Newsletter August 2021

Newsletters

August 16, 2021

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Hello Lovely Ladies
The weeks seem to fly by when life is busy! It feels like I just sent out the July newsletter and here we are half way through August already with another instalment. It’s so nice to have a bit more daylight at each end of the day now, and to see the trees and flowers starting to bud up.
I know many of you have been making the most of the cold days, working on various projects. It’s been great to see some Urban Owl quilt tops nearing completion. Each one is quite unique as every kit had different fabrics supplied; the way the colours have all been put together by each person can be a reflection of their personality. If we put all the completed quilts in an exhibition there would certainly be a riot of colour along the wall! Well done to all of you who accepted the challenge…I think we have all learned some things along the way!
My Urban Owls is now up on a wall in the shop, and I have a few workbooks left over for sale, if you think you would like to give this quilt a go!

2022 BOM – ‘STONELEIGH’ by Susan Smith

This of course will now make way for a new BOM which I am anticipating will start early in 2022. At this stage I am considering the lovely quilt pictured below. ‘Stoneleigh’ by Australian designer Susan Smith,(Instagram- notjuzahuswife) has a combination of needle turn, flying geese, English paper pieced hexagons, and several other techniques. it is certainly a much quieter quilt than Urban Owls – in soft taupes and creamy backgrounds, although you will be able to choose your own fabrics for most of the blocks.
I am taking expressions of interest to do this quilt as a BOM next year, and I don’t have the actual pattern yet, although a lady from out of town dropped in to show us the quilt she made for her daughter recently and I have been dreaming ever since about making a similar one.
If you are keen to undertake this BOM, please let me know in the first instance by replying to this newsletter. I still need to do costings, and order patterns – once I have a better idea of what is involved I will come back to you with a firm date and price for what will be a year- long project

LAURA HEINE FABRIC COLLAGE CLASS

Our Fabric Collage Class is taking place this coming Friday and Saturday. Everything is booked and ready to go…we are just willing those patterns to arrive in time – but I do have a back up plan if they don’t!
There is only one more thing I need for this class, and that is an ANGEL (OR 2) to man the kitchen! Constable’s Catering are providing morning & afternoon teas and lunch both days, so there is no cooking involved; I just need someone to put out the food, do a few dishes, pour tea and clean up after breaks. If you would like to volunteer for one or both days between 10am and 3pm, and be my ‘gopher’, then I would LOVE to hear from you ASAP please!

JEN KINGWELL’S GYPSY WIFE – SEW ALONG

Our Gypsy/Wanderer’s Wife Sew-Along is gaining momentum as new people join in. We have a few workbooks left ($36) so it’s not too late to participate as you can still get additional notes for this project even if you can’t attend the Sew Along in person.
Our next Sew Along is on Friday 3rd September. Please let me know ahead of time if you are coming to this, so we can make sure we have enough table space for everyone (it got a bit crowded last time).
Each time you come to the Sew Along we ask you to pay $5 to cover expenses please.

FOUNDATION PIECING CLASS WITH MARYANN PATERSON

Just a reminder about Maryann’s Foundation Piecing class on Friday 8th and Saturday 9th October. The class will run from 9:30am – 4:30pm. Maryann is a Qualified Quiltworx Instructor and has taught a lot of foundation piecing classes at Grandmother’s Garden.

The cost of the class will be $60 per day (so $120 for 2 days). Maryann will teach techniques to make the Bear Claw Cushion as shown in the photo above. There are some other samples of Maryann’s work in store to inspire and challenge you. This will be the perfect opportunity to try some of the lovely new batiks that we have in store now.

OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH HUMANITY NZ

The Eye Of A Needle is delighted to be partnering with our good friend Owen Pomana from Humanity NZ. Humanity NZ is a non profit charity that purely relies on community giving towards specific projects.
3 months ago they were gifted their first house. With the help of many volunteers, this house was renovated and furnished within 7 weeks and then dedicated as a Women and Childrens’ refuge. They have since opened a 2nd house for women and children and just recently have been given a Men’s refuge on the North Shore.

Humanity NZ has been operating a street outreach for the last 5 years in Auckland and have recently been operating out of the Ellen Melville Centre in the CBD. They feed 100+ people every Wednesday.
This ministry allows opportunities to meet people in their brokenness – they offer wrap around advocacy services to help with many needs. Humanity NZ has self funded a rebuild of the Grace International Indoor Skate Park and basketball court in Glenn Innes. They raised thousands of dollars to support this community incentive.
They are currently in negotiations to get a double decker bus and fit it out, so it can accommodate some of the rough sleepers off the streets of Auckland.
You may have seen a recent post on Facebook where we gave 3 quilts to Owen to take back to the refuge. We hope to donate all our sample quilts to this worthy cause, and our aim is to gift each woman who goes through the refuge a quilt that they can take away with them.
You can follow Owen John Pomana on Facebook – or like the community page called Humanity NZ. Owen has some amazing stories to tell. You are able to donate to his Ministry or to a specific project if you wish – all the details are on his FB page – or his account is with the Westpac Bank 030698-0564018-00. Owen lives by faith, but is one of the most generous people I know – he would give you the shirt off his back if it meant you could stay warm and dry.
These are the kind of people we like to support, and we hope to provide many more quilts for beds in the future for this awesome ministry.

BERNINA NEWS

For those of you with the Bernina 770QE, there is an upgrade coming shortly which you may like to purchase. This will upgrade your machine to a Bernina 770PLUS! The link on the brochure will tell you all about this upgrade, which will include more stitches, embroidery designs and alphabets. We are expecting to have this upgrade available to sell to you in the next few weeks.

I am counting down the weeks now, until my new Granddaughter arrives mid September. We will get a great opportunity to check out the baby bump on 28th August as we have been invited to be the Merchant at the Hine Street Quilters’ Regional Day in New Plymouth that day. We will be loading the truck with bolts of fabric, kits, patterns and a few jelly rolls which we hope to sell to all the lovely Taranaki Patchwork & Quilting ladies.
I’m also gathering things up that I have been making for the baby, so I’m expecting to have a faster trip home once all the goods have been off loaded – either in the baby room or with the New Plymouth ladies! We are so looking forward to this trip in a couple of weeks time – we get great support from the Taranaki-ites; this has been on the calendar for about 2-1/2 years! Last year it was cancelled as Auckland went into lock down the week before we were due to go. It will be hard to keep me away this time!
There is always a lot of preparation involved with a Merchant stall, and the shop might look like it’s been cleaned out for a few days, but with the impending arrival of 2 Moda shipments in September, hopefully it won’t take too long to replenish supplies!