At Amitié, we pride ourselves on having excellent staff - always have and always will!
When we moved, we 'adopted' a whole new team and the experience has been amazing.
We think it's time you all got to meet the new crew and learn a little about them so, with that being said, we are excited to be featuring staff profiles over the next little while - Starting with Anna!
Anna was one of the first interviews we held and I think we hired her on the spot!!
From the moment Anna arrived, she has been a real asset to our team. She was there during set up - she works hard, stays on task and is super helpful to staff and customers.
The best day with Anna so far - watching her Girl Crush over Tula when she visited (which Anna touches on below!)
Thanks for allowing us to share you with our Amitié Addicts, Anna!
I bet they'll adore you as much as we do.
xoxo
Happy Reading...
Lucy
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Hi there, my name is Anna (@spanzy on
Instagram) and I work at Amitie! I can say without hesitation that I literally
have my dream job.
 |
| Anna and her family! |
I’ve had a few
jobs in my life ranging from a supermarket cashier to a Primary School Teacher.
Before I had children of my own, teaching was my world, I loved everything
about it...except for the work/life balance. I took so much work home with me
and found it quite suffocating at times. I had little to no time for my hobby
which was sewing.
When I was due to
return to teaching after being on family leave I just couldn’t do it. I had a
recently diagnosed son with autism and a baby girl who needed her Mum. Working
countless hours a week plus all the piles of work I would take home, this just
wasn’t what I wanted to do. My kids needed me.
Then something
truly amazing, life changing, world altering happened.
This post appeared
in my Facebook feed.
 |
| Amitié's advertisement for staff - posted in 2017! |
Amitie was
relocating 15 minutes down the road from where I live...and they were looking
for staff! I could not believe it, did I read it correctly? My hobby is sewing,
in particular making quilts! Could Amitie actually be moving close to
me...and looking for staff? What the?!?
I dropped all my
plans I had for that day and put together an application...I was convinced that
Amitie was where I was meant to be.
I remember meeting
Jen and Lucy and listening to them talk about their vision for the new space. I
was hooked and so incredibly hopeful that I could possibly play a small part in
watching and helping it to unfold.
Working at Amitie
is truly amazing. The Kingwell’s are such inspiring people, the staff are
passionate and the customers are just gorgeous.
The work/life
balance could not be any better. I spend my work days in absolute fabric
heaven. From cutting fat quarters to helping people pick fabrics for a new
project I literally have a smile on my face all day, oh and I don’t mind taking
‘work’ home with me, ha ha.
 |
| Anna very kindly took 'work' home and made this sample for Jen, using the up and coming collection Beach Rd! |
The thing I love
most about patchwork is how relaxing it can be. Spending time hand sewing on
the couch chatting with my husband after the kids are in bed is my idea of a
great night. I love how portable it is too, I can stitch in the car while
waiting at school pick up, it’s so easy.
 |
| Anna's beautiful EPP project - Smitten in the making! |
For many many
years my favourite method of sewing was English Paper Piecing (EPP) but I have
totally 100% converted to hand piecing. Working with Jen I’d be crazy not to
ask for a lesson on hand piecing from the master...so I did. Jen was extremely
lovely and gave me a few pointers...and I’ve been hooked ever since, she really
is a fantastic teacher. I do wonder why I’ve been glueing paper for so
long...someone incredibly wise told me that’s what she herself thought when she
started hand piecing.
My favourite
designer is Tula Pink who I was super lucky to meet in person when she popped
in to Amitie to visit her friend Jen. Let’s just say I thoroughly enjoyed
working that day.
 |
| Anna and Tula! |
In my quilt making
past I’ve always liked things organised and structured, simple colour palettes,
solid backgrounds and nothing too daring - y seams, ah no thanks.
 |
| Another gorgeous quilt, made by Anna of course. |
Immersing myself
in the vibrant colours that are present at Amitie I feel like my eyes have been
opened up to a whole new world, which I’m embracing. I’m currently working on
Drops of Jupiter, complete with a scrappy style, low volume background, full of
y seams...and I’m loving every second of it. I’m already planning my next
project which will be Steam Punk with a pretty vibe to it...or a bold and
bright vibe, not too sure. I’ll have to go shopping for more fabric - haha!
 |
| Anna's first attempt at hand piecing - and it's perfect! |
I’ve definitely
caught the Amitie bug, let’s just say I’m an Amitie Addict and proud of
it.
Find us on Instagram @amitietexiltes | @jenkingwell | #amitietextiles
2 comments:
I had the pleasure of meeting Anna at Amitie in January. She was so helpful, but also left me to browse alone for as long as I liked. My goal is to move away from EPP to hand piecing too. The Glitter quilt I started at NZ Symposium with Jen Kingwell is somewhere in this house, but I chose another hand piecing pattern yesterday, and can't wait to start a new quilt. Your hand pieced quilt looks beautiful Anna, and inspires me to get hand piecing this weekend.
Anna, your first attempt at hand piecing is beautiful. You are one lucky dog to work at Amitie with Jen! WOW! I am very envious!
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