Anna Maria Horner - Plot Twist Workshop

On the 23rd and 24th of June we hosted the incredibly talented Anna Maria Horner for a fantastic workshop and what I think has been our most interesting event to date... The Private Dinner.

I think a picture speaks a thousand words and these images do the events more justice than my words ever could.

This post features photos from the Workshop.

Plot Twist was the workshop we chose to hold - a choose your own adventure style of class with each participant working on their own unique version of Anna Maria's pattern.
We love workshops like this one. They encourage the participants to tap into their own creative abilities and go their own way exploring a theme! Fabrics both new and old appear out of bags, and the buzz in the shop is electric.

xoxo

Lucy

FOCUS ON : Delilah by Jen Kingwell

I cannot write anything about Delilah without singing MY, MY MY! It's a curse... but also a little blessing because it's a fun song to sing. This quilt, as many know, was named after a Tom Jones song. Delilah was Jen's first Template of the Month program which we shortened to TOM!

Tom Jones was a staple sound track in our house growing up. 'What's New Pussy Cat' is often played at family affairs because it gets Richard, Jen's husband, up and dancing!

What can I say about Delilah - she is a beauty and is so fun to make. I can say that with confidence because I have made her! This is the only project of Jen's I have made myself and I loved every stitch (I owe you all a blog post on my version but... where does all the time go?! So, soon... I promise!)

MMQG RETREAT

On the weekend we hosted a a wonderful group of sewers from the Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild.

This was the first retreat type of event we have ever hosted here in our Torquay space, and we hope it is the first of many! With a class room that comfortably sits 20+ and a kitchen in the space for catering and coffee purposes, it's fun to explore our business' true capabilities!

It's always fun to share time with the MMQG because of their approach to quilting - it goes without saying that it's modern and their enthusiasm for all things fabric is infectious! They see quilts in a different light with a strong focus on improv - it's pretty funky!

The machinists of the group were whipping through their work, but Jen still managed to spread the good word about hand stitching!

STAFF PROFILE - Introducing Nat!

Hey Amitie Addicts,

Time for another staff profile. I love sharing these because our team are the backbone of our business. They are the smiling faces that greet you, the warm voices on the end of the phone and it's important you know how FABULOUS they truly are!

The next cab off the rank is Nat - the wonderful Nat, who many of you might know from her pattern company Cinderberry Stitches.

Jen and I were pretty chuffed when Nat applied to work for us - Instagram has opened the craft world up and Nat's feed always caught out eye. Her attention to detail is fantastic which is why we made her chief Visual Merchandiser!

The thing we love most about Nat is her wicked sense of humour. She always has us laughing and we love her for that!

Thanks for sharing yourself with our wonderful customers, Nat!!

xoxo

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Well hello, I thought it was about time I introduced myself to you. 

I'm Natalie Lymer and it's been 2 hours and 18 minutes since I last sewed.

Introducing - Meg Nicholson

Many moons ago I found myself in a trance.

I was at a busy maker's market in Fed Square. It was close to Christmas and busy. Way busier than I could cope with... I was on my way out the door and there they were. The most enchanting stitched artworks with colours that spoke to my soul.

The work belong to Meg Nicolson.

Flash forward to now, years later, and I am proud to include Meg on our class room schedule - sharing her unique skills and knowledge about this gorgeous art form.

Meg was also kind enough to answer some questions for our readers.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

xoxo

Lucy

The Circle Game - Gary's Journey - Part 3

This month we have only one block to do but there were some tricky parts to it with ensuring templates are in the right place. So, in this month’s ramblings I’m going to cover echoes, success in making mistakes, serendipity and then some of the tools I’ve discovered that have helped me in hand piecing.

One of the benefits for this template plan is we have lots of pictures of the circle game on the web and Instagram as well, when I started the ‘Delilah’ TOM there were very few pictures out there of the completed quilt so it was a challenge to think how everything might look once all the blocks were completed. 

In choosing fabrics from Jen’s wovens and a few splashes of shot cottons I was wanting to tie some elements of the quilt together. When you look at the pattern there are blocks that are possible companions. The block for this month has similarities to the nine-patch from last month and so I was wanting to echo the colours / fabrics from that block into this one.

STAFF PROFILE - Introducing Anna

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.