Di Mill

Fave Finds

 

5 things I'm loving on pinterest this week:

 

 

1. Felted Jewellery Pouch 2. Tea Towel Tutorial  3. quilt  4. placemats 5. Button Art

 

take care....Di

 

What's in my suitcase?

 

I love it when the delivery man pulls up outside of my house and he starts bringing in a big box. I know it's new fabric samples and I can't wait to rip open the box and see what's inside.

Yesterday my newest Moda ranges arrived:

These are the sweetest prints by French General called "Petite Prints"

 

 

And there is also a lovely range of "wovens" .

 

 

 

 

Sweetwater have a new range called "The Boathouse"

 

 

Primitive Gatherings have a lovely range called Lakeside Gatherings and I love the quilt patterns they have designed to go with the range:

 

 

They have also designed a range of wovens:

 

 

 

 

 

Minick and Simpson have continued with their love affair of red and white/ red and cream/ red and tan with their latest range called "Crazy for Red":

 

 

And Moda's latest basic range...Rustic Weave is very yummy!

 

 

Not all of the ranges arrive on fabric samples - some are just on paper and I will post some of my favourites over the weekend.

 

All of these ranges will be arriving in Australia in November/December so look out for them in your favourite quilting store.

 

Take care....Di

 

 

Camille's Australian Tour

It only seems like yesterday that I was nervously waiting at the Brisbane International airport for Camille Roskelley and her friend Holly to arrive. This was the first international Fabric Designer / tutor that I had approached and brought out to Australia so I was nervous about how Camille's tour would go as I wanted it all to be perfect. I had spent hours working on all of the details but you never really know if it will all go to plan until it's happening.

Camille has posted 2 great posts on her blog here and here of her Australian trip so pop over there and see her photos and read her story.

The problem with flying from the USA to Australia is that you land early in the morning and the trick is to try and stay awake all day. With both Camille and Holly having never been to Australia before, I thought that an afternoon at Lone Pine Koala Santuary would be a great way to be introduced to Australian fauna and to try and fight the jetlag.

 

 

And if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen this video of Camille holding a Koala for the first time!

Of course there were heaps of Kangaroos and wallabies to try to grab photos with (they don't always want to co-operate!) along with Platypuses, Tasmanian Devils, Wombats etc.

We spent the next 2 weeks working at Market Trends, and 4 Australian Shops - FiFi's Fabricology on the Gold Coast, The Quilter's Store in Brisbane, Quiltsmith and Kim Bradley Creations in Sydney. Camille has plenty of photos of her classes on her blog so I won't double up. The classes went off beautifully and I think everyone who attended will agree that they had a great time. Once we arrived in Sydney, both Camille and Holly's husbands had flown in to join them.

 

 

Holly and her husband Dave popped in to Quiltsmith and Dave gave a hand at holding up Holly's version of Red Letter Day.

 

 

The two weeks flew by and before I knew it, it was Camille's last day in Australia. I couldn't think of a better thing to do than to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I have been wanting to cross it off my bucket list for ages and it was everything and more that I had dreamed of. We were very lucky and had perfect weather. My partner Allan was able to come up with me which just made it even more special.

 

 

And there is this video on my instagram page to show our achievement!

 

Our last night was spent with PK Fabrics at Cafe Sydney - the most gorgeous restaurant with amazing views of Sydney Harbour.

 

 

I have to say that saying goodbye to Camille and Holly at the airport the next morning was tough. It's funny how people come into your lives for just a short time but are etched into your heart forever. There was absolutely no need to be nervous on that first day waiting at Brisbane airport. Camille was nothing short of professional in everything she did but was also sweet, kind, and generous. Holly was the perfect travelling companion and just as lovely as Camille.   I enjoyed many long chats with them as we travelled the east coast of Australia and we are already planning a return trip in a few years time.

 

So now it's back to work and organising next year's tour....who will it be???

 

Take care....Di

 

 

 

Thursday Inspiration

 

 

 

image source

 

 

Take care....Di

Market Trends

Oh my goodness - where has the time gone? Life has been a bit crazy lately but it's all been worth every second of madness. May and June have been huge months for me with work and I am only just coming up for a breath. In May I travelled to Pittsburgh for Quilt Market. It was as inspirational as it always is. I love catching up with friends that I have made in the industry and only see while in the USA at Quilt Market. For those of you who follow me on facebook or Instagram, you would have seen a lot of my photos as they were taken.

Below are some of the shameless selfies I took!

 

 

Some of the fabric companies that 2 Green Zebras distribute: Robert Kaufman, Adorn It, & Red Rooster.

 

 

Moda - distributed by PK Fabrics

 

 

Fabric Companies distributed by Lloyd Curzon Textiles: Maywood Studio, In The Beginning Fabric, Northcott, Blend Fabrics

 

 

Once I returned home it was non stop trying to get everything ready for Market Trends. Market Trends is a small trade show that I put on for my retailers - bringing them all the trends from Quilt Market in the USA. I only have about 3 weeks to organise the majority of it so as you can guess...there isn't a lot of sleep happening at that time.

 

The gorgeous Camille Roskelley - Moda fabric designer - was my special guest and I couldn't have asked for a nicer person. She was adorable, yet so professional. Camille has just put up her 1st post about her Australian trip here

Here is Camille below with her close friend Holly who also made the trip.

 

I was thrilled with the weekend - all the hard work was worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

A huge thank you to my distributors who I couldn't have put Market Trends on without: Tim & Jim from Lloyd Curzon Textiles, Patrick and Shane from PK Fabrics, and Chris & Fiona from 2 Green Zebras. Also a massive thank you to our local pattern designers who also joined Market Trends: Lynette Anderson Designs, Kookaburra Cottage Quilts, Nikki Tervo Designs, The Birdhouse, Tracey Sims and also Always Quilting (Auriful threads).

 

Also a massive thank you to my two gorgeous kids Emma and Luke who gave up their weekend to help, my gorgeous friend Sharyn who saved my sanity with helping me sew quilts, Jane Davidson from Quilt Jane for her generous nature, Sandy (you know why!) and my better half who worked calmly and quietly behind the scenes (not easy when you work for the opposition but he is always there for me).

 

More photos to come....take care...Di

What's in my suitcase?

As a rep, I am constantly receiving new fabric samples. I love it when the courier arrives and I usually rip open the boxes as quickly as possible to see what the latest fabric designs are. I'm often selling 6 months ahead of when it will arrive in the stores, so it's always exciting to see what's coming out in the future. My suitcases are constantly changing with new items added and older ranges removed. Sometimes I'm sad to see some go as they will be a favourite of mine and I enjoy showing them to the retailers and looking at them every time I open my case. That said, there is always plenty of wonderful fabric designs to replace them and new favourites are formed.

I thought I would start a new segment called "What's in my suitcase?". You will get a sneak peak at what will be arriving in your favourite quilt stores in the months ahead.

Autumn Lily by Blackbird Designs for Moda

 

 

Figures by Zen Chic for Moda

 

 

LOL by Me and my Sister for Moda Fabrics

 

 

That's just a snippet of what the latest collections are. Such yummy fabric!

 

Take care....Di

 

 

 

Thursday Inspiration

 

 

 

image source

 

 

Take care...Di

 

Dad's 80th - Tablescape

I should have posted this post months ago as it was such a lovely time for me as well as for my family. On Christmas Eve my Dad turned 80! It's a bit late but I wanted to share it with you. Christmas Eve is always a busy day as we are usually all getting ourselves ready for the next day - Christmas. Well I just love to make things a little more manic, so I hosted Dad's 80th Birthday lunch on Christmas Eve - being a sit down 3 course meal for 15 family and very close friends. As always, I am so completely pre-occupied with all of the cooking and preparations, I rarely remember to take photos. This time I do have photos of the table but not the meal. Because the celebration was for my Dad, I thought long and hard about how to decorate the table. With Christmas being the next day, I was definately on a budget.

 

I love decorating tables with lots of flowers and bling but this time I thought I would try something more subdued and masculine. There is a park near me that has many eucalyptus trees where the branches hang down to the ground so I raced down the day before and grabbed a heap of them - tied them into small bundles with fine wire and laid them down the centre of the table like a runner.

 

 

I then poked white lillies in tiny votives in between the eucalyptus leaves.

 

 

Every table needs a centre piece so I filled a soup tureen with white dalia's.

 

 

 

 

I shopped in second hand and antique stores for months leading up to the party, looking for vintage silver napkin rings.

 

 

 

 

My Dad was a sugar cane farmer all of his working life so I thought I would bring a bit of the "bush" onto the table by using the eucalyptus leaves. Not only did they look great, they smelt divine!

 

 

I was thrilled with how it all turned out. It was a wonderful day where inbetween all of the preparation for Christmas, we were able to take time out and celebrate 80 years of life.

 

Take care....Di

 

 

 

 

Online Booking available for Market Trends

Its been a flurry of activity around here while I work frantically to get everything ready for Camille's tour as well as Market Trends - the Convention & Trade show for Patchwork & Quilting Retailers and wholesale businesses.

Online Booking is now available for those who would like to attend Market Trends.

you can book online here

The schedule of events for Market Trends is here

If you are attending and need accommodation advise you will find it here

 

There will be an abundance of information for retailers and wholesale businesses, to assist in helping your businesses grow. I've got so much planned and it's going to be a great weekend.

See you there!

 

Di

 

 

 

 

Camille Roskelley Australian Tour

I'm so excited to be writing this post. Life has been a bit crazy for me lately with so much to organise but I can finally let you know where Camille will be teaching while she is here in Australia:

Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th June - Camille will be at "Market Trends" the convention and trade show for Patchwork & Quilting Retailers (wholesale only) - Hometurn Room, Doomben Racecourse, Ascot (Brisbane)

Tuesday 10th June - workshop at FiFi's Fabricology, 64D Trees Road, Tallebudgerra (Gold Coast)

Wednesday 11th June - 10am Trunk Show / meet n greet at FiFi's Fabricology

                                     Evening - Trunk Show/meet & greet at The Quilter's Store - 4/286 Evans

                                                    Rd, Salisbury (Brisbane)                                                                         

Thursday 12th June -   Workshop at The Quilter's Store

Friday 13th June -        Evening - Trunk Show/ meet n greet at Kim Bradley Creations 7/9 Packard  

                                                   Ave, Castle Hill (Norwest Sydney)

Saturday 14th June -      Workshop at Quiltsmith - 75 Nelson Street, Annandale (Sydney)

Sunday 15th June -        Workshop at Kim Bradley Creations

 

Please contact the stores if you would like to attend any of Camille's trunk shows or workshops. I'm sure you will be in for a treat and have a wonderful day. Be quick as spots are filling up fast. All of these stores will have some early pre-cuts of Camille's new range "Miss Kate" for you to purchase. It is a beautiful range of fabric.

 

Camille's new pattern Red Letter Day will be the workshop at all stores. It is a wondeful pattern that I know you will enjoy making.

 

There is not long to go - it will be June before we know it and I will be waiting at the airport to pick Camille up! I can't wait!!

 

Take care....Di