Easter pop up

This was our first time doing an Easter weekend at The Swan Hotel in Southwold – what a brilliant weekend we had.   It snowed a bit, the sun shone, the wind cut like a knife and lots of people were out and about determined to enjoy their Easter break.  Our regulars were delighted when they entered the doors of the Cygnet Room as this time we had Valerie and John from Daisy May Quilting with an amazing display of quilts to show off their long arm quilting. 

                                                                                                                                                 The Cygnet Room, Easter 2013 – Upstairs and down!

Our customers brought along some amazing work to show us.  Have a look at these panels from Linda and Yvonne.  These are two very talented (and patient!) ladies.

We also had a look at a lovely quilt made from the Salt Air collection – check out that fussy cutting!

There were others but we didn’t have time to take photos!  Thanks to all who came along, brought their lovely work, chatted, matched fabric and made our weekend.  We’ll be back in May…

Oh and for those of you in the UK – don’t forget to watch The Great British Sewing Bee tonight at 8.00pm on BBC2!

Janet & Louise

From Duxford to Southwold

Well this time three weeks ago we were setting up at Duxford for the Spring Quilt Festival and this afternoon we’re setting up for our latest pop up shop at Soutwold.  It’s all go!  Thanks to all our lovely customers who came to say hello at Duxford.  As always, it was great fun meeting you all, seeing what you’re making, and generally having a good time surrounded by fabric.  We’ll be back in November.

Janet & Louise at Spring Quilt Festival, Duxford, March 2013

Thanks also to Nicola who took the photo and lent us her amazing (and much admired!) quilt made with Mango Salsa pre cuts that you can see in the background.

As many of you already know, we’re off to Southwold again this weekend for another pop up shop.  We’ll be in The Cygnet Room at The Swan Hotel from Friday 29th to Sunday 31st March from 10.00am so what better way to spend some of your Easter weekend than having a look at our fabrics.  Let’s face it, the weather is not shaping up to be particularly spring-like but once you’re in our fabric room you’ll be transported to another dimension never mind another season!

We’ll have our Simply Color quilt there – this lovely blend of green, plum and grey proved a huge hit at Duxford – so much so that we only have a few fabrics left but plenty of Moda Bella Solids to go around.

Simply Color quilt

And we’ll also have a new collection from Benartex called Casablanca.

Casablanca from Benartex

Well worth a look so see you there!

Happy Easter!

Janet & Louise

Popping back to The Swan

Yes, its’s December again which means we’re back at the Swan Hotel in Southwold for another pop up shop.  After the excitement of the Autumn Quilt Festival in Duxford where we could only show off a small selection of our fabric, it’s time to go mad and put it all on display!  There’s been a few new fabric ranges arrive since we were last at the Swan…

Urbanicity by Michele D’Amore, Gypsy Girl by Lily Ashbury, Feathers and Fancy by Dianna LaFerry, Oh Deer by Momo and the Japanese-inspired Kasuri.

And for those of you who came to see us at Duxford – here’s a little peek of what’s arrived since…

Chateau Rouge mini charm packs

Simply Colour by V and Co.

We’re also extending our range of Bella solids and now have some great colours in plums and greys so if you get a chance to drop by we’d love to see you.  Friday night (7th December) is also the turning on of the Christmas lights in Southwold so you can really get into the Christmas spirit if you haven’t already!

Janet & Louise

Southwold here we come

Yes, we’re off to Southwold in Suffolk again for one of our legendary pop up shops.  Read about a previous one here.  We’ll have all our fabric plus some new items that we’ve whipped up over the last few weeks.  We’ll be in the Cygnet Room of the Swan Hotel in Southwold from 1.00pm on Friday 24th August and then from 10.00am on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th August.  Drop in and see us!

Janet & Louise

Here comes summer!

Well waddaya know – summer has finally arrived in the UK – well parts of it anyway – so there’s only one thing for it and that’s to get some al fresco sewing done!

It’s only a month to go to our next pop up shop at The Swan Hotel in Southwold so we’ve been busy making a few smaller items to showcase some of our (quite summery!) fabric ranges.  We think it’s the best way to get a ‘feel’ for the fabrics.  Here’s a sneak peek…

Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket, Tradewinds by Lily Ashbury & Hello Luscious by Basicgrey

These are all Moda fabrics and if you need a bit of inspiration have a look at this website -  Moda Bake Shop.  It features lots of ‘recipes’ using Moda pre-cut fabric such as the Salt Air Diamonds Quilt  and these Tradewinds potholders so it’s a great way to see how the fabrics look made up, even if you don’t use the patterns.  An even better way would be to come along to the Swan Hotel on the August Bank Holiday weekend and see for yourselves!  We’ll keep you posted and, in the meantime, have you been doing any al fresco sewing?

Janet & Louise

Swanning around

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live out your dream for a few days?  Well, that’s what we did in the last weekend of January!   We spent three whole days surrounded by fabric – looking at it, talking about it and, of course, selling it – and loving every minute of it.  It was our third pop up shop at The Swan Hotel in Southwold and once we’d lugged all those bolts up the stairs (added bonus – workout!) we settled in and arranged the fabric on long tables under the south facing windows to be seen at their best and waited…

calm before the storm

…and what a great bunch of people we met!  Everybody from beginners to the most experienced quilters were there to see what fabric was on offer and soon there was great chat going on and a lot of pulling out of bolts to see what went with what.  Children were choosing their favourite fabrics, quilters were swapping tips, the sofa and newspapers were being put to good use, dogs were snoozing and Janet was in full swing with her pillowcase tutorial!  More images here.

We’ll be back in the Swan in August but in the meantime we’ve got an appearance at the Spring Quilt Festival at Chilford from 9th to 12th March (so soon!) so it’s going to be a sewing & cutting frenzy here at the GD Studio over the next few weeks plus a bit of blogging as well to let you know how it’s all going.  We’ve got a beginner’s quilt on the go featuring the Sweet Nectar collection for those of you who are just starting out and also some hand sewing to showcase our Blueberry Crumb Cake jelly rolls.  We’re also very keen to start our Show and Tell section where you can send us images of your work, either in progress or finished, as we’re always curious about what happens to all that lovely fabric we send off.  You can get in touch with us via the website.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere – keep warm – great weather for staying in and doing a bit of sewing, and for those of you in warmer climes – keep out of that sun – stay in and do a bit of sewing!

Janet & Louise

Go for the sea air…

and stay for the fabrics!  Yes, that’s right, we’re having another pop up shop in the Cygnet Room at The Swan Hotel in Southwold, Suffolk.  This will be the third time we’ve taken over the Cygnet Room and festooned it with fabric and, as you can see below at our December visit, it’s furnished with curtains and the odd table and chair so it provides an ideal backdrop for all those lovely colours and designs.

There’s a large sofa and newspapers for those who don’t find fabric fascinating (!?) and enough room for us to put up our own frame for hanging quilts, bags and other bits that we’ve made to show off the fabrics.

We’ll have all our fabrics with us so if you see something you fancy online you can come along and check it out in person!  There’ll be some pre-cut fabric and fat quarters plus some of our nearly new fabrics and patterns and kits.

Our new fabrics will make their first outing -

the delightful Blueberry Crumb Cake and the cute 30′s Playtime – both from Moda.

And the latest addition to the Glenroy family will be seen for the first time…

That’s the Amy Butler Charm Clutch looking a little different featuring Mayfair fabric by Michele D’Amore for Benartex.

So if you fancy a day (or a weekend!) out come and visit us at The Swan.  We’ll be there from 1pm on Friday 27th January and from 10am on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th.  See you there!

Janet & Louise