My name is Jo & I live in Melbourne, Australia. I have been quilt making on & off (more on this later) for nearly 35 years. I love both paper & machine piecing, & am passionate about quiltmaking with bold colour. 

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For many years now, I have tussled on & off with both anxiety & depression. You might note here the "on & off" theme. My mental health journey has definitely been interwoven with my quiltmaking journey. In fact, at the height of my depression (some 15 years ago), I sold off all of my quilting stash - every last scrap of fabric, my rulers, my rotary cutter... everything but my sewing machine. When my depression was "on", my quiltmaking was "off". I have since done a lot of learning, & now have a very hefty, very useful mental health toolkit, which includes quiltmaking. The repetition of gentle stitching is soothing & grounding. Playing with colourful, beautiful fabric lifts my mood & brings me great joy. Completing a quilt block, gluing paper pieces, or enclosing a quilt edge in binding gives me a sense of accomplishment - especially on the days when everyday tasks can feel effortful. 

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It was while I was working all but full time, in a pretty stressful job, that I first came up with my idea for Curated Fabric Packs. I was making Kim Mclean's "Carnival Hexagon" quilt (you can see it in the background of my picture), & would be driving home from work, thinking about what stitching I would be doing that evening, only to realise that I didn't have the fabric I needed. During the working week I didn't have time to get to a quilt shop, nor did I want to waste my weekend in traffic (when I could be sewing!). I found myself wishing that I could order a pre-selected bundle of small fabric pieces (perfect for fussy cutting), in a palette of what I needed (eg. all blues), that I could simply order, receive, & then break open & begin playing with...

 

For many of us, we're leading busy lives - with our families, with our paid work, with our unpaid work, with our lives. So, I hope to help with that. I simply want to make it easier for us all to be able to spend doing more of what makes our heart sing. More stitching, more designing, more cutting, more fabric play... Less time scouring the internet trying to find fabrics across various websites, & less time in traffic, traipsing across town to a quilt store that may or may not have want you need.

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With my Curated Fabric Packs, I begin with a statement feature fat quarter, then build a palette of around 16 co-ordinating fabrics that pair with it. Sometimes it is a palette of one colour, sometimes it is a palette that is predominantly from one designer. Sometimes it is a cacophony of colour, from a lot of different designers. 

 

My Curated Fabric Bundles are "same, same but different". They are all of the same sized pieces (fat eighth, fat quarter, half metre or even metre cuts!), but again they are carefully selected to work together - again, by colour, designer, etc.

 

Each & every pack that I create is:

• carefully curated & coordinated - each piece is thoughtfully selected

• convenient - simply choose what you want & I'll post it to you pronto!

• cost effective - no need to purchase minimum cuts, great for fussy cutting etc. 

• colourful  - did I say that I love bold colour?!

• & importantly, designer quality (Kaffe Fassett, Anna Maria Horner,  Tula Pink, Alison Glass, Jennifer Paganelli etc. - no chain store cheap & nasties!)

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And finally, my rule for what I sell is this - if I wouldn't buy, then I don't sell it. I have to love it to stock it - that way I can confidently offer you what I wholeheartedly believe is a quality product. I hope that my Curated Fabric Packs & Curated Fabric Bundles might help you to find a little more time for your stitching bliss. 

 

From These Clever Hands to yours,

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Jo  x