Just a quick post to say how disappointed I feel about Silkweaver’s announcement that they won’t be selling plain fabrics etc any longer, but will just be selling hand-dyeds … Normally it wouldn’t worry me so much, but I had almost completed my ‘mental’ order of fabrics that I wanted to buy using Jenna’s birthday gift certificate, and they were all plain/opalescent fabrics for upcoming projects. When Country Stitch did this recently, Linda had her stock of plain fabrics at discounted prices, so you still had chance to try and get the fabrics that you needed – I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a lot of them, but you at least had a chance to quickly contact her to see what she was still holding in stock. Silkweaver have just sent an email saying that’s it, no longer available for sale 😦 I’m sure I can find some lovely hand-dyed fabbies to spend my voucher on, but I just feel a bit disappointed in the whole thing {{pouting}}. A lot of the local suppliers down under just don’t have the same range, and I can understand the business reason behind it (Linda and I discussed this at length over a few emails, and I don’t blame her for not stocking plain fabrics anymore). Thank goodness I still have Karen at Dragonfly Dreams – but geez I wish you were in my home town, as you have the best selection down under of everything!
I still can’t believe what we pay at my LNS for threads etc … to give you an example, that quite frankly shocked me senseless, and I’m tempted not to set foot in it again without taking smelling salts to help with the shock of the bill! I really, really wanted to use the right threads (well, as much as possible, anyway) for my recent Christmas ornies – but there were a few colours I didn’t have in GAST … so I called into my LNS on the way home from work, as it’s only a 5-minute detour from my route home – they had the main 3 colours I really needed, so I trotted up to the counter with them. To be honest, I expected them to be expensive, but not nearly as much as they were – I ended up paying $16.50 for 3 skeins – that’s $5.50 each skein!!! Bl**dy hell, my brain kept thinking all the way home – I was in shock! I know you have to have mark-ups on your products, and I know us down under have to pay for the shipping/customs charges in the long run, but I don’t understand that sort of mark-up whatsoever! Unfortunately for them, in the future if I’m buying locally, Dragonfly Dreams will be getting all my local business – at $3.50 a skein for GAST, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out why … aside from that, Karen’s service is exceptional and very personalised! (and I would have said that, even if I didn’t know you were reading my blog now, Karen! LOL) Once I get back to being confirmed as a shift worker again, I’ll be getting an order in, that’s for sure! I really needed some fabrics for some upcoming Christmas ornaments, but perhaps I just need to have a hunt through my stash and become a bit creative, or just choose a different ornament to stitch in the meantime … Geez, I’m a bit of a grizzle-guts at the moment LOL.
BUT on a much brighter note, I have to say I had a wonderful surprise in my PO Box on Wednesday, but haven’t had chance to acknowledge it online on the computer at all … my apologies for the delay in making an official acknowledgement! I had a wonderful belated birthday prezzie from my sweet angel, Tobie – thank you so much, Tobie, it was a wonderful surprise and a wonderful gift, from a wonderful friend 🙂 Thanks heaps and HEAPS!! It had a wonderful chart from my wishlist – Sun needleroll by M Designs, and a gorgeous skein of blue Anchor pearl cotton with a metallic thread through it …. it’s just gorgeous! But wait … there’s more! … there’s also a
packet of my absolute favourite needles – some #26 Piecemakers, and a packet of 14ct aida, which is absolutely perfect for my charity quilt blocks – and you’ll never believe it, but I’ve just been thinking I was going to have to buy some more ‘cos I was short of fabric for one block I’ve committed myself to stitching – talk about perfect timing!! Wow, Tobie, I was well and truly spoilt rotten!! Thank you, thank you, thank you my dear friend! :)))
During my last bit of stitching, I managed to finally watch the last DVD’s I got sent by Homescreen (they’ve only been sitting there for 2 weeks!) … and they were all dreadful – “Breaking in” with Burt Reynolds; “The Brush-Off” – an Aussie movie, and semi-watchable; and the worst one of all “The Good Girl” with Jennifer Aniston – what a load of rubbish!!! Let’s hope the 3 movies heading out my way this week are a bit better … “The Program”, “Boat Trip” and “Memories of Me” … ‘cos the ones I’ve been choosing lately have been appallingly bad! Maybe I should just start closing my eyes and pointing my mouse at the screen, and selecting whatever it falls on, ‘cos that would have to be better than the drivel I’ve been choosing myself!! On the latest stitching front, I managed to get about two more inches stitched on Marine Elegance, so I’m just around the bottom point and heading back up to the top … don’t think I’ll attempt any more today though LOL.
And unfortunately that’s all I have time for today – I’m absolutely exhausted … it’s only 4.10pm and I can hardly keep my eyes open … only managed to get about 5 hours sleep last night ‘cos I was up all night chatting, which is not very clever on a 6am shift LOL. Tonight Rox is out to dinner, leaving me and Fraze on our own, so hopefully I can get an early night to make up for it … but I’m seriously thinking of having a kip right about now … But hopefully Fraze will get home early enough for us to go for a beach walk for an hour before dinner – that should tire me out even more LOL. Tomorrow night I’m off to dinner with Rox on our own, to have a proper catch-up and girlie night out … it’s been so wonderful to see her – I still can’t really believe she’s here in this country!!! 😀
Feather Stitching 
Yes, I’m disappointed about Silkweaver too. They’ve stopped selling Lakeside Linens, as of yesterday (again, no notice!) – Lakeside is my fabric of choice and they were the only place I know of that sells fat 1/8th as well as the larger pieces. I did get the impression that they were putting any discountinued stock up on their Odds and Ends page for the next few days, so you might want to make sure you’re signed up for mailings 🙂
You might want to try Sew and So in the UK for plaing fabrics as well – their smallest cut is a fat 1/4 but prices are reasonable, you won’t pay VAT and their service is generally excellent.
Oooops, meant to say, your gifts from Tobie are lovely, she’s such a sweetie! 🙂
Lovely gifts from Tobie – she is a sweetie.
Are there any particular GAST colors you are looking for Anne? Sometimes I run into deals when I least expect them. E-mail me and let me know if there is anything special you are looking for. tadten@msn.com
I share your dissapointment about Silkweaver AND what us Aussie’s have to pay for some stitching delights. You really need to shop around when buying things here. (sigh)
I also love Dragonfly Dreams. Great choice, easy shopping and wonderful service. Have also bought from The Crewel Gobelin. Great prices. Yummy things to choose from (imho).
~Dot (Vic, Australia)
Those gifts are all awesome!
I know what you mean about disgusting prices. It’s exactly the same in France: the prices are 2 to 3 times as high as those in the US or the UK. 😦 I hope you manage to find another good source for your plain linens.
I’m in the same boat as you with plain fabrics. Most of these aren’t even available locally and not even in Reykjavík. So I must order from abroad if I want linens and evenweaves. And the prices are horrific. Just plain crazy, that’s how expensive the fabrics and flosses are here.
Lovely gifts from Tobie 🙂 Very thoughtful.
And one last comment, I can’t believe you didn’t like The Good Girl.. I really liked it when I saw it a couple of years ago. But then again, I’m a hopeless Jake Gyllenhaal fan so that did factor into my liking the film so much 🙂 Still I did enjoy it over all.. Well, if everyone had the same tastes the world would be a dull place 😀
I share your disapointment about Silkweaver…
You received some lovely gifts from Tobie :o)
I’m so much behind with reading your posts….but I saw some wonderful finishes the other day. I hope to find some time tomorrow and have a closer look on your last posts 🙂 I really missed reading blogs the last days but I spent every spare minute in stitching MTM…..
I’m a big fan of Dragonfly dreams too. Karen’s service has always been excellent. I guess she should brace herself for more fabby orders from us Aussies!!
What a lovely package to recieve from your friend too.
I so enjoy your blog. The prices are so much higher there I will not complain about US prices again!!! I love your Pacific Pohutukawa. Can you tell me who the designer is please?
Mary in Tennessee
neonfrostjaxin@hotmail.com
I saw the news about Silkweaver today as well…hopefully you can still order what you wanted 🙂
I have been ordering most of my fabrics lately from a site that is one of the few that I have found will do (or at least advertises that they do!) custom cuts. The prices are reasonable, I think, and it saves me a lot of chasing around!
If you ever need threads, whatever, let me know! Not sure what postage is from the US to Australia, but it can’t take too many skeins to make up the difference between what your local shops are charging and the actual cost of postage.
I was going to suggest Sew and So to you, but I see Karen beat me to it! I haven’t used them, but a few people have and say they’re good.
I’m very disappointed about Silkweaver too – my FOTM was almost all standard fabrics and Lakeside Linens. I may be looking into Dragonfly Dreams now 🙂
I think I’ll go with your Dragonfly Dreams recommendation Anne – I’m sad about Silkweavers too 😦
Hope your enjoying your sweet dreams right now!
I actually went to bed straight after tucking my kids in last night, so I can sympathize with feeling tired! Hope you got a good night’s sleep. That’s a lovely gift pack you received. And I’m also very disappointed in the Silkweaver changes. You can catch the discontinued stuff as it’s put on the Odds & Ends list, though.
It is a shame Silkweaver is having to cut back. But maybe after their move is complete and they’ve settled into the community, they’ll be able to increase their offerings again.
I haven’t done much online shopping. Years back I was on a couple of automatics with Tapestry of Dreams, and since they went out of business I just haven’t taken up with anyone else. Still in mourning I guess, lol!
I had no idea that Silkweaver was no longer selling regular fabrics–that is a shame as it was nice having somewhere to just get small cuts from!!! Your gifts are great–I love the needleroll! Also–love the PS Angel you stitched earlier–I think those are so cool! You always have lovely new finishes when I stop by!!
What a nice package from Tobie! Sorry to hear about the fabrics being cut back.