Saffrons Blog

It is most important that we all give to the Queensland Flood relief. Toni of Make it Perfect has devised a fun way to participate. She has complied a master list of givers who will be selling hand made goodness or raffling goodies and then gifting the proceeds to The Queensland Government. By clicking on the link you can donate right now.

Last night we raised $200.00 through our Facebook page, so thanks to locals in Brisbane and one American lady for generously giving.

As a teenager I lived through three floods watching our pigs swim down the river. Evacuating the horses was awful and losing all my artwork too. While what I lived through is minor compared to the tragedy of Queensland as our floods peaked with the tides, I still have an understanding of the destruction of water and it is a lot worse than you can imagine.

So, I am going to auction off this quilt I made. It is dear to my heart as it has been one of my best selling fabric ranges, which is now out of print. This quilt has been remade by more than 50 people mostly for small children. I thought I should keep it as an archive but seeing so many people loose all their possessions and so quickly I think it is appropriate that I auction a quilt that means a lot to me.

My small contribution is this Owl Nesting Quilt. All fabric is designed by me. The quilt is mainly hand-stitched and I think it has over 20 hours of hand stitching in it.

This is how the auction works:

• Bidding starts at $50.00.
• Please leave a comment with the amount of money you would like to bid.
• Leave your email address when you comment so I can find you.
• Please use whole dollar amounts.
• Highest bidder will own the quilt.
• I will send you postage and payment details after the auction finishes on Sunday the 23rd of January.
• Payment must be made within 12 hours.

Thanks in advance for your support.







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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!


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



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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.




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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.



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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.



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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 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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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.

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.



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