This Little Piggy Block #9

Posted on October 11, 2019 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

Hey y’all, guess what? it’s Friday and it’s time for the next instalment in our This Little Piggy block-of-the-month! You can find all of the blocks, including Block #9 here.

Can you believe that we only have one month to go and then we’re finished our little piggy adventure? I hope you’ve enjoyed stitching along with me. I’ll have to get my skates on and come up with an idea for next year’s block-of-the-month. Feel free to message me with your suggestions!

To celebrate my birthday all PDF patterns are 50% off in our Etsy and web stores this weekend. The price is automatically adjusted in our Etsy store but you will need to use the coupon code HAPPYBIRTHDAY in our webstore.

The winner of last month’s Thermoweb giveaway is Danni C. Your prize will soon be on it’s way Danni! I’ve been a little slow getting the prizes away this month, apologies for the delays everyone xx

Enter this month’s Thermoweb giveaway by commenting and telling us your favourite holiday season.

The gnome quilt is almost done. A few more tweaks and it will be ready for photographing etc. Ughhh, photographs are the worst part of the whole pattern writing job description. It makes me sooo frustrated and cranky LoL.

I hope you have a lovely weekend everyone. We’re hoping for some rain tonight and tomorrow. It will be a great relief to fill the water tanks and have the gardens and surrounding bushland watered. It’s been so very dry (drought) this year (or two). Take care, toni xx

Clearance Sale! our Little Mermaid pins are 50% off this weekend in our Etsy store!

Friday Faves!

Posted on June 28, 2019 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

Hey lovely quilters, happy Friday to you all! How has your week been? Mine has flown by again, leaving me wishing everything would slow down a little. I’m dreaming of beach holidays, warm sunshine, sandy feet, and icy cold pina coladas!

To celebrate Summer in the Northern Hemisphere our Friday Favourites are the Fishy Fishy Fishy, Little Mermaids, Spring Fling, and Denim & Daisies patterns. We’ve also taken 20% off our Little Mermaid pins.

You can find the patterns and pins in our Etsy store and our independent web-store. The Denim & Daisies quilt pattern is a foundation pieced pattern.

Denim & Daisies

I’m devastated to report that my brain still isn’t functioning as it should. Trauma’s a b*tch. The desire to work is there, I’m designing like crazy and have several dozen projects in the queue, but I can’t untangle my brain enough to convert them to fabric. The weirdest part is I have total clarity when it comes to writing the patterns and doing the math. Go figure.

I’m getting help for my brain tangle, I’ll be back to being me soon I hope. In the meantime a huge sincere thanks to everyone for your kindness.

Take care everyone and have a fantastic weekend, toni xx

Friday’s News.

Posted on November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

Hello lovely people, it’s Friday again and I have a few things to tell you this week.

First up, it’s $4 Friday and the following patterns are on special in the Etsy and Red Boots stores. $4 for the PDF and $11.50 for the printed pattern which includes postage. This weeks specials are The Kennel Club, Catnip, Santa’s House, and Scrappy Snowmen.

We’ve put our enamel and acrylic pins on clearance sale. They can only be purchased from our Etsy store. Grab a bargain for Christmas. Keep in mind shipping times for this time of the year.

EDIT: The fabric has been given a new home. Thanks everyone. xx I have three garbage bags full of mostly ‘country coloured’ quilt fabric to give away to someone here in Brisbane. First person to message me can have the fabric. No postage available, you must be local.

Keep in mind I have cats and there will be cat fur. I will arrange to deliver the fabric to your house or work, pickup not available due to neighbourly reasons.

I also have somewhere between 30-50 ‘mug rug size’ pieces of wadding if anyone local wants them. Most are a poly-cotton blend.

fabric I’ve been having a massive clean up and clear out this week. I’ve been ruthless and my scrap bins have been emptied.

rubbish bin Unfortunately there won’t be many or any new projects for the rest of 2018. After weeks of pain I’ve been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the pelvis. Sitting, standing, and even sleeping for too long in one position is painful and distressing. I’m worried sick about not being able to work as much as I need to – being self-employed is the pits sometimes. dog quilt I’m hoping that I’ll be healed in a few weeks (ha ha!) – in time for the start of the New Year. I had so many plans for Red Boots this year but so much has happened and some days I feel like I’ve been kicked and punched all the way back to the starting line.

I’m feeling positive that I can carry Red Boots into 2019 and keep producing quilts that make you smile. I have a few ideas to work on in the meantime. Ultimately I’d like to be able to attend one of the quilt markets in the US next year. Wouldn’t Houston be great!? I’d like to find someone to share a booth with so we could help each other etc.

In the meantime I’ll continue to watch Dave our local scrub turkey make a nesting mound in one of my gardens. He’s hilarious, flinging compost, branches, and plants left, right and centre. I love our local wildlife even if they are destructive and messy!

Take care, have a lovely weekend, toni xx

Friday Stuff.

Posted on July 6, 2018 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

Hi lovelies, how has your week been? It’s been a fairly unproductive week for Red Boots, but I’ve had some much needed personal down time and I’m starting to feel a whole lot better.

Our new business cards arrived this week and they look great. I’ve decided to also use them as backing cards for our pins. The photos aren’t great – why can’t I work out how to use this new camera!?? – but you get the idea.

We had a visitor to our backyard this week. This guy is a Pacific Baza or crested hawk. Isn’t he (or maybe he’s a she?) beautiful. Kelly snapped the photos. These guys used to visit a lot but they’ve been a bit scarce lately.

Amazon dot com has a few copies of Happy Quilts back in stock if you are chasing a copy. There are supposed to be more on the way but they have been slow showing up. I’m not sure how close we are to the end of the print run.

This months giveaway will include a reusable cup from the lovelies at KeepCup plus a pack of HeatnBond Lite and a pack of HeatnBond Fusible Interfacing from the fabulous folk at Thermoweb. You can find the details on how to enter on our giveaway page (in the menu). We have a cupboard full of KeepCups, most coffee shops accept them, and it takes all those one-use plastic cups out of the environment (no sponsorship, I pay for most of these prizes myself).

That’s about it from me tonight. I’m hoping to get some sewing done this weekend, in between dividing and re-potting the Zygocactus and close on 50 succulents that is! Have a fabulous weekend y’all, toni xx

Friday on my mind.

Posted on March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

Hi y’all,

What a crazy couple of weeks it’s been in the Alexander household. The roof and skylight have been repaired. The poor guy who fixed it had a brace on his leg, I don’t know how he was climbing up and down ladders, and scuttling all over our double-height roof (without a harness)!

You mustn’t think we live a life of woe, we absolutely don’t. I write about the crazy things that happen to us because otherwise this blog would be mundane. I could tell you that I spent seven hours today sitting on a computer doing paperwork and drawing diagrams, or I could tell you about the risotto I had stuck in my belly button (true story from tonight’s dinner). So please laugh with us, life is a crazy road trip full of laughter and tears.

remzoar small

My leg is healing nicely. Did you know Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world? I grew up in tropical North Queensland and spent a large part of my childhood on a beach or a boat. When I was a kid adults would plaster you with oil so you would get a sunburn/suntan; it was thought to be healthy. I remember my GP getting me to sit in the sun everyday to help combat teenage acne. Of course I’m paying the price for those years in the sun with inevitable skin cancers.

pugs 1

Remy-the-Lion is babysitting the pug quilt. He’s quite determined never to get off it. The lovely Fiona is very busy right now, but I’m in the quilting queue. If I can get a good piccy this weekend (without the quilting) I’ll get the pattern up early for you.

It’s been a week of paperwork and putting together wholesale orders. I don’t think I’ve been near the sewing machine – much to my distress. I have a list as long as my arm of quilts I want to make but time is my enemy. I need to go fabric shopping this weekend, my scrap bins are overflowing but I’ve run out of bigger pieces that I can use for background fabrics.

The sample sale has been postponed for a week or so, I do apologise for the hassle. I wasn’t expecting the week that was. I’ll be in touch with everyone who contacted me sometime in the next few days.

Etsy is having a big sale promotion this week and I’ve decided to join in. We are offering 20% off everything in store (except Henry). Pop on over and grab yourself a bargain or two.

I picked up three vintage wool blankets on Etsy this week. The price for new ones was horrendous, upwards of $250 each and the available colours were so blech. The three I bought are excellent brands, in perfect condition, and cost under $150 for the three. Bargain!

I’ll leave you tonight with this gorgeous quilt that Cherie H. made for Liz. It’s adapted from the Cuddle Bears pattern in the Happy Quilts book. Isn’t it absolutely stunning. I love this so much. Thanks Cherie and Liz for sharing it with us.

bears liz and cheri Have a wonderful weekend everyone, toni xx

Five Dollar Friday!

Posted on November 10, 2017November 10, 2017 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

UPDATE: The kids ordered pizza for dinner so I had time to make an Etsy listing for the printed patterns. TEN DOLLAR FRIDAY for printed patterns is here! FREE postage worldwide. Find them here on Etsy – use the drop down menu under the price to select the patterns.

Hiya lovelies, it’s Friday again and these are our Five Dollar Friday PDF patterns for this week.

Santa’s House 2, Reindeer Games, and Flamingo Dance are all Aud $5 each (plus any local taxes payable) until Monday.

If you prefer printed patterns (posted to your mailing address) please scroll to the bottom of the page for details. The three printed patterns are on special for Aud$10 including free postage!

The last of the Henry pins are on special this week too. You can grab a Henry Jones Jr. enamel moose pin for the amazing price of $7.50 which includes FREE shipping worldwide.

It has been another super busy week and I’ve barely had the time to look at the sewing machine much less get anything done. I’ve spent all week, an amazing amount of time actually, putting together sample pattern packs for retailers, posting prizes, and formatting the new patterns to fit six double sided pages.

Why six? I have to keep paper patterns under 50 grams otherwise the postage price almost triples. A pattern that weighs under 50g costs $2.95 to post o/seas, a pattern that weighs 51g+ costs $8!

Frosty’s Christmas Quilt Pattern

Can you believe Christmas is only six weeks away? Scary stuff isn’t it. I bought a Christmas tree this year. It’s in a box on the lounge room floor. It’s been there for three weeks and the cats think it’s a new piece of furniture LOL. I keep looking at it, willing myself to put it up. Christmas is a time of intense grief and loss for me and I struggle with it. This year I’m determined to turn that around. Little steps…

cawfee

I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to those of you who have ‘bought me a coffee’ using the App in the sidebar. I was made aware of the App by another quilter/artist who encouraged me to put it on the freebie page of the website. I don’t make a great deal of money, certainly not a wage at this point, so I’m immensely grateful for your generosity. Thank you.

Well, it’s back to the grindstone for me. There’s dinner to be thought about, coffee to be drunk, and fabric to be cut up into little pieces and put together again. Quilts to be made!

Have a lovely weekend everyone, toni xx

FIVE DOLLAR FRIDAY PRINTED PATTERNS

* Free postage worldwide included in the price. I’m not sure whether this Paypal payment system will allow you to purchase multiple patterns at one time, my apologies if it doesn’t. toni xx

Santa’s House 2 Quilt Pattern

* Free postage worldwide * Approx. size is 60 1/2in x 64 1/2in. * All templates are full size.

A$10.00

Reindeer Games Quilt Pattern

* Free postage worldwide * Approx. size is 47 1/2in x 47 1/2in. * All templates are full size.

A$10.00

Flamingo Dance Quilt Pattern

* Free postage worldwide. * Approx. size is 53 1/2in x 74 1/2in. * All templates are full size.

A$10.00

Henry is not a Mermaid.

Posted on June 1, 2017 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

He’s a nerdy Moose and he’s in our Etsy store tonight. Henry the Moose is a hard enamel pin.

– Approx. length – 3 cm (1 inch) and width – 2.5cm
– Metal + enamel pin – Gunmetal metal detailing.
– Smooth shiny surface.
– Glitter antlers and suspenders.
– Henry has a butterfly clasp.

A Mermaid’s Tale is in our Etsy store tonight too for the special introductory price (PDF) of $5. I’m sorry about the terrible photograph, it’s much nicer in real life. I’ll take more photos when the plumbers and electricians have finished in the house.

Remember the hot water system blow-out? Well it’s caused some major issues, and we are replacing the plumbing and some wiring throughout the whole house. The disruption and mess is huge and I think I may actually faint at the bill :oP

The house is almost 60 years old, so it had to be done eventually. The catastrophic failure just happened sooner than we had hoped LOL.

Have a great weekend everyone, toni xx

Ps. The free dollhouse quilt will be available this weekend too.

Just keep swimming…

Posted on May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

with the mermaids.

That title could apply to us too. Our hot water system dumped 315 litres of hot water all over the laundry floor yesterday… eeeek! $3000 later…

mmaid hair Henry has finally arrived! All orders and prizes will be sent out tomorrow. Henry will be in the Etsy store this weekend. Hopefully the mermaid pattern will be too, but no promises. xx

henry

Henry.

Posted on May 10, 2017May 10, 2017 by The Red Boot Quilt Co.

I know I’m supposed to be taking a break but Henry is on his way and I’ve been waiting so long to see how he turned out.

This photo isn’t the best, there’s a better video of him on the Red Boots Facebook page that I can’t upload to here. He’s a limited edition enamel pin that I had made in the UK. Henry is super gorgeous and will be available in our Etsy store in a couple of weeks. A big thank you to Jess, who has been the best xx.

henry

Henry will also be the Birthday Club giveaway gift for the next couple of months. I will no longer being giving away store vouchers. There is too much disparity between currencies at the moment and it’s creating problems.

I will be making more enamel pins in the future, especially the happy peeps that are in my banner, maybe even a mermaid and flamingo?