Hey lovely people, block #3 of the Therm O Web “This Little Piggy” BOM is now on the website here. I’ve also uploaded a future schedule of release for your convenience.
Leave a comment telling me what your FAVOURITE MOVIE is to go in the running to win a bundle of Therm O Web products! Ps. the movie does not need to have pigs in it LOL. Congratulations to Christine Mac. who won last month’s giveaway!
I hope you have a fantastic weekend everyone, toni xx
I’m in a black cat, soot sprite, kind of mood today. xx
Happy hibiscus Monday lovely people. I took a mental health break this morning and took my coffee for a wander along Southbank and through the gardens. Note to self – plant some of these pink hibiscus in the garden. xx
Hey lovelies, the panda pattern is in the Etsy store for $4 for the PDF this week. I’ll update the Red Boots website tomorrow. Hope you’ve had a lovely weekend, toni xx
Hey lovelies, how are you this sunny and somewhat hot Wednesday afternoon? Let’s talk quilts, specifically Red Boot Quilts.
I’ve been feeling completely miserable when it comes to Red Boots recently. It’s been very much touch and go whether to keep trading or not. There are a number of reasons but it’s mostly behind the scenes industry pressures.
This morning I was scrolling through Instagram and saw this on one of my favourite artist’s accounts and it really resonated with me.
Art by Lisa Congdon on Instagram – @lisacongdon
This. This is going to be my 2019. Permission to be me and not conform to other’s expectations and demands. Most importantly this simple sentiment has given me the urge to get designing and sewing again – something that I didn’t think would happen anytime soon.
Today has been the first day since before Christmas that I’ve sat down and enjoyed, and felt joy, with what I was doing.
Moving forward into 2019 some things will be a little different with Red Boots. I’m considering not supplying patterns wholesale anymore. I won’t make a final decision until the end of the Australian financial year which is 30 June. The wholesale side of the business has been declining due to high postage and printing costs in Australia, and I haven’t been able to secure a US distributor at this point.
I’m also setting up a new pricing structure. It’s slowly being rolled out in the Etsy store, the website will follow shortly. PDF patterns are being sorted into $2, $4, and $7.50 categories. Printed patterns will remain at $14.50 with free postage.
I’ve decided to put most of the free patterns into the $2 category. With the changes to social media and Craftsy I no longer have a platform where I can offer the patterns for free, reach a large audience, and not have to pay site fees or advertising.
Pricing the patterns at $2 each will help pay the website, processing, and advertising fees required to keep the business running. The patterns will all be updated with better instructions, coloured diagrams, and coloured templates to compensate. They will also be available as printed patterns for those of you who prefer to buy their patterns that way.
Oh, one more thing. I am a terrible photographer. Cameras defeat me. Completely and utterly. Whilst I will continue to make the quilts, I may use a professionally drawn image for the pattern cover instead of a photograph. This won’t affect the patterns but it will take an enormous amount of stress off my shoulders with the added bonus that I very much enjoy the process of drawing the quilts. A lot of other designers use this method too so I’m not the first LOL.
Anyway, happy Wednesday to you all and thank you. Happy quilting too. toni xx
Hey y’all, it’s Day 13 and Day 14 in advance LOL!
Our special tonight is 50% off all PDF patterns in our Etsy store only. These prices don’t include local taxes.
This special will last 48 hours only. toni xx
Hey y’all, Etsy is running it’s Black Friday sales this week. From today until the 26th, everything is 20% off in our Etsy store. Stock up for Christmas! xx
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.
I’ve been having a massive clean up and clear out this week. I’ve been ruthless and my scrap bins have been emptied.
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.
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
Rem has been a total pain in the kitty butt this week. Every time I’ve sat down to sew or draw he’s plonked his furry toosh right in the middle of everything and has refused to move. 
I managed to get some sneaky work done tonight. He’s just found me though and looks so offended that I stitched without him LOL.
I sew eyes on my critters the minute I stitch around the applique shapes. It’s a nuisance when they are being quilted but I need to do it. It gives them life and personality, and that’s important to me when I’m creating something.
Are you doing anything special this weekend? Wrangling your own kitties? Have fun and happy quilting, toni xx
Hi y’all, someone seems to be swiping left on my life at the moment. One minute it’s Friday and the next… it’s Friday! I picture a celestial being sitting on a cloud swiping left on their iPhone… zooom! and another week’s gone for Toni.
I did achieve some quality sewing time this week and the Tutti Fruity Pandas are almost finished. 
Sometime in the past hour I totally forgot how to do math and I’ve botched the last border. I have a date with my un-picker tomorrow, but luckily it’s an easy fix.
A marathon quilting and writing session this weekend should see it ready for the Etsy shop sometime in the next couple of days.
I’m hoping to spend some quality time with our fern, succulent, and cactus nursery this weekend too. We’ve got a couple of hundred plants happily growing at the moment. I have no idea what we are going to do with them all, I just like growing things LOL.
Anyway lovely people, I’m going to make a midnight cuppa, chill out a little, then try and get some sleep. Have a fun weekend, toni xx
Happy Quilts is back in stock in most stores!
