Stitchin’ Heaven Howdy

Hello, thank you for inviting me to be a guest writer here on Stitchin’ Heaven.

Ok, so where should I start??

My patchwork interest started after the birth of my first son, David in 1981, baby David may have looked sweet and angelic but he sure could wreak my fancy knitting in a moment! I decided I needed a hobby that was very portable and easy to pick up and put down so I took a night class and made a traditional sampler quilt which I thoroughly enjoyed stitching entirely by hand, I was totally hooked!

By now I was the mother of two gorgeous boys and in 1984 my family moved to the Channel Islands, UK. I started teaching from home as there was no quilt store on the island, we had to get all our supplies mail order and there was no internet to make our shopping easy, we had to trust the wonderful lady at the quilt store on the mainland to send us things we would like. I was also able to sell some of my handmade pillows and small quilts at the local craft centre. I organized the making of several quilts for charity with the help of all the wonderful ladies in my classes.

Now the proud mother of three sons, I moved to Australia in 1990 and in 1995 I started designing and producing my own patterns under the label Lynette Anderson for The Patchwork Angel, the name angel was chosen as my Dad always called my brother and I his angels! I am very fortunate as my patterns were popular immediately; some of those early patterns are as popular today as they have ever been.

In 1997 with the help of my Mum, Ruth we opened a quilt store, The Patchwork Angel in an old church, on Queenslands Sunshine Coast. Many people would be forgiven for thinking that the trading name was chosen because of the old church that now housed the quilt store but in fact that name had been chosen two years prior when I released my first patterns.

After almost ten wonderful, busy years I decided it was time to focus full time on my designing and I sold The Patchwork Angel.

These days I live by the beach and I am very lucky as all four of my boys and my parents live here on Queenslands Sunshine Coast, so we get to spend lots of time together.

The inspiration for my designs comes from everyday life, whether it’s a memory from my childhood, where I grew up in a small country village in Dorset, England or from something that’s occurring in my life today. My newest block of the month quilt, ‘A Kittens Tale’ was inspired by our dog Hugo and Felix an unweaned, tiny, fluffy kitten who was found in a tree at the end of our street. Hugo and Felix took to each other straight away and are totally inseparable, whether they are bug hunting, sharing a bowl of food, playing in the garden, helping me put the binding on a quilt or just sleeping snuggled together.

Give me a pencil and paper and I am one happy girl, of course that then leads to needing fabrics, needle and threads! The end result could be a simple design for a pillow or …….. something bigger.

Besides patterns and books I also produce handpainted wooden buttons, you will find these adorning and enhancing several of my designs. The buttons are created by Leanne a friend of mine, she works from my drawings and then paints them in a style that suits my work, I just love them and I hope you do too.

This year I have had the extra excitement of working with Henry Glass &Co producing two fabric lines. It has been a wonderful experience, from posting off my little paintings to seeing how their design team interpreted them and now I am trying to be patient waiting to see the fabric! The team at Henry Glass have made me feel so welcome and although I am a bit bias I think you will love the fabrics.

I love coming to the US and have just had the most wonderful time at Quilt market, catching up with old friends and making new ones. Thank you to everyone who once again who made me feel very welcome.

You can visit me on my blog www.lynetteandersondesigns.typepad.com, don’t forget to say hello.

Talk soon,

Don’t forget, all comments during the month of April will be entered into the drawing for this adorable Scottie Dog Quilt! Keep those wonderful comments coming!