the way the store is laid out and I love how it links to the blog too. It was this link that led me to this post about a gorgeous table runner!


Well I knew there and then I needed that table runner in my life - its colours are perfect for my newly decorated kitchen, so I bought it and here it is!

Now clearly its on the window in my sewing room in these pictures as my dining rom table is full of shizzle I couldn't be assed moving!! Naughty aren't I? Anyhow the table runner was so easy to make up I did it in an evening!


When I ordered the goodies to make up the table runner I also ordered some of the very sought after Ed Emberley 'Happy Drawings' fabric for Cloud 9,  to make Hunter some more baby trousers. These fabrics are organic and just so darn cute! 

More recently I've ordered some Anna Maria Horner Velveteens to add to my stash. I'm hopefully going to make a giant star quilt using this pattern from Jeni and inspired by this quilt from Katy.

As I ordered the velveteens I noticed Annie had a pre-cut bunting kit from Laurie Wisbrun's Modern Whimsy. I adore this line and figured this purchase would kill two birds with one stone -  my need for bunting in the sewing room and my need to own some of this cute fabric!! Agreed?!

Pic from Village Haberdashery

I had the chance to meet Annie who owns this fabby store when I went to the Fat Quarterly Retreat at the beginning of the month and what a lovely lady she is. She's also a quilter which means she's on the ball with the highly desirable fabric lines we all want/need. In fact on the sites 'Coming Soon' section you can sign up to be notified when stock arrives of the pretties she has ordered for us!


I can tell you there are some beauties on there just now that Annie ordered on her recent trip to Quilt Market in Kansas City. I clearly will be requiring these beauties in my life.

As well as great fabric Annie sells everything from Aurifil to embroidery threads,  Yarn to knitting needles and Trims to dressmaking patterns! In fact the current offer is 15% off Figgy's dressmaking patterns valid til June 26th.


So I think what I'm trying to say is if you haven't visited this great store, you really should!!

Sunday Musings - FQ Retreat

I feel like this post is a really delayed!! Everyone else seems to have moved on from their retreat posts but I wanted to get my final instalment posted before I move onto the other stuff I've been getting up to this week!!


Sunday morning's class was Lynne's Foundation Paper Piecing where I opted to make a cushion cover using Melody Millers awesome fabrics and co-ordinating scraps. Here's the first block in progress:

from SewJustineSew flickr stream

This was a great class and under Lynne and Mandy's watchful eyes I mastered the technique without much problem! In fact I really love this technique and the completed cushion is awesome (it will feature in a post very soon!)

Lunchtime saw John getting some boy time with Hunter so I could eat my lunch!! Everyone was so helpful with the little fella and it really helped me get the most out of the weekend. In fact John spent most of his Sunday afternoon class teaching whilst holding Hunter so that I could actually get to a machine and sew. How amazing is that? I am truly blessed with the best friends ever!

John & Hunter from SewJustineSew Flickr 

Here's a picture of the wonky log cabin I made on Sunday afternoon, this plus more will be turned into a mini wall hanging for my sewing room!!




When the retreat came to an end it really was very emotional! I mean there were tears and everything!! It was obvious that beers were required to celebrate and later in the evening a lovely meal out was had with my bestest sewing buddies!!

Lu and Hunter from SewJustineSew flickr

Katy and Hunter from SewJustineSew Flickr

All of us!! Photo from Scissors & Thread 

Ok left to right we have Lynne (Lily's Quilts & Fat Quarterly), Brioni (Flossy Blossy & Fat Quarterly), Lucie Summers (Blu-Shed), Katy (Monkey Do & Fat Quarterly), John (Quilt Dad & Fat Quarterly), Me!, Tacha (Hanies Quilts & Fat Quarterly), Mandy (Simply Solids) & A (Scissors & Thread)

That's all from me on the retreat front - Roll on next year!!!!!!

FQR - Saturday Musings

After propping up the bar til gone midnight Friday with my roomie Scissors and Thread and the lovely Pip from France, it was an early start to get to the retreat venue for 9am! Thankfully Hunter woke us and it was a mere 2 minute walk from the hotel!

Picture by Scissors and Thread

Amanda and I, picture courtesy of Scissors and Thread.

When we arrived we registered and were given our goodie bags stuffed with fabric and notions from the event sponsors - this was great but the goodie bags soon got forgotten as the attendees started circulating and squealing with delight when they happened upon a multitude of online friends! 

For me this was one of the best parts of the weekend, putting faces to all those people I feel like I've know forever!! When the Fat Quarterly gang spoke to the attendees making it clear this event was about community and that they wanted nobody to feel left out or insecure, they really set the atmosphere for the rest of the weekend. I can honesty say that I never saw anyone shrink into the shadows or lurk on the periphery. It really did feel like a big happy family. Bliss.

My first class was with Tacha and was English Paper Piecing, Hunter however had different ideas and was unsettled so I didn't get much done! I did however shoot some great snaps whilst I was walking around with him!!

L-R: Tacha EPP Class, Leila and Kerry, Liberty Fabrics, Karen, Sewing 

Lunchtime was a relaxed affair on the roof terrace, not that it was warm enough but hey and there was lots of laughter, which to be honest there was lots of all weekend!

Lu Summers, Tacha and Christine

Lynne and Mandy

Saturday afternoon brought the class I really wanted to do - embroidery with Aneela Hooey. I love embroidery and am always looking to learn from a pro so was really looking forward to this class! Aneela and I have been friends online for ages now but this was the first time we met properly - hooray!

L-R: LJ, class embroidery, Robin design, teaching couching stitch

So this was Saturday for me! Dinner was eaten out with the lovely Claire, Nicole, Amanda and Christine and the retreat venue stayed open until 23:00hrs. There was a pub quiz and the Royals thrown in somewhere along the line also!!

FQ Weekend. Over & Out.

After so much planning, wishing and waiting I cannot believe that the Fat Quarterly Retreat has been and gone. I am now left feeling a tad deflated. Why oh why can't I hang out with the guys and gals I met everyday? Really why can't I? Please tell me.


I cannot put into words just now what the retreat meant to me, so to start with  I've decided to post you lots of pictures of what was clearly the best weekend. Ever. 
Starting with Friday, here we go:

Hunter snoozing on train to London

Hunter & I in hotel waiting for our roomie!

Jaunt down Regent Street to see Hamley's & Liberty

And this was all before the official start of the retreat! As I'm uploading my photo's to Flickr just now (how slow) and reliving the memories, I hope to be able to form some sort of coherent post about each day of fun!

I'll be back soon with my reflection on Saturday's shenanigans!!