Blog Posts

A global view - Destination: Zambia

“I was lucky enough to recently travel to Zambia in Africa to see how women in developing countries are undertaking training in sewing & tailoring as a means of social & economic development.” - Janine Janine Nutley from Spotlight’s Kawana Waters (QLD) store recently travelled to Zambia in Southern Africa. ...

A good friend is like...

“A good friend is like a warm quilt wrapped around the heart.” - Anon. Whenever you talk to a quilter, novice or professional alike, the word ‘friendship’ comes up early in the conversation. Like many other creative hobbies, quilting provides people with much more than stitching skills or an overflowing ...

Tighten your belt, not your imagination!

Whether you craft for fun or profit, decisions about what you purchase and make are undoubtedly affected by the state of your bank balance. For hobbyists in particular, a crafty outlet might feel like an indulgence but, with clever management, it can actually prove to be an asset (not to ...

Getting creative in Cambodia

A recent email from Ginny Hanson in Cambodia took us by surprise. Sometimes we’re taken aback by how far our little magazine travels. In her email Ginny, who runs a group called Sak Saum (the Khmer word for dignity), wanted to nominate a young NZ woman, Joanne Cole, to be ...

Selling yourself

Why your marketing needs to be as creative as your products. While it’s great that crafts and handmade goods are growing in popularity it also means that the marketplace for these items is becoming more competitive. The very things that make it so wonderful to be a modern crafter - ...

Hayley Wandelt-Smith

Quilts by Hayley Wandelt-Smith from the Queanbeyan (NSW) Spotlight store A graduate of the Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design) from Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), 21-year-old Hayley works in the dress fabric department at Spotlight in Queanbeyan while she saves to move to Melbourne and pursue the dream of building ...

Solving the world’s problems...and quilting too!

For 25 years the Hunters Hill Quilters in New South Wales have been raising money for worthwhile charities while enjoying the creativity and friendship that comes when you get 70 quilting devotees together. Redkite, a group supporting children, young people and their families affected by childhood cancer and Cansupport, a ...

Grandma to an entire craft club!

Recently we received a letter from a deputy principal at a school in Brisbane who thought she had a ‘creative superhero’ in her midst. Jackie Welsh, from Sunnybank State School, said 70-year-old cancer survivor, June Hallahan, came to the school every week (a one hour round trip) to teach girls ...

Shop & sew at Thread Den

Public sewing lounges. Long term readers of the 'get creative' magazine might remember the story of the Stitch Lounge in San Francisco, USA, that we reported on. Hailed as one of the first combined retail and sewing spaces, the business has now closed (though it retains an online presence) but ...

What the heck is a craft challenge?

Even the most avid crafters, the most enthusiastic quilt club friends or passionate guild members need a little creative shake-up occasionally. Craft challenges, the phenomenon currently sweeping both online and in-the-flesh creative communities, can be a solution. Devised to test everything from creativity to speed, fundraising abilities to personal boundaries, ...

Bag Ladies - handmade bags

The craze for handmade bags has been growing over the last 10 years but the calibre, variety and creative nature of bags in the marketplace now is nothing less than marvellous. Throughout the world people from various craft fields are applying their skills to this popular product, selling via shops ...

Christmas quilts in Kansas

US quilters come to the aid of children in foster care. In yet another example of crafters helping out those around them who are in need, quilters in Kansas are working on a special Christmas project to provide quilts for children in foster care and for those awaiting ...

Fat Quarters in Pink tribute exhibition

A Melbourne retail gallery called Lumina Fibre Arts Gallery has taken the cause of fundraising for breast cancer research to new heights by dedicating the entire month of October to a tribute exhibition called Fat Quarters in Pink. Owner of Lumina, Suzanne Vial, is rallying the patchworking and quilting troops ...

Designing our world

In recent years it has become clear that the worlds of paper and scrapbooking, fabric and even wallpaper design are morphing together and greatly influencing our lives and the lives of the artists who create them. This month we meet some of the creative women whose job it is to ...

Bustles, bows & fundraising

How an embroidery store is helping children at risk. The Mirabel Foundation was established in 1998 to assist children whose parents have drug addictions and who, therefore, find themselves orphaned or abandoned and living with extended family. Every second year the Victorian embroidery Mecca, Bustle and Bows (in Surrey Hills), ...

Meet a scrappy fundraiser

Amanda Gilchrist’s love of scrapbooking combines perfectly with her commitment to research into a cure for Muscular Dystrophy. Amanda Gilchrist became involved with Muscular Dystrophy (MD) NSW when her closest friend was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 28. “It was hard for everyone to deal with as ...

3D textile art - Art you can grab hold of

International magazine contents, new books on the market, work on display at local galleries or on sale at various shows and stores all indicate that three dimensional textile work is growing in popularity. Textile art, as a segment itself, is a constantly moving feast but many of its players struggle ...

Memory Art - Where life is your muse

Memory art is a term that has been used in recent terms to describe a new wave of creative work being produced by people whose original scrapbooking forays have evolved, now, into works of creative wonder. Three leading women in the field - Carol Wingert, Helen Bradley and Nic Howard ...

Where quilt police fear to tread

Seeing the women behind Bathing Belles, the seabreeze Quilters’ delightful, semi-autobiographical work-in-progress, try to stop giggling long enough for a group photograph to be taken is a bit like watching school girls, bursting with stories & secrets, trying to keep quiet during class. Community quilting groups like Seabreeze, which meets ...

Sister Sheila Flynn - Keeping five stitches ahead

At the 2008 Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) one of the most striking exhibitions did not come from Australian quilters. Instead, it came from embroiderers working in South Africa as part of the Kopanang Project. In an environment wracked with poverty and HIV/AIDS, this ancient craft is proving a financial and ...

Max Walters

Max Walters is a creative explosion. Stationed at Spotlight’s new South Melbourne store, he is an inspiration to all he meets and, after only months living in the city, has already forged friendships and working relationships with creative groups in the local community. Max sees purple as his “royal colour” ...

Non judgemental knitters - knitting for Brisbane’s needy

A chance introduction with a pastor at a local church led Queensland woman, Karen Croke, to begin knitting for the homeless and underprivileged in Brisbane. Two years later 164 members have joined her cause and all of them are learning valuable lessons along the way. “I can knit, I learned ...

Projects

Breast cancer doll

Inspired by Lumina’s Fat Quarters in Pink Tribute Exhibition, we’ve dressed dolly too.

Freestyle Quilt

Quilt idea by Hayley Wandelt-Smith from the Queanbeyan (NSW) Spotlight store.

Your Inspiration Room