William Morris Inspired Fabrics

Happy New Year to all. I do not know where my December went and sorry for not writing more in December. Our Christmas was lovely, the weather here in Palmerston North has been fantastic really, reaching up to 31degrees one day. Very hot and sometimes quite muggy. Enough to send you inside to stitch :).
Just before Christmas I had in some new fabric from Michelle Hill's range - Adelaide, Inspired by William Morris. These are really lovely fabrics that do blend in with the existing William Morris fabrics we already have.

A border stripe and some allover prints that allow you to create lots of different pieces. NZ$26.60 per metre

Some new books arrived in store as well. I have been waiting for Jane Dunnewold's latest book Art Cloth to arrive. I think it is a great manual for anyone interested in surface design for fabric. She shares an expansive range of processes and products to create spectacular fibre art including using - dyes, discharge agents, paints and foils, screen printing, stamping, stencilling & handpainting. A good read and something to have on hand when experimenting. NZ$49.30

The next book that I find very interesting is "collage + cloth = quilt" NZ$53
Use personal photos to create a collage and learn how to select fabrics that work with your composition. This technique book for any quilter encourages you to look for texture, shape and colour when you shoot pictures. Expand your quilt design possibilities by learning how to spot unusual vantage points, intricate details, varied patterns and complex elements in your photography. After the instructions and how to's, there is a section " Gallery of Collages and Quilts" which shows you a variety of quilts and the collages and photos that started them. A great way to learn by seeing what someone else has created.

I mentioned in an earlier blog about some magazines from Australia - Yarn, Felt and Embellish. The latest issues of all 3 arrived in just prior to Christmas. Yarn is dedicated to knitting, spinning and weaving and fibres, Felt is mainly felting with some spinning and weaving and fibres and Embellish has a little of lots of things, including shibori, printing with gelatin plates, repurposing clothing with stitching, crochet and bleach amongst other things. Only NZ$15 each these are a lovely read.

Do call in and see me and check out the fabrics and books. I'd love to see you
Dianne