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Coast & Country Crafts and Quilts Newsletter
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In the week of International Women’s Day which is celebrated on March 8th, we thought we’d reflect and take a moment to think of some of the Inspirational women we work with around the world. Designers and companies whose names are as familiar to us as family members Natalie Bird, French General, Tilda, Beaks and Bobbins, Janet Clare, Corinne Lapierre, Lynette Anderson, Gail Pan, The Bee Company, House on the Hill, Heart to Hand, The Three Sisters, Fiona Ransley, Anni Downs, Gingiber, Edyta Sitar, Bunny Hill Designs and many more brands all established by awesome women.
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In fact the majority of our fabric and pattern designers are women and many started out with sewing as a hobby. Even our very own Sally Snapes, owner of Coast and Country Crafts and Quilts, started as a stitcher herself, selling fat 1/4s and a few patterns at local sewing groups and craft fairs, all transported in the back of her car. A very part time job that has now turned into a very full time successful business with a beautiful shop, growing online store and daily shipping Internationally. With a lot of hard work and determination Sally, and our other designers, are proof that you can grow a business out of your passion and creativity.
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So this weekend raise a glass or a cuppa to all the women we have in our lives who inspire us. Sit and stitch together sharing in the age old tradition of women gathering to create together. Work on a shared project or gift each other something you’ve made or you know they’d like to make, a pattern, book or kit. We don’t need to wait for special occasions like birthdays, Christmas or Mothers Day to show we care. Life can turn on a sixpence so let’s celebrate all women: mums, aunts, grandmas, sisters, nieces, friends.
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Happy Stitching and have a wonderful week.
Best wishes
Sally & the girls
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(Our newsletters are written by our amazing Michelle with grateful thanks from Sally x)
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Kaari Meng lives in America and began with designing Jewellery, then with regular visits to France, Kaari and her sister Molly, began selling a French-inspired lifestyle that included textiles, notions, ephemera, and household items found only in France. The sisters have since opened two shops and diversified the business over the years to include designing French inspired fabric for Moda.
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La Grande Soiree is her latest fabric collection. Pretty floral prints, both large and small, make for a collection that's fit for a pretty, and still sophisticated, look. Shades of grey, blue, pearl and faded red blend together. Available as fat 1/4s, by the metre and in precuts.
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Amy Butcher is the designer behind Beaks And Bobbins. Together with her mum, she runs her textile business in York, UK. We have two of her latest kits in stock , Foxgloves and Dandelion Clocks, plus more of our already popular kits by her.
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In her words ….”We create original illustrative embroideries using layered collages of torn and cut fabrics which are then stitched into using stranded cottons, silks and textured yarns.
We started by using the embroideries as designs to print greetings cards and fabric. However after feedback from customers wanting to stitch the designs themselves, we started to develop our steadily increasing range of kits.
Our designs are inspired by nature and we endeavour to do as much as we can to protect it by using biodegradable packaging and organic fabrics.”
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Tone Finnanger is the founder and owner of Tilda AS and Tilda Fabrics AS. She is also the designer behind all Tilda products.
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Tone started Tilda in 1999 when she was only 25 years old and has been working with the brand ever since. Tilda is now a known and loved brand throughout the world. There are Tilda fabrics, patterns and books, and even buttons. As well as the fabric, Tone designs quilts, dolls, items to wear and toys.
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Well known for their quirky floral designs, Tilda also do a vast range of solid colours and basics to compliment the ranges. The Embroidery Flower Quilt that is made from just solid fabrics has been very popular and now there is a new design to whet our appetites. The Flower Vase Embroidery Quilt. A delightful homage to cross stitch designs, this quilt is made up of 2" squares. We have made up kits for this beautiful quilt.
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If you look in our Customer Gallery we have a fine example of the original Embroidery Flower Quilt. We will be making more kits for this once we can restock the background fabric that is currently unavailable. As with all our products, add your name to the waitlist and we will contact you once we restock.
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Founded in 1997 by Carol Veillon, Quiltmania Editions is a publishing company specializing in magazines, books and pattern booklets dedicated to Patchwork and Quilting. We are proud to stock Quiltmania books and magazines as they are always so beautiful and meticulously presented.
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“Quilting is Sharing! This quote inspires me, to share my patterns with you all. I am Janine Alers, and I have quilted for over 20 years. I like to combine all kinds of different fabrics, Repro’s, Classic, and fabrics with a modern touch, and most of all I like to Applique!
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Welcome to the House of Quilts is the perfect alliance between Folk Art Style appliqué patterns and simple piecing created from a lovely, springy, fabric palette! 16 original projects of varying sizes and level of expertise are entirely detailed and beautifully photographed.
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Calico and Stitch contains twenty-six lovely projects, all carefully explained with full size templates, and nicely photographed. You will want to make every single one of these projects: they are just so pretty, fairly easy, and accessible to all, no matter your expertise level! Sue is an Englishwoman and loves telling stories, which she invents and illustrates through her works, especially with the dolls she makes. She is a creator, embroidery and quilting teacher, and now, with her first book, an author.
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Australian designer Natalie Bird, of The Birdhouse, says her great joy, is designing and hand-sewing, especially appliqué and embroidery. Her books and patterns feature heart-felt messages with cute and quirky images. Inspired by family and friends, special memories, nature, critters, and the world around her.
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Let us not forget to celebrate all the talented ladies who come to the shop or send us photos of their work. Look on our Blog and at the Gallery for inspiring creations from our very own customers and colleagues. Here are two that we have been sent this week.
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Look at this superb quilt made by one of the ladies who went on Sally's Honeybun Kisses cushion workshop. Bernie decided to make it larger and add borders to create a quilt. We love it!
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Also this gorgeous quilt from Lorraine using mainly Blume and Grow fabrics.
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Lorraine said " I made it up. Some of the individual flower blocks are either Lori Holt or Thimble Blossoms and they remainder I designed myself. I then used various simple blocks to fill the gaps."
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The exclusive project in the March issue of Tilda Club is the charming
Blossom Pie Apron by Fi Laidlaw of Living Cloth.
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Included with the pattern for the apron is 1 Pie in the Sky Fat Quarter Bundle, blue colourway: 5 FQs. You will require other items to complete the project as listed on the product page.
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Do you Love Tilda? Sign up to the Tilda Lover's Club here for future bi-monthly projects
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£32.00
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