Craft Mailbox Newsletter - Do You Have Skeletons in Your Closet?!

Our latest catalogue is available .. Happy Browsing!.

Free Fabric Offer – April
Order over $100 of goods* from our website during April 08 quoting promotion code CMB003 and you will receive a collection of Kona Bay Oriental fabrics, valued at $21.95.
*Excludes Post and Handling. Quote code CMB003 when ordering by phone, or enter this promotion code on your website shopping cart.

New Elm Creek Novel
Fans of the Elm Creek Series will be happy to know we have the latest in the series ‘The Winding Ways Quilt’ by Jennifer Chiaverini.

New Fabric Releases:
Kitty Cucumber
Kona Bay Orientals
Lonni Rossi Orientals and Geisha Panels
Robert Kaufman Orientals
Wide Quilt Backs

Textile Art
Texture, dimension and embellishment is just so popular that we have added a whole new section for you to browse over, including new Shiva Paintstik collections along with rubbing plates.

New Tools
Graphite Pencil – great for quilting designs as it easily comes off with a damp cloth.

Mothers Day Reminder
Sunday 11 May is the great date this year, when we all look forward to a new vacuum cleaner or bottle of racy cologne! Combat these dodgy offerings with some pertinent prior planning. Mark our brochure with a very loud highlighter, or use our brilliant website feature; the Wishlist! Be obvious: discretion does not always work!

You Inspire Us
The Workbench has been cleared ready to face the challenge ahead…quilt completion - just like one of our customers who so excited us with her infectious enthusiasm, that we had to pass her tips on. This lovely lady bought a micro stitch tool (the gadget formerly known as micro tach tool), and immediately realised its potential. She cleared her workspace, emptied her closet of skeletons and started tacking everything that even looked like it needed basting! She rang for reinforcements – more tachs please, and most usefully, more basting grates to make into a bigger faster work surface!
She educated us in the art of micro taching, and we caught the bug.

Skeletal Remains…
It is time to get those skeletons (quilt tops) out of your cupboard, and finish them off once and for all! Let us help you make it a pleasurable experience with tricks and tips.

For starters, make basting your quilt easier by basting with quality Curved Safety Pins. Save your hands by using the Kwik Klip Tool to close and open the pins, and Quilters Delight Safety Pin Grip Covers make it easy to handle the pins and to see where the pins are!

We invite you to consider our customer’s recommended alternative to pinning; the aforementioned Micro Stitch Basting Kit. It works like a tagging gun, which inserts the tiniest swing tag through the quilt to baste it. Use black or white tags according to the fabric colour to have the tags stand out. (Refills are available). Make the job even quicker by using a Basting Grate to provide a stable platform under the quilt. It raises the material off the table surface so the tool needle is not impeded, (or the table scratched!). Use several interlocked together to make an easy work surface.

Not sure how to layer and baste a big quilt on a small table or how far apart to pin or secure your layers? Watch the Australian made DVD Machine Quilting Journey to learn how plus much more.

One of the largely ignored features of any quilt is the back! We now have in stock a new range of luscious backing fabrics in fantastic patterns and colours. Drab is banned! These beautiful fabrics are 110 inches (280cm) wide, so no joins are needed. Even better, you can quilt around the fabric prints to create terrific quilting designs. We have quilt backs in pre-cut Queen sized pieces (110 x 110 inches) to make the whole backing project simpler! If you would like a 5cm square sample of our backing fabrics, please email or call us.

Watch out for our next Newsletter covering: transferring quilt designs and quilt marking.

What’s On Sale
Our Bargain Box is brimming with great deals
40% off Stunning Swarovski Buttons
30% off selected Signature Threads 25% off Ribbons
25% off selected Notions
*Offer valid whilst stock lasts, sale applies to selected ranges only, be sure to mention this sale if ordering by phone

Happy Browsing,

From Sandra and the team at The Craft Mailbox.
Huge Range, Quality Products, Great Service

PS. We have just added a new field to our website so you can now search by your favourite author.

The Craft Mailbox will be appearing at the following craft shows in 2008:

17-20 Apr 2008, Townsville Craft & Quilt Fair, Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre, Stand B3

30 Apr-4 May 2008, Brisbane Stitches & Craft Show, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Stand 1704

21-25 May 2008, Perth Craft & Quilt Fair, Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, Stand B21