Quote of the Week:

"A day patched with quilting seldom unravels . . ."

If ever you have dreamt of owning a vintage quilt, here is your chance to do so . . . just feast your eyes on these beautiful vintage quilts that have arrived in the shop. They are all just so gorgeous - we want to take each and every one of them home but we know we can't!!

Four of them have already sold; a Double Wedding Ring which went to live in a good home in New South Wales; a Postage Stamp which was signed and dated, a Butterfly Quilt and a Dresden Plate, both to local ladies.

We are very excited as some of the fabrics that are in the quilts, in particular, a Grandmothers Fan that just arrived, the same reproductions are here in the shop - shows you how spot on the fabric designers are . . .

The lady from NSW who bought the Double Wedding Ring (who apparently has a house full of quilts) said, "I never wanted to own one until I actually saw one; I can't believe how beautiful they are".

. . . .Now ladies, have a little word in your husband's ear and tell him what you'd like for Christmas . . . we'll even throw in the postage to keep him happy (registered too!) . . .

Next February will see us both heading off to Melbourne with the shop in tow, to the Australian Quilting Expo which is held annually. We have been on a long waiting list for a very long time and finally got word that we 'were in'. Very excitied we are . . . it will be nice to have the opportunity to show people what we have and what we are about. This expo is dedicated entirely to quilting and will be held on February 21st - 24th 2008. We hope to see you there!

Until next time,

Leonie & Deirdre
The Quilted Crow

Quote of the Week:



"I love quilting and have plenty of material witnesses . . ."

It has already been one week since our "Christmas Gathering" which was held in Campania, five minutes out of historical Richmond. It was a huge success with everyone enjoying themselves immensely. This was our second Gathering that we have held in the Campania hall, the first one being our "Autumn Gathering" that was in April. Above is a photo of the hall the morning of the "Gathering" before anyone arrived; goody bags laden with patterns and each bag also containing a beautiful stitchery book by Cathy Penton.

Each person also received a gift box, complete with a delightful charm pendant featuring a traditional Christmas image with the words on the back reading "Joyeux Noel", a large rusty bell with a fabric tie and of course, a bag of sweets!!

People started rolling in at about 9.15am ready for a day of stitching and friendship - not much stitching done, but lots of friendships made!!

Below are some more photos for you to enjoy . . .

1. - Everyone has arrived . . 2. - Part of our shop display . ..3. - More of our shop display




4. . . shop display . . . . . . . . . . . .5. . . shop display . . . . . . . . . . 6. . . samples of some projects




7. . . Phil overseeing the catering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Aye Aye Captain, whatever you say dear.



9. . . All's OK mum, says Ellen. . . . .. . . . . . .10. Ten year old Jess asleep at the end of a big day. .



"Valentine's Vintage Quilts" - exclusive to The Quilted Crow

As a shop, the focus of which are fabrics from the 1800's and 1930's we have always wanted to have some of the genuine article in here for people to enjoy. We are very excitied to have met up with a lady from "Valentine's Vintage Quilts" who is now buying vintage and antique quilts on our behalf for us to sell in the shop. They have started arriving are just truly beautiful . . . they will range in price from $375 upwards, depending on the quality, the amount of quilting, fabrics used and the era they are from. At the moment we have three made from genuine feed sack fabrics of the 1930's, a Double Wedding Ring with scalloped border, Lady of the Lake and a Star of Texas Quilt. Also, two quilts from the 1800's, one a Double Irish Chain from 1870 and the other, King Davids Crown from 1880; all of them are in excellent condition.

Below are some photos to enjoy . . .

Lone Star - made from vintage feed sacks $375







Lady of the Lake - mint condition - made from feed sacks from the 1930's - $990

When you purchase one of these beautiful quilts, they will come gift wrapped, complete with a vintage valentine card attached and full care instructions.

People will be able to take advantage of our three month layby term if they wish.

We have more arriving next week, so as soon as they come in, we'll post some more pics!!


Until next time,




Leonie & Deirdre
The Quilted Crow

Pleated Friendship Bags
by Leonie Bateman


Freshly Cut Flowers Cushion
by Helen Stubbings


Colours of Christmas Quilt
by Michelle Vince



Storytime Quilt
by Deirdre Bond-Abel



Perpetual Calendar Quilt
by Deirdre Bond-Abel



Sprit of the Season Tree Skirt
by Helen Stubbings



Deirdre, Leonie, Lynette, Helen and Matilda

Here is a photo to share with you of Lynette Anderson's visit to The Quilted Crow, kindly taken by her lovely husband Vince on Wednesday. Helen Stubbings from Hugs n Kisses is holding Tilly, Helen's youngest daughter, who loves coming into the shop 'for a play'. Off go the shoes as soon as Helen puts her down and up onto the bed she hops for her regular bounce!

Everyone has been coming into the shop to look at all of the projects that are on display, eagerly awaiting the 6th October for our Christmas Gathering. Pictured above are photo's of some of the projects for those of you who can't make it to the shop for a sneak preview. The Seasonal Table Runner and Traditional in Wool Wallhanging are on our last post . . . now because I'm not too good at the 'blog thing' the photos are a little over the place - sorry !!! I'm still learning . . . a couple of them are even sideways - clever aren't I !!??

Until next time,

Leonie & Deirdre

The Quilted Crow

Quote of the Week:

May all of your ups and downs in life be with a needle and thread . . .

Well today we had the pleasure of a visit by Lynette Anderson-O'Rourke and her husband Vince who were on holiday here in beautiful Tasmania. As you know, Lynette is going to be part of our 'Autumn Gathering' next year in April, so it was nice for her to see what we at The Quilted Crow are all about.

We were thrilled to have her here and look forward to catching up again with her, as no doubt, all of you will be. At the same time as Lynette was here, Helen Stubbings from Hugs n Kisses also popped in for a visit so it was a good chance for everyone to catch up and say hi.

For those of you who are attending our 'Christmas Gathering' in Campania on the 6th October, you'll be happy to know that all of the projects are now in the shop for you to view. I've taken some photos of them, two of which are at the top of the page above and I will post the rest on Friday. You will receive patterns for each of the projects (11 in total) in your goody bag on the day along with some other little treasures!! If anyone is interested in ordering a kit, give us a call at the shop or complete the form that we have mailed today and return back to us.

Until next time,

Leonie & Deirdre

The Quilted Crow

Quote of the Week:

"Asking a quilter to mend is like asking Picasso to paint your garage"

Goodness, it has nearly been two weeks since we last wrote - where does the time go?

We have been working madly here, preparing for our 'Christmas Gathering' which is now only four weeks away!! All of the projects are now complete and we will have them in the shop next Monday (17th Sept) for everyone to have a sneek peek. There is an enormous assortment to choose from and we are sure that there will be something for everyone. Bookings are just about full with only a few spaces left remaining so if you are thinking about coming along, you'd better be quick!! We would hate for you to be disappointed . . .

The couple who commissioned us to make them a King Size quilt came in on Friday to collect it - they absolutely loved it (phew!!). It was made from Judie Rothermel's 'Regency' collection and it looked stunning - really beautiful - (. . .it would have looked nice on my bed . . . oh well . . . .) The only day I forgot to bring my camera but they have promised to send us a photo to post on our blog so you can also enjoy it.

At the moment Deirdre is out on the longarm, 'Big Mal', quilting another beauty for a customer - it is just so satisfying when you finish quilting a quilt and see the end result. The quilt really does seem to come alive and then when you see the look of excitement on the customers face, it gives you goosebumps!! We feel very privileged to be given the task of taking someones quilt to the final stage . . .

The weekend saw me here at the shop on Saturday then off to the airport to collect my in-laws who are here for the school holidays. I truly am blessed to have such lovely people as my in-laws. The weather for their arrival was just awesome and yesterday even better. We spent the day outside enjoying the sun and catching up on months gone by since we last saw one another.

Deirdre had a class here on Saturday then headed home to help shear the sheep on their property on Sunday - she even got some time afterwards to do a bit of sewing!! She finished her last project for our Gathering - it's a 'Storytime' Quilt for that special little someone to snuggle under whilst reading their favourtie book - I saw it this morning and it is just so cute!!

There should be some new fabric arriving here shortly - it's like Christmas opening up all of those boxes - you don't know which one to open first . . and then the squeals of delight as you pull each one out . . . we have so much fun here !!

Well time has come for me to start getting ready for our Prairie Children Quilt class on Saturday - I have 14 kits to pre-cut so that it going to keep me busy for the next day . . . or two.

Until next time.

Leonie and Deirdre

The Quilted Crow

Quote of the Week:

Blankets wrap you in warmth, quilts wrap you in love . . .

How nice it was this morning to see the reaction of a husband whose wife had commissioned us to make them a quilt in reproduction fabrics . . . "It's so beautiful, it makes me want to cry" . . . It made the hours and hours of work worthwhile to hear such a statement. Once it is quilted on our dear 'Big Mal', we'll post a photo.

We have a gorgeous new range of fabric just arrived into the shop titled "Emperor's Garden" by A Day in the Country. It is a great crossover for those of you who enjoy working with 30's thru to 70's. This is an Australian company and we are glad to be supporting them.

We are madly getting ready for our Christmas Gathering which is only five weeks away now (Sat 6th October). The projects should all be ready within three to four weeks and you'll be able to come into the shop to have a peek. There is a lot of variety to choose from with each one able to be started by hand on the day

We are starting to fill all of the goody bags for the occasion - it's exciting making them all up and seeing what's going into them - we hope all the ladies will love them as much as we do!

We have a few quilts here ready to go on 'Big Mal', our longarm quilting machine. Customers have been very happy with our work thus far which is very satisfying and we are enjoying it immensely.

Don't forget to look out for Deirdre's project in Homespun - a gorgeous Halloween quilt done using machine piecing and invisible machine applique - a must to make!!

That just about ties it up for today . . . a quilt is beckoning on the machine.

Until next time,

Leonie & Deirdre

The Quilted Crow

Quote of the Week

I only think about quilts on days that end in "Y".

We thought today that we would post a couple of photos of Belinda Merrit's work, one of our tutors who will be present at our "Christmas Gathering". The items that are photographed are some of her 'older projects' she says, but all the same, we think they are gorgeous. Belinda will be designing two projects for our Gathering, one a Christmas project and the other a general 'gift' item for those of you who aren't into the Christmas decorating thing.

We have taken quite a few bookings (lots last week) and are two thirds full so if you are thinking about coming along, you'd better be quick! It sure is a good day and everybody enjoys themselves immensely. Give us a call at the shop if you wish to know more (03) 62 348 338.

Well I finally got around to tidying up my sewing cupboard yesterday and I'm nearly embarassed at the amount of fabric that I have stashed away - if only I had more time to put it to use - mind you, it does look pretty all stacked up in their little bundles (or should that be big bundles??). That kept me busy for a few hours then I spent the rest of the afternoon working on my project for our Christmas Gathering which is coming along nicely.

Deirdre had the whole weekend off and spent time sewing and cooking and I was the lucky recipient of one of her "pear cake" specialities for morning tea this morning, topped off with a dob or two of cream ... yum.

Big Mal (our longarm quilting machine) has been chuffing along nicely. We're pretty happy with what we have been able to manage thus far and will be accepting quilts within the fortnight which is really exciting!!

Speaking of which, I need to go and load one of my own quilts on now and get to quilting it - this is a top that I pieced over 10 years ago and it has finally made it to the quilting stage !! Woo hoo!!

Until next time,

Leonie & Deirdre