Sasiko Quilting on my quilt

Well here we are Easter is just about over and finally we have had some rain and the cooler weather seems to have finally arrived, fingers crossed.  Of course the rain and cooler weather means that I have been out in the garden and not stitching, but soon the ground will be to cold and I like to get my plants started now so that they will survive the hot weather next summer better.

I have also started hand quilting  a quilt which I made to go on my bed as a bed spread.  I am putting shasiko quilting in the plain squares, I am using our Primke over dyed perle 8 cotton.  I got the idea from the Quilted Kimono a quilt designer in Queensland, she uses our threads on some of her designs and I thought it looked really good.  Well decide for your selves I have included some photos of my quilting (don't judge the quilting to harshly this is my first attempt).

 Oh and because I was short of a fabric I stenciled this one, and then quilted the outline of the dragonfly.  I am still deciding if I am going to do the butterflies as well, this could be an ongoing project for a while.

Well hopefully next time I can show you some progress on my schwalm.

Oh and I nearly forgot we have started doing a mock up layout for out stall at the Quilt and Craft show in Melbourne in July.  So if you are going we hope to see you at stall C24 to catch up.

Up date on Schwalm project

We have a large Pine tree opposite our house and the other day some Cockatoos came to feast on the pine nuts.  They looked like exotic flowers, one year a whole flock came and almost turned the tree white.  I took some photos, this time there were only 4 or 5 but you can see they are enjoying themselves.

As promised here is the first of my progress pictures of my Schwalm center.  I have withdrawn the threads for the hem, mitred the corners and cut and cut and pulled back the threads for the decorative hem (corners only so they can be tucked under the hem.)  I have also hemmed 2 sides.  Does not look like much, but as you all know it takes quite some time.

Hope to show you more next time and also the quilt that I am working on.

Hi I am back

Well here I am again finally, my but the last 6 months have just flown by.  The last time I was taking pictures of the cyclamen in our garden just coming into bloom, I was going to post the photos to show you how they had inspired me, well maybe later.

 We then got very busy with our stand at the Adelaide Craft and Quilt fair, getting ready for it, deciding what to take, setting up and then putting everything back to more time than you would think.









Us setting up at the Craft and Quilt Fair

Gunter at the stand on the first day for the fair.



Well we hope to get better at it as we will be going to the Melbourne Craft and Quilt fair in July, we hope to see you there.  And if there is anything you would like to see on our stand either our kits or other threads, beads etc let us know and we will see what we can do.

Hi all,

Well I was wrong things are still not back to normal, just when we thought we had every thing set up we were invaded by some very particular mice.  They came along one night and picked some of our Kacoonda silk threads as bedding and left us the tags.  So while we admire their choice of threads, they walked past other silks and wools, we had to make everything mouse proof.

Well now fingers crossed we should start making progress.  Our classes have settled in well and I am slowly updating our web site, adding more photos and colour cards, let me know what you think and what other information you would like to see.

I am working in our next lot of Cyber class information and will be publishing it soon.

Tour Downunder stage 1 - here today

Well the Tour Downunder went past the shop today, glad it was not me riding, it was already about 34C when they started the race and they were heading into a hot Northerly wind for most of the way.  Bet you didn't know that kangaroos could ride a bike
 

Here comes the peloton

 

And 2 seconds later there they went

 

We decided to dress the front of the shop up in streamers and we had the ideal vantage spot, complete with airconditioning  and drinks on tap.

Merry Christmas to All

Well I can't believe another Christmas is nearly here, we will again be closing the shop over the Christmas / New year season.  We finish up at 5pm on the 23rd of December and don't come back until the 3rd of January 2012.
This year has really flown by, we have all produced some great projects and there are more in the pipeline, like all stitchers we have more than one project on the go and our brains will keep ticking over thinking of new things to do even though we are taking a break from stitching.
Hope you all have a great Christmas and a Good start to 2012 and it brings you every thing you wish for.

Primke Designs Christmas Tree

As Christmas is fast approaching I thought I would share a picture of the Tree we put up in the shop each year.  In Adelaide most people and nearly all shops put their decorations up at the start of November, to coincide with our Christmas Pagent that is over 1km long and winds its way thru the CBD.  As it is held on a Saturday morning, I don't get to see it in the flesh, but anyone who can't get there watches it on the TV.
Our Tree is 6ft tall and we have decided that only handmade decorations will go on it, over the years the ones we have made ourselves have been added to by ones we have been given by our students and stitching friends.  So now there is a lovely collection of all sorts of techniques including beading, goldwork, hardanger, Romanian point lace, Temari, Cross stitch, patchwork and more.  The final touch is the silver Lametta which is a very traditional thing to put on Christmas trees in Germany and everyone tells us it makes the tree look very special.

Royal Adelaide Show Results for Primke Designs

Hi everyone,

It has been a while since I have posted anything, my blog seems to go like that, I try to post on a regular basis but things happen and all my good intentions go out the window.

Well anyway, we all entered in the Royal Adelaide show and I am please to say that this year we all managed to pick up a prize.  Gunter got a 3rd for his Wisteria, Monika a 2nd for her Beaded Lace and I got a 2nd for my Stump work blossoms.  Apparently the entries at the Show are up this year, so go and check them out.

Rosemarie is Tutor of the Month at the Embroiderers' Guild

Sorry that I have not posted anything lately but it has been all go, I have been picked as the profiled Teacher for the month at the Embroiderers’ Guild of South Australia. This means that I had to get a collection of my work together for display at the Guild, with accompanying descriptions. Also there will be a write up about me in the guild review, with pictures.

So if you happen to be in Adelaide between now and mid July you can go to the Guild and see my work, plus pieces from the Guild museum and the stitch group that is displaying for that month.

Hardanger cyber class

If you don’t have the time to go to a class but you have always wanted to learn Hardanger, here is the class you have been waiting for.
I will be teaching a cyber class in beginners Hardanger for the Embroiderers’ Guild of South Australia in June.  The project will be a Scissor fob and Needlecase and between the 2 projects you will learn all the basic stitches of Hardanger and some nice filling stitches as well.  Also the project is small enough that you will easily finish it in the time allowed for the class which is 2 months.

For those of you who have never done a cyber class before and you feel you would like to join one, or if you feel you would like to join, go to the Embroiderers Guild web site at www.embguildsa.org.au and check out the class information.

Kacoonda Thread new numbers

Well Easter has come and gone and we had a great break and recharged our batteries.

We have just heard from Kacoonda threads that she is changing her colour numbers, I will post the new / old numbers as we get them (and I get a chance to up load them) and also post the new Kacoonda colour card as we get them.There will be one for the Silk threads and Ribbons and one for the Wools and Mohair.

Primke Designs over Easter Break

Well, here we are its already Easter again, hope you have all your stitching requirements organized.  We 3 from Primke Designs actually take a break from stitching during our mini holiday, for us it will be gardening, cooking etc that will take up our time.
We are also going to Meadows for their big Easter Fair, driving via the Adelaide hills with the all their Autumn colours, it will hopefully inspire many embroideries in the future and perhaps even some new colours for our Primke threads or linen fabrics.
So from us 3 at Primke designs we hope you have a Safe and Happy Easter with lots of chocolate and stitching.

Needlework Fabrics from Zweigart

This is my first post, I hope to post interesting things for you about the needlework scene in general as well as what we are doing as designers.  Plus hints and things, if you have any suggestions or questions please leave me a message.


We have just heard from our Australian supplier of Zweigart needlework fabrics that Ann Cloth is now only available in White.  Also Congress cloth which is a very fine canvas is no longer being made, there are also other fabrics and colours that have been deleted.  So if you have a particular project in mind I suggest checking with your favorite needlework shop soon to make sure you can still get what you want.