Saffrons Blog

I have a bundle of fabrics which I hand printed on my mum and dads table to give away to you to celebrate my first year as a fabric designer which coincides with my own birthday this weekend.

What are you celebrating this week? Simply leave a comment and I will pick my favourite on the 8th of June.

I am going to bake my cake now. Actually, I might just get it from the bakery...




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I received my samples off the bulk today and I got to stick stickers on the boards. What fun. I feel like I have come a long way from last year and have a long way to go. I smiled from my heart today as I looked at my yardage prints on boards. Three more weeks to go.



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I love going to art galleries. I really do love seeing who is drawing, painting, thinking. I like the gift shops as well. I really liked these cards and when I got home thought I might take a picture of them to share, I added a few of my own personal items, a beautiful box from my best friend Kirstin and a broach I bought from a designer at the Young blood market last year, Coincidentally she is from Geelong and I drove through her town on the weekend.

Speaking of markets, or shows - I have been asked by a lot of you wonderful customers if we're going to the craft & quilt fair this year and the answer is alas NO!
We won't be going to the show at Darling Harbour this year.  Last year we launched my fabrics at the fair, however this year we are going to concentrate on our online shop and wholeselling our fabrics to shops around the country. And as always, thanks for your support.




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Sometimes I itch to stitch. I really do and as I do not have a quilt on the go I thought I should make myself the bag I need.
With winter coming closer I wanted a black bag and matching purse. So I dug out some beautiful linen that my grandmother Mollie had given me years ago and I started to sew. I made the pattern too which is exciting as I really want to have my own bag pattern. The pattern came from my own experience - I usually start the day with two or three things inside my bag and end the day with it exploding, so my bag needs to be big. With big bags I need pockets to hold keys and phone and I need to be able to see my belongings so I lined the bag with my fairies and love hearts.

What do you think? Simple practical and light. It made it through two flights and long drives to Lorne with a thumbs up from critical me. I like it!




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We flew to Lorne this weekend for a wedding. I did not take my camera and so I have no pictures, sorry. I hope my writing can conjure images for you.

Rani and I have been friend since uni. So I was very happy to be at the wedding. She chose a magic spot on a ridge with vistas of the ocean all the way to the  horizon on one side and the mountain ranges entirely covered with trees on the other side. Not a house to be seen from any direction. It was lovely.

Rani made her dress out of primed canvas and she asked her guests to write on it as the night swayed on. We have always called Rani the texta queen so out came the big black textas. "Happy days Rani!" She had twigs and a stick of bush blossoms as her bouquet. The tables were adorned with moss. The fires roared.  What fun.

I was most touched as Lincoln her now husband taught himself to crochet. He crocheted Rani a Doctor Who scarf, an exact copy as the wedding present which also bore the rings.  So sweet. The wedding vows include an agreement  to give cuddles on demand. All 120 of us giggled at that.


Image by christurnbull75

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I am toying with printing Koala softies. I love designing softies. I roughed up a simple shape enlarged the ears and drew a few silhouettes for us to play with. My daughter got in on the action with textas. So far we have played around with scribbling colour and creating textures like fur. More than once you lovely readers have asked for brown and as I am a lover of brown a think he will be brown? Definitely loving the love-heart eyes.







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This week I am designing. I have designed a few new postcard designs as well.



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Gaia”s baby Jamilla was born a few hours ago! Perfect! Oh so wonderful. As we're in the mood for celebration it's a good time to give away the meter of fabric. I feel humbled by all of your comments and inspired, it's great to be in touch with the world outside my bubble.

The meter is gifted to Mary who commented on 04-May-2009
“I love the yellow and the pink dandelions. My daughter calls them 'wishes' and loves to pick them when we go walking. I can see them appearing on an outfit of hers in the near future :)”.

However, Mary, we don't have your email address, can you please get in touch?
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More playing—I think I could make an entire quilt with the nesting owls, there are so many interesting parts of the fabric wanting me to chop them out and be relocated. This is the amazing thing about patchwork, chopping up the fabric to make it into something unique.

I worked on the nesting owl design for 6 months. It took up a lot of brain space to create. I finally decided on the colourway after a lot of thought—deciding on orange and red, orange for the boys as there was a temptation to use a pink and red. If the nesting owl fabric  sells I have an aqua and blue colour way ready set to go!

In this  sketch I had a play with using the nesting owl as a central panel and this could be expanded into larger quilt. It would be funky on a wall as well. I used the owl on trees in the blocks surrounding the center panel, combining it with a red and orange fabric in the sketch. However  I am sure you could be creative and use fabric from your stash. Red as a colour mixes so well with greys, oranges, aquas,  all through to the abundances of greens. Finally I just love using the red gingko blossoms for big borders.

As always, feel free to leave a comment!



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I have been playing around with my new fabric range sketching out quilt designs.

I love the hexagon pattern and I really want to make a huge hexagon quilt. In my imagination I am covering a Victorian chair with quilted hexagons to match the one lavishly draped over the bed. The chair I have rescued from a barn in England, dilapidated and covered in cobwebs. Naturally it houses a huge old barn owl smiling at me. The chair magically flew to Australia and landed in my studio! (Yes I know I have not been to England for years!)

Then I am imagining making a big squishy bag full of pockets.

I love how the parrots chopped up in the hexagon shapes act like they are alive and moving. While the dandelion circles bounce up and down and the squiggly flowers tie it all together.



This quilt uses all the fields fabric. A fun easy project which would be great to stitch. I can see myself embroidering around the edges.
I like putting yellow and pink together. Well yellow it just makes me happy! Sunshine and happiness.

This one I would take to the park on a warm day spread it out of fluffy green grass and lie down and watch the puffy white clouds float overhead. You know those clouds which turn into animal shapes. Happiness isn't that the meaning of life?







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