Hi all,

Misty Threads has been a bit quiet this year, catching up with various family matters - all good though!

Some of you may have already heard this but we do have some great news for you. Chris and Carolyn will be back with the 2021 Misty Mountain Getaway with their usual lineup of wonderful tutors!

It'll all be happening from 25 to 30 September with the program available here from 1 May 2021. Plenty of time to start planning now - it's going to be fun! Misty Threads will be there and we're really looking forward to catching up with you all at the getaway.

Just to whet your appetite for the getaway, Chris and Carolyn have also arranged a workshop with the amazing Gloria Loughman in Dorrigo with two classes - Abstract Landscape 24 - 26 April and The Painted Landscape 27 - 28 April. These are not to be missed - Gloria is a wonderful and award winning textile art quilter and popular tutor. Details and bookings can be made here.

Misty Threads will be unable to attend the April workshops due to a prior commitment - I'm quite sad as I've wanted to do one of these classes for awhile now. However, you can still order your requirements on line or call me direct on 66571200. Our 10% workshop discount will apply to all orders.

Don't forget also - after your initial online purchase from us  (including phone orders - just ask us for your discount code), all future purchases receive a 10% discount.

Cheers Meg

We're well and truly on the way through January. Do you have study looming again - student yourself or students in the house? 

Whether you're on the move or studying or returning to the office, what about a fresh new cover for your (or their) elecronic devices?

Here is a little peek at a custom order going out today, made in our great aboriginal fabrics (available here) - talk about the wonderful colours and dance of Australia! Aren't they beautiful?

We sell these through our website - see here - and offer three sizes, tablet, small laptop (e.g. Chromebook) and standard laptop. We're happy to custom make to your choice of any fabric on our website, (excluding linens) - please indicate preferred fabric and bag size in the remarks box. If your laptop is larger than the standard case (e.g. larger MacBook), let us the measurements and we'll work with that.

To start 2021 on the right foot, what about a 10% discount until the end of February - just use code LAPTOP10.

PS. We're working on designing a small bag for cords and other accessories so keep an eye out for that - we'll post our progress.

With all this extra staying at home, does your house need a bit of lighting up? What do you do when you want to cheer things up without spending a fortune when life gets a bit rubbish? I usually make a cushion cover or get another lamp (don't get too freudian on me – it's a dark house, okay!). It's not too big a commitment for 2021 after all 2020 wasn't exactly what I'd call faithful.

We certainly have a few cushion covers (plenty more available or just let us know your cushion size and fabric preference, we'll happily custom make you one) but what I want to show you today are our great lampshades (and friend). 

Currently, we are offering drum lampshades with a 30cm (12 inch) diameter, 21cm (8¾ inch) in height; they can be used for a table or standard lamp or if you'd prefer, at no extra cost, we can custom make one as a ceiling shade (just select a fabric from our extensive online range!) They are individually handmade with much care from quality fabric – remember that Misty Threads is certified as Australian owned with our artisan products made locally. You're welcome to choose your own fabric or pick one ready made here. Postage is included in the cost for the lampshades.

Cheers and stay safe

Meg

PS Or I just go buy another book – we've got a few of those too here.

Hi again everyone,

Just a little oversight in our newsletter sent out last night - we forgot some links and some info about masks! Sorry about that and here we are:

Sample packs. Buying online can be annoying and some customers just don't like it! Fair enough, so for a modest price, you can buy a little pack of 5 (here), 10 (here) or 15 (here) fabric samples. You can chose individual fabrics or we can set up a themed pack for you and you get the sample pack price off your next purchase. It's a slightly slower process than an ordinary fabric purchase but if it makes you more confident choosing your fabrics, we're happy!

Just an addition here. For all of you living and working or heading into the Greater Sydney area, masks are now mandatory in indoor settings and on public transport, check out https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/face-masks for the latest information. 

 They are on the Misty Threads website here, pleated and standard. Postage is included in the cost so please select click and collect and advise size - small, medium or large - colour preference or specific fabric choice in the comments box. You can also request ties rather than elastic if you prefer.

Take care, stay safe

Meg

Hello my lovelies,

 And so, yes, it is Christmas; another turn around the sun although this year has ben more of a blind stumble for most of us. As for many of you, the Misty Threads Christmas plans have gone awry and our planned (small) family celebration will be postponed for a few weeks. It's OK – we'll get there.

 We've had a few great new fabrics in as we've shown you in previous articles:

We also have some beautiful new aboriginal fabrics and a few old favourites just in today - a sneak peak below and we'll tell you more about these after Christmas.

However, organised or not, what about those last minutes gifts? We have the perfect answer – a Misty Threads gift voucher to the value of your choice. Choose an amount for a small gift or stocking filler or a larger amount for a special present. Instantly downloadable, our vouchers are the perfect present for a lovely quilter, patchworker or any sewing enthusiast, quick and easy, and always appreciated – we do love the fun of picking all those bits and pieces we mightn't be able to splash out for normally.

Head to the website here and you'll be well sorted in no time at all.

Just as a by the bye, as always, we run into the problem of the term "sewer"; yes, it does appear like sewer, doesn't it. There are various other terms for people who sew from seamstress/seamster or the older version sempstress, dressmaker, couturière /couturier, tailor, stitcher, clothier, modiste – the list goes on with many shades of application. The newest term that has been cropping up in the internet for a while now is sewist, believed to be a combination of sew and artist, street slang for a sassy seamstress (personally, I would have said that we seamstresses are always sassy but there you go) and generally related to hobby/personal sewing, including sewn works of art, rather than professional employment in sewing. It is a fairly widespread term online although it hasn't yet been included in official dictionaries yet, which has led some professionals to decry its use. However, this wonderful flexible English language of ours is not static and never has been. We build and change words to suit our times and communications at the time.

What do you refer to yourself as? What do you like to be called or not to be called? Let us know – we're alway curious about words and their use!

In the meantime – don't forget the vouchers if you need that last minute gift.

Take care, stay safe and we wish you all the happiest Christmas possible – may your sewing needles stay sharp and in use.

Cheers to all

Meg

Summer sewing is here!

Two gorgeous little sets of fabric from Cotton and Steel - so love working with their fabrics. These may be a little late for Christmas gift making but they're perfect for summer sewing with all the beautiful colours and freshness of a summer dawn. 

A modern floral, Earth Magic - It's Cool to be Kind, so appropriate for our current lives, flanked by Among the Fields  with Circle Flower, Leaf in Blueprint (a stunning shade of blue with drawn leaves) and Haystack, line drawn chequerboard in a perfect shade of orange. Orange is not generally a popular shade with quilters and is rarely fashionable; however, I've always found a touch of the right orange will lift and pull a quilt together very well.These last three are by Swedish designer Loes Van Oosten who also gave us this wonderful range By the Seaside:

Japanese fabrics are a perennial favourite with many quilters from their indigos through their exquisite quilting fabrics to their delightful quirky ranges. I think the Japanese do quirky better than most and I love, love, love this area of their design. I'm just itching to play with these three, Fuwafuwa-san no Bokujo!

Misty Threads still has a limited amount of By the Seaside available; you can find it here. The new Cotton and Steel fabrics shown here will be on the Misty Threads website by tomorrow and you will be able to find them online here.

Hi everyone,

A pattern sale for December!

Christmas and an Aussie Fabric Story

Our lovely new fabrics are now online, in time for Christmas!

 In keeping with all things 2020, it has been an unusual lead up to Christmas this year. Do we go all out with a somewhat nebulous celebration or just collapse in sheer exhaustion? Will it actually happen or not?

Here at Misty Threads, we like balance. What can we say, we're quilters! Our Christmas will be what a lot of us are really looking forward to this year, a fairly quiet family day to enjoy a special meal together, catch up and just chill. From a 1.5 metre distance, of course!

 After the year we've all had, presents and the normal frantic Christmas shop probably hasn't been a top priority for a lot of our lovely followers out there, but let's be honest who doesn't enjoy a few little gifty-poos, chosen especially for you by your favourite people!

 From my child, a non-quilter (I mean, honestly, where did I go wrong?) - “my favourite gifts have always been quilts or clothing that my mum made. We'd slowly pick fabrics over the year because it was from a special place, a nice day we'd had, or it was just plain gorgeous. Then somehow, presumably sorcery, mum turned this into a giant quilted hug I could take back to boarding school with me.”

 Although a full sized quilt might be a rather ambitious Christmas gift for 2020 at this stage, a cot quilt isn't! And we have some fantastic options for those who may be celebrating a grandchild announcement or two for Christmas but are still waiting for the parent's nursery colour scheme to be decided.

Have a little taste of our newest addition to our delicious fabric range, Aussie Nursery from Kennard and Kennard Fabrics.

In a delightful nod to May Gibbs' classic designs, these cute, character-filled Australiana fabrics would make up into fabulous quilts for little ones.

 If you can't even think about a quilt in summer, they would also make striking and unique Christmas gifts like cushion covers, bags and little purses, quirky cases for electronic devices and much more, all options that ensure you remain greatest human/grandparent/great Aunty Alison/Unky Mike of all time. 

We'll have a few bits and pieces up in our Artisan section this weekend so if you are overwhelmed and out of time, you can check those out here.

 Kookaburras and banksias are so very iconic to many Australian's, and currently very on trend, so extra bonus here… the two together in one delightful piece! 

And, last but surely not least, of course we have our classic tractor panels. Perfect wall hangings for the pool room or shed or covers for a big squishy floor cushion, ready for your Scrooge McDuck diving needs, no further embellishment required.

These lovely fabrics can be found on our Misty Threads website here. You are also welcome to contact me directly by phone or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Have a good weekend and happy making.

Meg

As NAIDOC 2020 comes to a close for another year, we look forward to our next important cultural observation - Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. 

We hope you've enjoyed our look at just a few of our wonderful aboriginal women artists and fabric designers. These amazing, talented and strong women are artists, mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, wives - women who continue to contribute not only to their own communities but to us all. We have a last peek at a another beautiful aboriginal fabric in the picture above - Spiritual Women by Chanda Conway. Spiritual women reflects not only the creation of the physical world but also the creation and preservation of relationship between people themselve and with the land and animals. 

To me, it looks like lights scattered across the land - lights are a reflection as well for Diwali, the Indian Festival of Light, celebrating the return of the Hindu God Rama to his kingdom after 14 years in exile. 

Starting 14 November 2020, it is a festival that lasts 5 days and is celebrated during the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November). 

Diwali is also often associated with Lakshmi, the Indian goddess of prosperity, and 2020 could definitely use some help in that department!

Australia and India have a long history together.- 

2.8% of the Australian population is made up from people of Indian origin, and we are home to over 600,000 Indian Australians!

In 2019, after 71 YEARS OF PLAYING, India became the first Asian cricket team to win a test series in Australia.

India has brought culture, cuisine and colour (and beautiful fabric) to Australia's multicultural community, so we hope you have a Happy Diwali and that 2021 will be a prosperous year for all!

Today's beautiful fabric offering for NAIDOC week 2020 is Wild Flower Dreaming by Tanya Nangala Price.

Much of Central Australia is semi desert with very low levels of rainfall: however, in winter, even after a small rainfall, the wildflowers bloom in a lush array of colur and blossom. The fabric design for Wild Flower Dreaming is refined, almost austere, yet Tanya Price captures the beauty and lushness of the wildflowers with great skill and seeming effortlessness.

Tanya Nangala Price is from the Utopia region of Central Australia nd is one of the region's many well-established and respected artists. Her family includes artists such as Minnie Pwerle and Gloria Petyarre. Tanya learned to paint by watching her Aunty, senior artist Gracie Morton Pwerle. Over her career, she has developed her unique style to represent her counrty from a topograpghical viewpoint, typically working with stories associated with wildflowers, bush food and its collection. Her work is exuberant with colour yet beautifully restrained in style. 

This lovely fabric is on the Misty Threads website and is on special for $14 during November.

Late this evening - I've been on the road, heading up to Queensland to visit family.

Tonight's fabric is such a favourite, Yalke Blue by June Smith. Yalke is the aboriginal word for bush or wild onion and is actually a species of sedge that grows on creek banks. It is dug up when the grass of the onion has dried off and can be eaten raw or cooked in the hot earth by the fire. This is a beautiful fabric, full of colour and detail, strong enough to feature on its own but still enhances other fabrics so well in combination.

June Smith is from Ltyentye Apurte in Central Australia. She was one of the first women to paint for the Keringke Arts Centre there in the late 1980s and has held the position of Chair over several terms. June was an early advocate for a place for women to work on their art and a strong mentor for younger artists, as well as a pillar of strength ad stability within her family, the art centre and her community. Her vibrant works of art reflect her sense of self, culture, community and country with intricated details, bright colours and fine lines and dot work.

Our latest batch of bears has come out to join Yalke Blue - we thought they were a perfect match! Yalke Blue can be found on the Misty Threads website here, as with our other NAIDOC week fabrics on special at $14 pm. Our bears can be found here. They are made from recycled fabrics and the leftovers from larger projects - we try not to waste any of our precious fabrics.

It's been a beautiful wet month or so here and the plateau is shrouded in parkland green now. It is stunning, especially with the magnificent views we live with, both distant and small, hidden spaces. However, we all know tomorrow will likely bring a swIng back to bone aching drought. Water is the prize commodity in this dry, dry land of ours, particularly in areas such as the Northern Territory where 90% of the water supply comes from underground. In earlier days, despite a lack of permanent water supply, aboriginal people knew where to find drinking water. Water was available underneath the soil near rocks and trees and wild bird movements. Aboriginal people used digging sticks and coolamons to dig and store the water to drink.

Today's fabric is Underground Water, designed by the skilled artist Janet Nakamarra Long. Janet was born and grew up on her traditional homelands of Warntapari, near Willowra Community in Central Australia as part of a talented and well-known artistic family. In these designs, she uses traditional iconography to represent the underground flow of water, porous rocks and soakages. Her paintings are detailed with intricate dotting which flows across the canvas. She uses a topographical view of the land to connect the water soakages and the travelling that her ancestors had to make to ensure their survival and access to water. Janet is also a teacher and a respected linguist for her people., working with the elders in the community in producing books in Warlpiri language.

Today's fabric is Kingfisher Camp by the much-loved artist Nambooka, who brought us the gorgeous fabric Bambilah. We'll show you that in a few days. 

Kingfishers are found all over Australia, but ­predominantly in coastal regions. We have 10 native species, including the kookaburra, which is the largest of the family. Kingfishers nest in tree hollows, in burrows in riverbanks and in termite nests and feed on small animals, including fish, frogs, yabbies, snakes, insects and nestlings of other birds. All are dressed in glorious clour and teach us about alertness and opportunity.

Nambooka, also known as Bea Edwards, is a decendant from the Pyemmairrener clan of Tasmania.  She paints the patterns handed down to her from her grandmother who also taught her basketry and fibre arts. Bea lives in Melbourne and is an artist, mother, Aboriginal community D&A worker, teacher, tour guide, and consultant, and a household name in the quilting and craft world.

As a keen community worker with a deep understanding of land issues and Aboriginal culture, her skills are outstanding and are consequently in high demand. Bea’s work is about flora and fauna, nature and spirituality, and indigenous development. Her work is distinctive; strikingly bold and deceptively simple, it is original and authentic and can be found in both public galleries and private collections.

With NAIDOC week underway, we are choosing some of our own favourite and most popular indigenous designed fabrics to showcase for you. 

Today"s fabric is Dancing Spirit by Colleen Wallace. Dancing Spirit represents the sacred dance of ancient aboriginal ancestors since the time of creation. In dancing, these aboriginal spirits pay their respects to Mother Earth, expressing their love and spiritual and cultural connection to this continent.. 

Colleen Wallace is from Utopia, Central Australia and has been painting since the 1990s. She was raised by Kathleen Wallace and her husband Douglas. Kathleen Wallace is an influential and highly regarded Keringke Arts who has played a pivotal role in art production, teaching and supporting emerging artists and encouraged Colleen to try her hand at painting in the early 1990’s. Another strong influence was her mother-in-law, the well-known Utopian artist Ada Birdt Petyarre, very significant in the development of the Utopian art and one of the first women to move from traditional art depiction to silk and then canvas. 

Colleen is known for her precise dot work and vibrant colours and her work has been exhibited and purchased not only in Australia but also internationally. Dancing Spirit has remained one of Misty Threads' most popular aboriginal fabrics. It is much loved not only for quilting but also for clothing, homewares and even over canvases as artwork. As one of our feature fabrics, Dancing Spirit can be found here and will be on sale this NAIDOC week until 30 November for $14.00 per metre.

It's NAIDOC week!

Misty Threads acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of Gumbaynggirr Country and their continuing connections to the lands, waters and communities. We pay our respects to them and their elders past, present and emerging.

 NAIDOC stands for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’, the committee once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week; the acronym has since become the name of the week itself. 

 From previously chatting with several of you, I know many of you love both history, particularly the history of Australia, and great stories. Well, there is some incredible history from our first nations peoples here to be found and amazing stories to marvel at.

The theme for this 2020 NAIDOC week, "Always Was, Always Will Be" recognises the spiritual and cultural connection of our first nations people to this country. It acknowledges the many nations and cultures that lived here and their occupation and sustainable care for this continent for over 65,000 years. This long history becomes part of Australian history for all us too and there is much we can learn from these millenia.

 NAIDOC week celebrations are normally held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples although the 2020 celebrations were delayed to this week due to Covid-19 restrictions.

 The week is a great opportunity for Australians from all walks of life to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, to hear their history and stories and to join in the many activities available (see here for details). 

 For more information about NAIDOC week, including the annual National NAIDOC Awards Ceremony, sadly cancelled for 2020 due to Covid-19, see here. 

Misty Threads has been delighted over many years now to provide wonderful authentic Aboriginal designed fabrics designed by amazingly talented indigenous artists, many well-known and represented in several areas of media. These fabrics each tell the artists own story and show us the beautiful colours of our land. Over the next week, we'll be showing you some of our all time favourites and the lovely touch they can bring to your own creativity.

Keep an eye out for our posts, we can't wait to share NAIDOC week with you all.

Christmas is rapidly approaching, just seven weeks away now. Don't forget to check out the Misty Threads Artisan Range online for individual handmade Christmas presents

The team at Misty Threads are happy to custom make for you. We make these using up every scrap of our lovely quilting fabrics and add special touches with recycled pieces wherever we can to avoid wasting our planet's precious resources.

 Browse the Artisan Range

Misty Threads can make choosing that special present a little easier by offering an on-line Gift Voucher for that special person...

Send a gift voucher

Today, we're bringing you the kraken, that wonderful creature that has been around for centuries in both myth and legend and, to an extent, in reality.

Our krakens are not the stuff of sailors' nightmares but the fun of a child's imagination as they go sailing for treasure. Who hasn't loved the idea of buried treasure, marveled at a ship built inside a bottle or shivered at the thought of nameless sea monsters? So many exciting stories built around these – just insert imagination here!

These whimsical designs are perfect, not only for quilts, buts also book bags, big squishy cushions, covers for electronics or an impromptu pirate costume!

Shop Now

For those of you who are wondering... what is a Kraken..... it is one of the largest monsters ever imagined by mankind and, in Nordic folklore, was said to haunt the seas from Norway through Iceland and all the way to Greenland. First mentioned in an account written in 1180 by King Sverre of Norway, the legend of the kraken started with sightings of a real animal, the giant squid. For the ancient sailors, the sea was treacherous and dangerous, hiding a horde of monsters in its inconceivable depths. Any encounter with an unknown animal soon gathered a mythological edge from sailors’ stories. It was said that the kraken could attack vessels with its arms or swim in circles around ships to create a fierce maelstrom to drag the vessel down. And, of course, the kraken could devour a ship's entire crew at once! The legend grew through the centuries and the kraken could still be found in Europe’s first modern scientific surveys of the natural world in the 18th century. Even Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern biological classification, included the kraken among the cephalopod mollusks in the first edition of his groundbreaking Systema Naturae (1735).

In 1853, when a giant cephalopod was found stranded on a Danish beach, Norwegian naturalist Japetus Steenstrup recovered the animal’s beak and used it to scientifically describe the giant squid, Architeuthis dux. And so what had become legend officially entered the annals of science, returning our image of the kraken to the animal that originated the myths.

But enough scary stories!

Hi everyone,

October – while this year is flying by, it's also crawling! Hoping you are all well and staying safe.

I was going to say hasn't the weather turned quickly – it seemed to be cold for so long, then suddenly, it was warmer, almost hot. Now we have had some coolish days again! We could do with some rain but we have had several beautiful days.

 We're delighted to tell you that Misty Threads now has its Australian Owned rating and we'll be adding the logo to the website very shortly. We have a two star rating – this means that our business is at least 80% Australian owned (we are 100%) and at least 50% of products sold are Australian manufactured or produced. The nature of patchwork and quilting in Australia is that many input items are produced overseas: however, we actively seek out Australian made products and the number of these are increasing all the time. Of course, the completed items we sell online (see our Artisan – add link – section) are 100% manufactured in Australia!

It's always exciting to see the fresh and often highly patterned new fabrics by all our wonderful designers; however, don't overlook the more humble fabric staples, the neutrals in all shades, the simpler geometrics, the spots, the stripes, the prints. All of these add colour and depth to our quilts, highlighting the more standout prints or combining to make a pretty standout statement by themselves. The first time I saw applique laid on a beautiful dark teal background instead of the then conventional white/cream/offwhite background turned all my colour and piecing ideas upsidedown – yes, quite a few decades ago now! This doesn't mean that white isn't lovely in the right place but experimenting is fun and just seeing the way so many quiltmakers and sewers of other pieces use colour and pattern now always delights and inspires me. 

We are selling fabric bundles of staples, five by half metre pieces (2.5m in total) for $30 and five by one metre pieces (5m in total) for $60. Just give us a clue in the remarks – colour, spots, stripes, prints, even random, and we'd love to help you fill in a gap, add to your stash or give you some new ideas. Designer fabrics not included.

To order, go to Precuts here.

 Don't forget, we also have our sample packs to check out fabics before you buy serious amounts. They can be found under Precuts or at the end of each category of fabrics in our online shop.

Now, to take a deep breath. Many of you who know me will know I am an avid reader, completely besotted with books and reading may even just tip my love of sewing and knitting. I have some books to move on. I had to swallow and type that really fast – I don't usually move my books on as I tend to reread most of them. (Yes, dear reader, I do have a rather large collection of books.) Misty Threads is not morphing into a bookshop but I know many quilters who also love reading. So, if you're choosing some fabric, head over to Artisan - Other and you'll find a handful of recent books lurking for a modest price. I enjoyed them all but I don't need to keep these ones so if you are still in the library queue at number 57 waiting for a book, it might be here. By the by, though, libraries are wonderful places, aren't they! I do read as many of my books as I can from there first.

It's Sunday, so back to my current book (Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees – loving it, this one's a keeper) for a bit and a bit more.

Enjoy your Sunday afternoon and we have some fun new fabric to show you next time.

Cheers

Meg

Hello everyone,

Hope you are well and getting some of this rain.

Our wonderful authentic aboriginal designed fabric is still as popular as ever and we have just received a lovely bundle to replenish old favourites and add a few new fabrics.

 Some of our fabrics most in demand, we have L to R: Dancing Spirit by Colleen Wallace,Wild Flower Dreaming by Tanya Price, Kingfisher Camp by Nambooka, Yalke by June Smith, Mirram Mirram by Nambooka, Spiritual Women by Chanda Conway and Seven Sisters by Marlene Doolan. I love the femininity and strength of the artworks and their stories - these ladies rock!

New to Misty Threads, we have Natalie Ryan's Kangaroo Paw Charcoal, with soft grey and golden yellow flower tips, and the wonderful Women Collecting Bush Food by Christine Doolan. The two look amazing together.

Beautiful as it is, our authentic aboriginal fabric may not be your thing. If that's so, check out our other fabric ranges here. We have so many great fabrics from our stunning designer fabrics, childrens and novelty fabrics, batiks and general fabrics, perfect for setting off your quilt creation, indeed, perfect for many other sewing projects as well.

Take care

Meg