Saffrons Blog

I'm a fabric designer, mum and creative crafty person. A blog about fabrics, projects, ideas and things that inspire me.

Things made by you

Saffron Craig - Thursday, January 06, 2011

Over time I have been emailed quite a few pictures of goodies made by you, something I appreciate tremendously. It's great to see how creative you all are and to see some very unexpected things made from my fabrics.

Here are a few for you to enjoy. Most of them I have put up in my facebook page where you can find more and upload your own pictures.

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3 comments

Kelli Hynes commented on 07-Jan-2011 10:33 PM

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Kelli Hynes commented on 07-Jan-2011 10:34 PM

I wish someone would make me a dress from your tree fabric!

Cindy Foat commented on 10-Jan-2011 06:00 PM

All these projects look great! Have you seen your fabrics used for wall art!
My wonderful mother-in-law has created s beautiful quilt from the parrot fabric
for my little girl and I want to use it to create a picture. Thankyou for all your
amazing fabric.

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2011 Happy New Year - my goals for this year

Saffron Craig - Saturday, January 01, 2011

Happy new Year, I hope that 2011 is an exciting year for everyone. 2010 was a wonderful year and I'm very grateful for what I've achieved and received.

I'd like to start the new year by setting goals and I try to keep them realistic and attainable. My daughter starts school in four weeks, which means that I will have 5 short days instead of three. I will be part time no more and I'm brimming with creative ideas such as...

We will be introducing three wonderful fabric ranges in two colourways arriving over the next few months. And some new softies...woof! Can't wait!
I will design three more ranges by April, for which I have a few ideas and sketches already.
I have plans to go to two more trade shows. Still not sure if I will attend the Sydney quilt show in June.
I am making plans to start licensing my designs.
I am thinking surface design, paper, wall paper.
My good friend and I have plans for creating a new home-ware business that will be organic and beautiful. Still in the planning phase though.
I would love to finish the children's illustration book I started last year.
I have an urge to create a range of beautiful silk scarves.
I also feel some paintings coming along.
Visit an overseas fabric show, maybe Birmingham?

Then on a personal note I am starting the year with a cleansing Bikram yoga challenge and will reward myself after each class with a swim in the beautiful ocean that is at my doorstep; I will be catching those waves for sure.
And this year I'm going to say yes to any social opportunity that will come my way in the hope to meet more like minded and inspiring people to share ideas and experiences.

And laugh a lot!

As I child I always was fascinated by my shadow, I wanted to look like it, be that tall and fly with the angels.

Well these are a few of my goals for 2011. How about you?

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5 comments

Margaret commented on 01-Jan-2011 08:21 PM

They sound like great goals for 2011. I am excited to see your new fabric ranges this year. Everything you make is so beautiful. Thanks for being such an inspiration!

Kelli Hynes commented on 02-Jan-2011 09:47 AM

Hi Saffron, looks like an exciting year ahead for you. I made a resolution about 7 years ago to never make a new year resolution again, it has been my only successful one! I am looking forward to a healthier year for me and my husband, a couple of small holidays, and finalizing renovations on my home, so my family can build a beautiful very large home. I look forward to seeing your goals come true, 'cause you wont be the only one benefiting from it, all us crafters will benefit too. Cheers!

Pam commented on 02-Jan-2011 11:12 PM

Love your goals for 2011 Saffron, and am very much looking forward to your new fabrics. I made a quilt for my niece for Christmas combining the creative genius of your fabrics and Kate Conklin's pattern, and it was very well received, I shall email you both a photo.
I have decided that my main goal for this year is to stop worrying about if an idea/project/plan etc is 'good enough' and just get on and have a go. I think I may let myself be held back far too much by fears of failure and negativity, and forget the joy of just creating.
Happy New Year!

Bec commented on 03-Jan-2011 08:55 AM

Wow Saffron, sounds like a rich full busy and fulfilling year!! Happy new year!! Looking forward to attending some craft shows together!! Xx

Kate Doepel commented on 11-Jan-2011 04:19 PM

THere;s nothing like aiming high!!
I'd gie the Birmingham NEC expo a miss - it's huge and very Interior designer/retailer focussed and go instead to Heimtextil (germany) or even better Maison d'object (paris)which is where the fabric wholesalers go to meet the mills and designers, and is where the fashion forcasting for colour etc really goes on show.
Real Inspiration! Have fun - I'm jealous!

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We are open through the school holidays.

Saffron Craig - Sunday, December 26, 2010

To celebrate the festive season we are having a Boxing day sale today. Click here and use "boxingsale" as the discount code during checkout.

I thought I should mention that we will be open all through the school holidays. So if you're in need of a little project our Owl and Koala softies are always fun to do with younger ones.

We had fun on Christmas Day, which mainly revolved around delicious food of course, standing in the kitchen for a couple of hours.

The table, us cooking, the best trifle in the southern hemisphere and Opa on his second glass of red

I had a swim and a long walk and received some great gifts. Inspirational books were top of my list this year. I tried very hard to buy only hand made items. Also crafty items to make with my daughter during the holidays. We've all had new beaded bracelets made by her today. Still got some papermaché puppies to paint.

Just a brief post today. I hope you enjoy the sale.

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My year revisited - 2010 is coming to an end

Saffron Craig - Sunday, December 19, 2010

I can very clearly remember being in this end-of-year thought space last year. However, recapping the past twelve months this time is easier as the year went by so quickly and so much happened. Things that come to my mind quickly from these past twelve months are the two wholesale trade shows. Meeting so many people at these shows was very inspiring for me.

I have really worked a lot this year, putting in hours and hours designing another three ranges, which will be coming out in the first few months of the new year.

Also it has been exciting getting stuck into facebook and seeing what people are creating with my fabrics and having instant feedback and conversations with you. Without facebook or my blog it would be very difficult to touch base with like minded people.

Being a grown up I think it is important to share the sadness as well. On personal note, I lost both my grandparents this year. My husband recovered from a motor cycle accident. My mother had two long stints in hospital. Patrick's mum is loosing her eyesight. I shared grief with people who lost loved ones, a life long partner and a new born child. So sad. So especially to you I send you my love.

Happily my sister had her second baby, a girl who is just amazing.

My daughter turned five, she lost two front teeth, she had her finger sewn back on in Perth after she almost chopped it off. She starts school soon, which I know she is ready for but I am still overwhelmed. My little one with all those children. Yes tears were shed this year (just last week I cried all the way through my daughter's ballet recital. Not just at my daughter but at all the kids).

But all in all it was a happy year for me. Very happy.

I put together a few pictures, which I think capture some highlights of this year. There were many magical moments and these are but a few.

A few pictures of quilts made from my fabrics and mostly by me.

So to you all I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks so much for reading my blog and for taking an interest in my life in general. Leaving comments really helps me feel like I am part of something bigger. Special thanks to Kate Conklin who has been really supportive since the first time we made contact.

And a very special thanks of course to JIm and Kathryn Broomhall our wholesale partners and distributors who've worked very hard all year to bring our fabrics into shops Australia wide and overseas.

Happy days to you all.

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4 comments

Jenny commented on 20-Dec-2010 08:50 AM

Great pictures!! I love the one with your daughter ironing! Just adorable! She's adorable! I really enjoy seeing what your up to. You're very creative!Can't wait to see what you have in store for the new year. And I love your fabrics!!! Merry Christmas to you & your family!!

Leanne commented on 20-Dec-2010 05:40 PM

Your fabric is lovely and yes 2010 has zoomed by. Keep up the designing it is so nice to have young fresh designer her in Oz. You have a very friendly personality I met you at the Quilt market in Melbourne. Generally I am a lurker here but thought I'd say Merry Christmas and may 2011 be a great year for you and your family.

Sarah Flynn commented on 21-Dec-2010 09:03 PM

Lovely post, I recently discovered your site and fabrics and really think they are beautiful. I also love the interaction and comments on blogs and Facebook etc and the way the crafting community stretches around the globe!

Bec commented on 23-Dec-2010 09:47 PM

Oh Saffron, it has definately been a big year..It has been such an honour getting to know you better...you are so inspiring, i really really look forward to 2011 where we can share HAPPY memories.. and hopefully all catch up again for a 'girly' weekend! Thank you so much for my little pressies... Your a wonderful friend..one i truely cherish! xx Merry Christmas xx Love Bec xx

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How Oma makes a quilt using my brand new Beetle bugs fabrics

Saffron Craig - Thursday, December 16, 2010

The new Beetle Bugs have arrived. We have put the fabrics in our shop for you to enjoy (go on, you know you want them in your stash). If you don't know about the Beetle bugs you can read about the design process in a previous blog post here.

Oma or Daphny, Patrick's Mum from Holland, offered to make a small quilt, she needed to keep her fingers busy while Sequoia was still at preschool and she had a bit of time to stitch. Though that is over now. Sequoia is officially on school holidays finishing her two years at pre-school. Yep tears were shed.

I laugh at Daphny as— like a true quilter—there was no hesitation in cutting into the Beetle Bug fabrics. So many times I get emails from people admitting they can't cut into fabrics they love. Daphny has done that too many times. Today she simply made sure the fabric had a straight edge and cut a 10cm strip of each of the six fabrics straight off the bolt. Schnipp schnapp.

Saffron Craig - 9 block windmill quilt with Beetle Bug fabrics

She decided to use the windmill block, which is also a favorite of mine ever since Daphny had made our wedding quilt with this block. Then she cut the strips into 10cm squares. One the back of each square she drew diagonal lines as a guide to hand stitch along. She sat outside on the deck and hand-stitched the blocks together basking in the warmth, one square at a time. Always looking at the colours and the way the fabrics played together.

Within less than a week she had stitched 9 blocks, which was enough for this quilt. Daphny suggested putting a sashing around each block. We drove to the local fabric shop to seek out a solid, I had a pale gray in mind, however we thought the unseeded cotton complemented the range the best, giving it a warm, natural feel.

She then moved to the sewing machine to sew the sashing around each windmill block. We shuffled each of them around until we both agreed to put the red Bug Party blocks in each corner.

Daphny added a sashing around the 9 blocks and then a thin border of the Bug Party followed by a wide border of the Running Bugs.

Other things that have happened this week are:

Oma ate her first Aussie Pavlova ever and smiled from ear to ear at its deliciousness. She took seconds.

We took Sequoia to see Santa in the city, she would not sit on his lap so she sat on mine instead. Click.

I bought a ridiculously expensive present for my daughter, one I know she will only play with for a short while, just so she believes in Santa. This might be the last year she will. She already questions "how can there be so many Santas? And why does he come in a sleigh here and on a horse in Holland?"

I went to a 6am yoga class.

I ordered the Free range turkey which went like this: phone call from Mum at the butchers
Mum to me: "Have you ordered the turkey?"
Me: "That was on today's to do list!"
Mum: "Do you want me to?"
Me: "Thanks."

I got my hair cut short.

I queued at the post office, a lot. Far out it is so so so boring.

I took the family to see the Christmas lights there are plenty here after 9pm.

I went to my daughter's ballet recital where I shed tears for 2 hours as it was too cute and I am a hopeless romantic.

Now I just have to decide how to quilt the quilt top made from my precious Beetle Bugs?
Will you find any time to stitch over Christmas?

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7 comments

elsa hart commented on 16-Dec-2010 10:21 AM

how lovely this quilt is ... love seeing your Oma's hands at work!

Nancy Leee commented on 17-Dec-2010 01:40 AM

Ah...the multiple Santa question... Our response? We always told our kids that THE REAL Santa went ONE place to have photos taken for the season... All the others were just dads that "played" Santa so everyone could get their photos taken... It thrilled them to see all the Santa's and try to figure out if it was the "real" one or just some Dad... One year at the mall, they were both convinced they had FINALLY seen the REAL Santa...it was priceless..

Pam commented on 17-Dec-2010 09:56 PM

The Santa Clause....he has to come different ways in different countries, just for practicality, otherwise the reindeer would get too tired.... How lovely hearing all about Oma's adventures, I'm glad she enjoyed the pavlova! Now lamingtons for Australia Day!

sagar commented on 18-Dec-2010 07:58 PM

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Alison jeppesen commented on 19-Dec-2010 12:34 AM

Love your new fabric - have been looking forward to being able to get some for my little boy.

Toni Coward commented on 23-Dec-2010 06:59 PM

Oooh, I LOVE Oma's quilt! Awesomeness. I love how she pieced by hand too...I used to make quilts that way and hope to do it again when the kids are a little older.
Hmmm, I'm intrigued to see what pressie you bought Sequioa!
Merry Christmas :)

Amelia Sliedrecht commented on 06-Jan-2011 10:09 PM

What a wonderful quilt! It must have been so lovely to see your Oma sewing with your fabrics.

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Oma brings quilted goodness for Christmas

Saffron Craig - Sunday, December 12, 2010

Oma and Opa arrived safely form freezing Europe. Opa said when he woke up the first morning he saw blue sky and roses and thought he was in heaven! I guess he is...
He also commented it was the first time he has had warm hands in six months. Oma is on the deck stitching my new Beetle Bugs into something magnificent starting with 10cm blocks. She is also the kitchen fairy cleaning up after me. I get to cook and feed people and she makes the kitchen shine. I like this deal, she can stay! She is also making desserts.
YUM, she brought some great Dutch recipes, which she used to make a Christmas slice for Sequoia's school party and not a piece was left over. I am a bit in awe of her as she is the mums of all mums.

We have also started decorating the inside of the house, inspired by Oma's amazing advents calender she brought with her. Sure to be a family heirloom.

Oma's advents calendar is completely handmade, mixing applique and paper piecing, it is stunning and Sequoia knows how many days it is until Christmas. Really soon! Am I organized? NOPE! A chocolate is taped under each cover which is rolled up to show a wonderful image. I look forward to each new picture every day. The Swiss chocolates are getting Sequoia out of bed at 5.30am, though aided by the bright sunshine and the noisy birds. Santa had better be on time this year. Actually it's the reindeer Sequoia really cares about. So we better go and buy a bag of carrots.

The snowman is my favorite one from the Advent calender. She thoughtfully put him in near the beginning so I get to look at him each day.

Oma also created the Christmas placemats for the table this year. So perfectly pieced.

The heat is not really getting her in the Christmas mood though. So I better start working on that! Any ideas? We went to see Santa in the air conditioning for a start.

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9 comments

Mary Kolb commented on 13-Dec-2010 06:27 AM

Stop over at our house with a new 20 inches of snow! Would that work? P.S. received the Christmas Stocking fabric yesterday and I love it!

Kirsten Yarra commented on 13-Dec-2010 09:33 AM

Sounds so wonderful Saffron. Enjoy!

Sharon Wall commented on 13-Dec-2010 09:53 PM

wow - what a wonderful story - and how blessed you are to share all that love Saffron...(and Sequoia and Patrick ( but he has had a life time of it!!!) love to Oma and Opa...hope we get to meet them in paradise one day xx

patricia gooden commented on 13-Dec-2010 11:59 PM

The advent calendar is the nicest one I have ever seen. I will have to try to make one for next year. Please show us what Oma makes with your beatle bugs, too.

Angela Mitchell commented on 14-Dec-2010 04:32 PM

I love the advent calender. Any chance Oma is willing to share her pattern?

Paula commented on 15-Dec-2010 08:18 PM

I met your Oma at my Market stall in Moruya last weekend! She was very proud of you and your fabrics, little did she know I'm a follower of your blog, and a fan of your fabrics too!
Hugs Paula

Saffron Craig commented on 16-Dec-2010 07:06 AM

Thanks so much for your comments.
Paula, you met my wonderful Mum at the Mouyra markets I discovered after a bit of sleuthing!
Oma (my mother in law) made all the blocks for the advent calendar with a fair bit of research, finding inspiration in a lot of places. She unfortunately does not have a pattern for it. It is wonderful though. We like it a lot.

Angela Mitchell commented on 16-Dec-2010 11:24 AM

Thinking about it, it should be a one of a kind. The calendar is beautiful and such a treasure to keep for future years.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Angela

Kylie commented on 02-Jan-2011 05:23 PM

This looks great - well done to Oma for all of the work.

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A happy bride - hand made quilt as a wedding present.

Saffron Craig - Sunday, December 05, 2010

I was commissioned by my cousin to make a quilt for a wedding gift for her father, my uncle, as his bride is a fan of my fabrics and she wanted to make her feel specially welcomed into the family with a Craig quilt.
I truly enjoy making something for someone you know and love, so I put a lot of thought and time into it.

It was finished a few weeks ago but I had keep it a bit of a secret as the bride reads my blog! The wedding was yesterday and now Sharon is my Aunt, who is a very encouraging person, and I can finally share some pictures.

I was told Sharon squealed with delight when she received the quilt, promptly showed the 120 wedding guests and it was put on the bed straight away... o lala. It feels great to make someone happy with a hand made present!

The quilt is based on one of Kate Conklin's patterns and uses the slash and stack method, which is a really great way to quilt.

The quilt is finished off with a combination of machine and hand stitching. You can actually make this quilt with Kate Conklin's Off the Rails Quilt kit, available here. Though I have made my quilt one row longer in the end!

Being a wedding present I thought the Ginkgo Blossom give the quilt a really lovely free feel. Seriously don't know how I managed to get the Elk Landscape and the Tree Garden in indigo to center exactly in the middle of the back of the quilt but I am super pleased I did. It's nice to have two sides to a quilt don't you think?

I gift wrapped it featuring the paper I designed last week. I think all the time I took to design these papers was worth it. We also made some paper lanterns with them, which I will feature in another post. It is certainly easy to print out paper.

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3 comments

Sharon Wall commented on 06-Dec-2010 08:31 AM

Darling - as the blessed recepient of this beautiful gift ...thankyou to our wonderful children (especially Rach- although her brothers took all the credit!!!:) and to you Saffron for providing such a gift of love. The synchrony of family and love is very important to me and to us...and this magic quilt provides it all
We look forward to wrapping it around us and then wrapping it around our grandchildren in our many happy years together ..thank you and will share some photos of our wonderful day soon x

Kate Conklin commented on 06-Dec-2010 09:40 AM

It looks gorgeous Saffron, and I love the back! I'm glad you got such a fantastic reaction, its nice when so much work and care is appreciated. And I love the wrapping paper - will we see it in some fabric??

Rach commented on 07-Dec-2010 07:46 AM

Thank you very much Saffron - Shaz was very happy with the quilt and it was admired by all the guests when they visited the bridal boudoir on the way to the ensuite on the big day!

Thanks again and I am looking forward to taking some sewing lessons in the new year so I can use your fabrics (which I love) in my own way! xx

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A free Christmas card and new downloadable wrapping papers

Saffron Craig - Friday, December 03, 2010

The 1st of December means Christmas is so close. So far I have decorated the garden with solar powered lights, which are still coming on despite the torrential rain and frustrating lack of sunshine (washing is piled high). The lights are light sensitive too so I don't need to worry about turning them on once it is dark! I get a lovely surprise every time the fairy lights start twinkling. Sequoia woke up at 11pm last night and wandering about looking at them thought to be in a dream. All she could say was "WOW". So sweet to see her so blissed out.

We thought we might decorate the tree together as a family on Sunday night. I am thinking purple tree this year. Oma and I can craft out little heart decorations out of—you guessed it—fabric! Stars, love hearts, angels...

Free Christmas card design

I thought you might need a Christmas card or two to send out, you know give to your friend. Or you could post it to yourself, which we all have done at least once in our lives signed "secret admirer", added a bunch of delivered roses as well! Getting off track.

So I designed a card for you downloadable here for free. All you need do is print it out on 8x10" photo paper and stick it on a blank card (double sided tape would work well) . You can also shrink it down to make labels for your Christmas presents. Please feel free to add it to your blog but I would be grateful if you link it from my site, please.

» Download this free Christmas card here

5 paper designs for $5.00

I do love wrapping and scrapbooking paper so I have designed a great bunch of papers in the festive spirit for Christmas using all my favourite colours. Bright, bold and cheerful.

You get a PDF with 5 papers for $5.00 and you can print them as often as you like. It's such fun making cards, wrapping presents, scrapbooking, decorating...

Are you hand crafting anything with paper this Christmas?

Saffron Craig - printable Wings paper design

» Buy the "Wings" paper designs here

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1 comments

Shari commented on 05-Dec-2010 12:05 AM

Thanks for the great Christmas card. It's really unique and so appropriate for quilters... hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

PS Love the hat - pity they are all gone!

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Free Mida bucket hat with your purchase

Saffron Craig - Monday, November 29, 2010

A few months ago I blogged about doing a commission design for clothing manufacturer MIDA and how I designed these fish that ended up on shorts and hats.

I met up with Janet this weekend as I'm going do design a few more things for her and she dropped off a few hats for me to give away. How nice is that?

MIDA boy's hat. Fabric designed by Saffron Craig

Get this cool hat with any order over $25.00 from our store.

Sorry, no more hats!

You can also buy the shorts and hat online via her ebay shop.

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1 comments

sagar commented on 13-Jan-2011 06:08 PM

Nice reading your blog by www.indiakashmirsaffron.com

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Gifts and giving.

Saffron Craig - Friday, November 26, 2010

I really love it when I get a gift that shows that someone thought about me. Thought about my likes, my values, my aesthetics. They asked themselves "will she like this?"
My good friend Kirstin always says I am the easiest person to buy for while I find it easier to buy for her than myself. So yes, you do have to know a person.

So it is a special day when I receive a gift that I am so totally happy with. In this case it was Toni who gave me her book Make it Perfect at the end of the Australian Quilt Market, she even signed my copy which I truly treasure. And gave me some great jewelery that I cannot take off. Lucky me!

Toni's book is full of patterns to make into gorgeous things. It's the result of many late nights making patterns and then sewing them up. Organizing her team of testers to construct and make corrections. Toni is one great lady, she gave me some great business ideas and is also very encouraging towards my own creativity.

You can buy Toni's book here.

The first thing I want to make is the slippers when the Beetle Bugs will be here next week and I'll make a pair from the Beetle Wings; yippee!

Thanks for a great gift Toni, it is really appreciated.

When last I spoke to Toni she was busy signing books soon to be posted. If you're quick she might sign yours as she did mine. Makes it even more special don't you think?

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1 comments

Kayscha commented on 27-Nov-2010 10:04 AM

What a lovely gift, and it is a fab book. I am yet to venture outside of quilting but I dream of making my girls clothes! Look forward ot meeting you at SIT!