New Year, new me - new VIDEO me that is! I’ve promised myself I will do reels and YouTube videos in 2026, because that’s what those algorithm overlords demand of us these days. So I’m starting off with a walk through my books, beginning at the beginning- with my quilts from Material Obsession One. What should I call my Friday videos? If you’ve got an idea, drop it in the comments and you could win a copy of the pattern for my Dotty for Dresden quilt. The pattern is available in my Material Obsession One boo k, or as a printed or PDF single pattern , available at www.sarahfielke.com . There’s an acrylic template available too, to make those Dresden wedges easier! You can see my reels every Friday here on Insta or Facebook , or follow my YouTube channel to catch up with them all in one place. Next week, another MO quilt- but I’ll be throwing some little demos and other fun things into the mix along the way too. Make sure and follow me on Instagram @sfielke or subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss an installment. Happy Friday everyone! Sarah

​It’s January and that means I get to sew some things for myself. Often during the year I need a break from work sewing and start something off the grid- something that doesn’t have to have a pattern written for it afterwards, or that someone already wrote the pattern for and I can just follow along. It reminds me that sewing is my hobby and my passion as well as my job, which on some days I have forgotten slightly :) So I start things and then I have to get back to the work and they don't get done. My Tripping Out quilt (remember that?) is an absolute example of that - I'm about 1/3 done with it, and I will finish it, but work got in the way and I haven't had time to go back. This January I am absolutely determined to tick at least a few of these off my list. On Friday I finished this needlepoint Queen (pattern and kit from Emily Peacock), and I have the King here to do as well. I thought it would be fun to finish them backed flat with a loop, and hang them either side of our bed. At least halfway to that one! 18 months ago I started this quilt for my upstairs guest room. It's the Granny Patch quilt pattern by Lo and Behold Stitchery. The room has a Liberty cushion in it, and a deep green velvet armchair, and I wanted to add more Liberty and brights and linen. I currently have my Wing and a Prayer quilt on the bed in there but I'm not feeling the vibe 😎 I've had this completely cut out and ready to stitch for over a year, so it's time has most definitely come. Last week I had five blocks done, as of today I have 15 and I will make a block a day until it's finished. Here they are on the wall, it's kind of hard to photograph and get the colours to look right, so heres a block close up too. There is a strip of plain linen sashing that goes between each block, and a cornerstone of green, and then probably a green striped binding. I'll have it machine quilted, because I don't need it languishing to be finished any longer that it already has! I have some work on the go as well, obviously the Słodki blocks but also a Lexi Hoodie for a sew along I randomly and spontaneously decided to run when I saw this cutie at Australian Quilt Market in November. I'm making mine in a similar colour family as the original that Melly made, and it's looking super cute. I want to make at least one more before I start the sew along though, because I do wonder what would happen if - I used QuiltLite inside it instead of fusible fleece I made it in different sized squares, or in one whole piece of fabric with no piecing I made it without a hood, and just a round neck I made it and covered it in applique! I made it in dark navy with a hot pink star I hand quilted it And that right there is the problem with being me 🤣 There will be public blog posts for the sew along, but I'll do some insider Smites tips as we go too. It's designed by Melly and Me, an Aussie brand. I have the patterns for sale, so if you would like to play along with me just comment here with your email address and country for postage, or email it to me sarah@sarahfielke.com I am sold out of the patterns for now, but the wholesaler opens again on January 12, I have about 50 ordered and I can order more - and they will print, pack and ship them to me, and then I'll send them straight on to you. I won't start the first post of the sew along until I have shipped everyone's pattern. They're $28 AUS plus postage - they're not on the website though, I will send you an invoice to pay online. I can't honor the StitchyMites discount for this one sorry peeps, as it's someone else's pattern and I can't undercut her own pricing (by request) . The sizing of the pattern goes from XS to 6XL and Melly describes it as confident beginner level. I also have the fusible fleece she uses for the lining available if you need it. So that's what I'm up to, and wish me luck on my 2 x hoodie and Granny block quest peeps!! What are you stitching in your January? Sarah

​Hello Smitey peeps and Happy New Year! Well almost. As I write this there are about 12 hours and 14 minutes left of 2025, and don't let the door hit it on the way out. This year has been a bit of a dumpster fire in lots of ways for lots of people in lots of places.... lets hope that 2026 can get it's feet under itself a bit and at least steady the boat. Everybody touch the wood and say fingers crossed! I managed to hit my Goodreads challenge target this year, which I am feeling very smug about. As a kid and younger adult I was an absolutely ferocious reader, devouring at least a book a week and sometimes more. You would never have found me without a book at least in my bag if not my hand. Even after I had the boys I would be up late after they went to sleep to get my reading in. I don't know what made me slow down, but apparently it's a worldwide trend - the non reading of books in this age of digital everything is growing. So I committed to READING again a few years, ago, and I've brought my tally back up again nicely, if not to the levels they were previously then certainly on the way to them. And yes, I know that some of you will scream blue murder when I say this, but I mean READING A BOOK. Listening to a book to me does NOT count as reading it. There's a big difference between listening and reading. Both obviously have their advantages, and I do listen to audiobooks as well as podcasts, and I enjoy them. But I do not count the books I listened to as books that I read. Listening does not allow for the engagement that reading does. Listening is something that can be done passively. You can do it while you're doing something else, like being at the gym or vacuuming. And while that is an advantage in some ways, you lose the act of DOING that reading physically provides to your brain. I had a little google around to find what others had to say about this and found these interesting passages - The critical difference, for me, between reading and listening is that reading is something you do, where listening is something that happens to you. Reading is an act of engagement. The words on the page aren’t going to read themselves, which is something they literally do in an audiobook. If you’re not actively taking in written information, then you’re not going to make progress on the book. Audiobooks, on the other hand, make progress with or without your participation. You can tune out, your mind wandering around the subject at hand, and there will still be forward motion in the story. and this Your brain uses some of the same language and cognitive systems for both reading and listening, but it also performs different functions depending on how you’re taking in the information. When you read, your brain is working hard behind the scenes. It recognizes the shapes of letters, matches them to speech sounds, connects those sounds to meaning, then links those meanings across words, sentences and even whole books. The text uses visual structure such as punctuation marks, paragraph breaks or bolded words to guide understanding. You can go at your own speed. Now PLEASE do not think that I am in any way dissing those who exclusively listen to their books - personally I think that engaging with story or narrative in any way is an essential part of the human function. I'm simply telling you what I like and how I like to process my books - which brings me to an eReader. 'Coz I don't like those either. Yep, I have one, and when Im travelling I take it and I use it and it's all very convenient and light weight etc etc etc. But I am a lover of books, and by books I mean not just the words but the physical object. The cover art, the smell, the paper it's been printed on. Holding a book you loved in your hands when you finish it. Throwing a battered paperback into your beach bag. Using old birthday cards from your kids as a bookmark. Piles of things stacked up and waiting to be read. I realise that some of these things are the things people hate about physical books, but they're the things that make me collect books as well as just read them. Anyhoo, all that aside, here's what I read this year. If I start something, I finish it, so all these books I have read from page one to the end - none of this "oh I read 2/3 of it so let's call that finished" malarkey. I know lots of you like my reading recommendations so I hope you find some treasure here! Some are new releases and some are very much not. I set a Goodreads goal of 30, and read 33 books in 2025. I've ranked them by books 📕 - one being no thanks, two all right but wouldn't recommend, three being enjoyable beach read, four being this was great I loved it and five absolutely, drop whatever you are doing and read this immediately. 📕 Only one here, All Fours by Miranda July . Lots of very graphic and kinky sex (which doesn't in itself bother me but not this), a flimsy story line and a self indulgent and annoying main character. Not for me peeps. Ick. I did finish it though, good girl. 📕📕 King of Ashes by SA Cosby Yeah look, a bit of fun. Not well written, a pretty good story. Maybe two stars is unfair but I read far better crime books this year. This Dog Will Change Your Life by Elias Friedman I wanted to really love this book but I was bored by the time I was halfway through. Elias is a wonderful photographer and I love his Instagram account so so much (@thedogist - if you don't follow him and you love dogs then you should), but he's not a writer. Amity by Nathan Harris Ho hum. And this kind of thing is usually right up my alley but I didn't engage with the characters at all, and I didn't enjoy the writing style. I struggled to finish it. 📕📕📕 Clown Town by Mick Herron This is the latest Mick Herron offering and I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I usually do... there wasn't quite enough Slough House for me. If you don't know about Mick Herron may I recommend him to you as an absolutely joyous addition to your reading - start with the first Slough House book and work your way through. Or watch the two TV series of his books that are out at the moment - Slow Horses and Down Cemetery Road. Both excellent. The Sanitorium by Sarah Pearse Spooky old Sanitorium has been made into a hotel, and spooky things are happening in there, and people are dead and it's all v creepy. Lots of fun. Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson I have loved Ben's previous books but this one was a little flat to me - still a great read but lacking a little of the quirkiness that has made the previous ones so much fun. It's an unusual writing style that might take you a moment to get comfortable with. I would still recommend reading it, but start with his first book Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone as it's important to know the characters. They are all very funny and a little bit odd. The first book is being made into a Netflix series too which should be a good watch! The Empress Murders by Toby Schmitz Teetering on the edge between three and four books for me. It's another crime story but quite funny, and the ship that it takes place on is a character in the story too which is an interesting take. The Players by Minette Walters I enjoyed this, I love a good historical fiction. Its a bit slow in places but a nice sequel to her first book, The Swift and the Harrier, which I loved. 📕📕📕📕 Three Wild Dogs and the Truth by Marcus Zusak Beautiful story of dogs and family and love and tears and also Sydney, which was fun for me as many of the locations in which these things took place are very familiar to me. Lovely read. What Happened to Nina by Dervla McTiernan Excellent solid crime story, hard recommend. Joe Country by Mick Herron Slough House by Mick Herron Bad Actors by Mick Herron Let's do all three of them all together - love Mick Herron, love Slough House, love Jackson Lamb and yes write more please kind sir as I will buy them all. Prima Facie by Suzie Miller This is a great book, and it's recently been made into a stage play which I was interested to see - I'd like to find some tickets for that! The story of a young female criminal defence barrister whose many court wins include protecting men accused of rape and sexual assault. And then she herself is raped. It's a lot of very twisty moral puzzles, and very well written. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Yep, I'm back for my maybe 8th or 9th reading of this classic... just felt like it. If you haven't ever read any Jane Austen, I recommend starting with Pride and Prejudice as the writing isn't quite so dense as some of the others. I love her though, in all her forms. Silver by Chris Hammer Another great crime story from Chris Hammer! Probably my favourite Aussie crime author. Idaho by Emily Ruskovich I read this book many years ago and unearthed it while looking for something else recently. I couldn't resist starting it again, it's a haunting story and beautifully written. Out of the Woods by Gretchen Shirm Ooooh this was good. An Australian woman travels to The Hague to work for an Australian judge during the trial of a military man charged with war crimes. She finds herself conflicted between the man she sees in front of her in the dock, and the evidence she is hearing. The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman The only reason this doesn't get 5 books is because it was a tiny bit lacking in Joyce for my taste. If you've read Thursday Murder Clubs before you will understand what I mean - if you haven't WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH YOUR LIFE READ THEM NOW!! :D 📕📕📕📕📕 Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks This will break your heart. Grief and anger and hope and love together. I don't think I'm too biased by knowing the author and her sons, and knowing, respecting and loving her dead husband too. Read it and see what you think. A Cold Season by Matthew Hooper Beth's father and brother have gone missing in a freak winter storm. Tense and terrifying and spare. Wonderful. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins For lovers of the Hunger Games series which I most absolutely am, this is an excellent continuation of the story. I hope she never stops writing them! The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley A British spy is told that the government has managed to crack the secret of time travel, and that in order to experiment with its power is bringing people back from the past to study the effects on humans. She is tasked with looking after one of the "bridges" - a man plucked from Sir John Franklin's doomed 1847 expedition to the Arctic. It's a thriller and a love story and a cracking good read. One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald Such fun. I love Betty and I bet you will too. Dusk by Robbie Arnott This is in a three way tie for the best book I read this year. The writing is absolutely heavenly. You know when you find and author and then you have to read every single book they ever wrote? That's how I now feel about Robbie Arnott. Clear by Carys Davies A tiny little jewell. I ate it up in an afternoon. James by Percival Everett I know loads of reviews have not enjoyed this book because it's a different telling of the Huckleberry Finn story. I personally loved it and I also loved the original Huck Finn. Lark Ascending by Silas House I want to be in a place where I haven't read this book yet and I'm just starting it so I can read it again. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss Also tied for my favourite book. This was originally published in 2007 so it's an older book. Molly Gloss is new to me although I understand she's a bit of a staple in American schools? I absolutely loved this book and I will read more Molly Gloss. What a wonderful character. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid I didn't enjoy her first book much, although it was well reviewed everywhere, so I opened this with a bit of a side eye. It's a beautiful love story with a very unusual setting, and it's absolutely fantastic. My Friends by Frederik Backman And #3 in the three way tie. I can't believe I never read any Frederik Backman before and now I have to read all of them. The Hallmarked Man by Robert Galbraith This is #8 in the Cormoran Strike series and I have adored ever single one of them. Bring on #9. So what am I reading next? I've got three lined up and ready to go, I might have to close my eyes and pick one... although I have the feeling that Limberlost will win out as I need a Robbie Arnott fix. Happy New Year everyone. I really hope its a goodie and that everyone you love will be safe and well and happy in 2026, I really really do. We all need a little sunshine I think! See you on the other side :) Sarah x

Hi all I really didn't know what to post this week. I started to write something else, but ignoring the elephant in Sydney's room just seemed disrespectful and careless. If you don't live in Australia, you may not have heard about the terrible events at Bondi Beach on Sunday, although I think the shock has filtered through the news worldwide. Essentially, two horrendous, hate filled humans opened fire with long guns on a Hanukkah event at one of Sydney's most famous landmarks, killing 15 innocent, ordinary people - including a 10 year old girl, Matilda - and wounding 42. This simply does not happen in Australia. I have never once in my entire life let my boys go from my sight to school, or a concert or the shops, worrying that someone will try to harm them. Our last mass shooting was nearly 30 years ago. We don't have school or university shootings, gun related crimes still make the news as they aren't an everyday occurrence, and this is our first real major terrorism event. Ever. And make no mistake, it was terrorism. These men targeted the event because it was a Jewish festival, and it was very clearly planned out and precisely organised to kill Jewish victims. To say we are reeling is an understatement. This happened ten minutes from my dad's house. My Jewish friends know people who were wounded. A school friend of mine was Matilda's violin teacher. Everyone I know is heartbroken and torn apart, at the thought of this happening in our beautiful country, in my beautiful city, at one of our beautiful beaches. To fellow Australians, children and grandparents and sons and daughters and mothers and fathers. As always when something like this happens, so many Australians stepped into the danger to try to stop the carnage, and some paid with their lives. A couple walking by, Boris and Sofia, saw the father of the pair before the shooting started, getting the gun out of his car, which had an Isis flag draped over the bonnet. They confronted him, and he shot them both dead. Another man, Reuven, threw bricks at the terrorist son while he was shooting, and was killed. Another man named Ahmed, tackled the son from behind and took away his gun - but the son rearmed himself, and Ahmed was shot himself and is in hospital. Women threw themselves over other people's children to save them, police ran into the gunfire and took the men down, lifeguards from the beach ran from every direction to help the wounded. Australians are wonderful in a crisis. But how appalling that they had to be. I'm really broken down and heartsore peeps. I had a dash of the end of year tiredness like we all do, but this has just sent me to the end, I'm dripping tears and all I want to do is hold my boys close when they arrive for Christmas this weekend. I need all my birds in the nest, so that I can look at them together and thank every force in the world that they are here safe with me. Matilda's funeral is today. Her parents named her Matilda, because they are immigrants and Matilda was born here - so she is the family's first Australian, and they couldn't think of a better or more Australian name. Her middle name starts with B - and so she has always been Matilda B. Her family have asked that people draw or make pictures of bees, and share them on social media in her memory. I have shared this online, but I wanted to share it with you too - the little embroidered bee quilt from my Little Quilts book . It seemed perfect to me. Please take a moment to think of a little girl at a celebration with her family, and send a thought or a prayer into the world for her today. May her memory be a blessing. There won't be a StitchyMites post next week. I was planning one, but Wednesday is Christmas Eve and I'm going to just sit and be in the moment with my family. I will post on January 31 with the roundup of the books I read this year as promised. I hope you all have a safe and Happy Christmas if you're celebrating it, and that everyone you love is safe and happy too. This awful, terrible, unforgivable thing, and other awful terrible, awful, unforgivable things, happen when people have hatred in their minds, and prejudice and intolerance for their fellow man. Go forward with love for others in your hearts today peeps. Sarah x

Hi StitchyMites!  Well we are certainly running downhill to Christmas now. I’ve been doing all the insane things we all decide to do at this time of year, like had block printing all my wrapping paper and making three Jingle Bell stockings by next week. Lucky they’re quick- not like the gift wrap!! It does look pretty though doesn’t it.  I just bought a tube of red acrylic paint, a roll of plain cheap white paper- not glossy, just art paper- and some wooden block stamps from Amazon. Total about $16. It’s not the fastest job in the world but I’m just printing, waiting for it to dry, wrapping some things and then printing the next lot, so it actually takes the pain of sitting and wrapping for hours away. Swings and roundabouts.  The stockings are for my brother and sister in law, and their daughter. I decided that instead of one large gift this year, I would make them all stockings with their initials to match their Christmas theme (pink, white, red and silver), and then fill them with little things. Haven’t done it yet so I’m loving that last minute sewing for me. The stocking does come together very quickly though, so as long as I get their initials appliquéd this week I should be ok. While I’m doing all of these silly things I’m also doing all the Christmas baking, for us and for gifts (gingerbread, Christmas cakes, an apple, mint and chilli jelly, spiced nuts and jars of homemade granola). And it’s the deadline for my fabric collection next Friday, so if you think I’m ignoring my panic and squashing it down with Christmas fluff…. Well you’d be right. 😂 oh dear.  Last week I hit my Goodreads 2025 challenge quota of 30 books- in fact I’ve read 31 now, nearly 32. I know you all like when I give book recommendations so I’ll do a big end of year round up post of what I read and what I enjoyed most.  Damo has been busy this week getting all the orders in for my 2026 Block of the Month calendar! As we now have 12 finished quilts (if you don’t count Merry and Bright) it seemed perfect to do a calendar, and you can all have a pretty quilt to look at each month hanging in your sewing space… or the kitchen, or above the toilet. Or one in all three places, who am I to stop you! The orders close this afternoon but we have put a couple extra on the list, so if you want one scurry over there now and place your order before they’re all gone.  I’m sorry my posts have been a bit chatter and not so much quilt in the last couple of weeks- like as all are at this time of year, I’m incredibly busy, very stressed and absolutely exhausted! There will be no post for Smites on January 7 as I’m going to lay on the beach with a book and pretend I don’t have anything to do. I’ll pop up the book round up for you on New Year’s Eve though!  Every year on Christmas Eve we put up a sale code to thank everyone for their support throughout the year. I thought I’d give you guys the code a bit early, that way your parcels can go out before Christmas so long as you place the orders by December 17. The code is MISTLETOE and it’s 20% off everything except the calendars and the Slodki BOM, until 5pm January 1. You can’t use two codes at once though, so it’s this one OR your usual StitchyMites 5% (IMASMITE).  See you next week peeps when hopefully I can show you three pretty stockings!  Sarah x

Hi everyone! I hope your Christmas preparations are going along smoothly and that ​you are feeling festive and not fatigued! I myself have decided at the last minute to make three Jingle Bell Stockings for family members as gifts, so I need to get those on the go. I'll post them when they're finished - if they're finished :D I have a very very bad habit of totally overcommitting myself at Christmas time, and then getting into a terrible flap trying to get it all done. I am determined not to do that this year, but as I have decided to hand block print all my gift wrapping paper, I don't like my chances much do you? Seriously.... Anyway I digress. Thank you to everyone who has participated in my Christmas Sew-a-long, and posted such gorgeous projects online. If you have made something using one of the patterns don't forget to show me - I would love to see, even though the offical "competition" part is over. Speaking of that, I entered everyone who posted their pictures on social media or emailed me a progress photo, put all the names in a barrel for the number of times they posted, and the winner is.... Wendy Welsh! Wendy made the Jingle Bell Stocking for herself, and when her husband saw how good (read big - it's a roomy one!) it was, he wanted one too! A happy accident meant that Wendy had fused batting to the wrong piece of fabric when making hers, so that became the front of her husband's stocking. A little hand quilting and she had completed two instead of one. Bonus! Congrats Wendy, you did a beautiful job of both your stockings and a prize pack is on its way to you in Santa's quilty sleigh. It's not too late to stitch up a Jingle Bell Stocking - or some of the Fabric Baubles, they're so quick to make, and a set would make a lovely gift. Speaking of gifts, in the next few days I'm going to post some excellent fast and quick gifts to make from some of my patterns. Stay tuned, its not too late to whip up a handmade something for that special someone. Sarah x

Happy Wednesday Smites - I'm a day late, because yesterday morning at 5am we left for the 10 hour drive to Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne. It's a very exciting event, because we haven't had an AQM for nearly 10 years! It will be fun to see old friends and make new ones, and also to introduce new Sarah Fielke and That's Accurate products to Australian stores. I will take lots of pics for you for next week. For this week, I've been collating links to some of the awesome Christmas crafts I've seen popping up online for you! There's some awesome and very fun things to make. I hope you have fun with them - make sure and let me know if you try any. Marie Clare Ideas, which is the French craft edition of Marie Clare, is always an incredible source of eye candy. I grab a copy any time I see it anywhere! They posted this beautiful paper house on Instagram this week, imagine that on your mantle!! https://www.instagram.com/p/DRPqh_9CscA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA If you need more of a tutorial than that, Woodlark has this lovely version. https://www.instagram.com/p/DQxAT1igcEZ/ These teeeeeeny stocking ornaments!!! Gah the cuteness, I'm gasping https://www.instagram.com/p/DRH60jfiBli/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA Too small? Yep, fair.... ​maybe try the stocking she mentions in her post, which is one I've made several times before. It's a freebie too! https://sunny-day-supply.myshopify.com/blogs/blog/sunny-stocking​ Totally making some of these when I get back from Melbourne. I'll let you know how I go! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRFnLDlAZhZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Woodlark has lots of lovely Christmas projects (the house at the beginning of this post is hers too), it's very worth while exploring her blog to see more. Aussies ignore. the "winter" bit, we can have summer snowflakes! Sandflakes? Oooh and you could make those acorn bell things with GUMNUTS?? OK now I want to do that too!! https://woodlarkblog.com/category/winter-celebrations/ See you next week xx Sarah​

Back to regular programming for now Smites. More Christmas hoo-ha coming soon to a ​post near you.  I've been in a lot of churches and cathedrals in my time - whilst I'm not at all religious, I love an historical building and I absolute ADORE old graveyards. Give me worn stone, old wood, graves of historical figures, some stained glass and an organ and I'm a very happy girl. Poor old Damo gets dragged in and out and off the beaten track everywhere we go - although I like to think that after all these years, he enjoys it too.  Having said that, I'm not sure I'e ever been in such a beautiful cathedral as the refurbished Notre Dame. It feels like every stone, window and patch of paint has been polished and shone, lovingly rebuilt and renewed. The whole thing glows like an enormous pearl on a velvet cushion. Waxing slightly lyrical there I know, but it really does deserve the praise.  While the cathedral itself is a wonder, the thing that grabbed me most of all were the designs in the side chapels. These are some of my favourite inspirations in any church or cathedral, and I always go with a sketchbook in my bag and my camera at the ready because I know there will be treats waiting to be appliqué shapes whichever way I turn. Believe me when I say that Notre Dame did not disappoint.  I don't think I even need to say anything past this point, I hope the phots do it some justice. The colours are to DIE FOR. So much so that I think I have settled on the next BOM inspiration - a mix of le Petit Trianon and these side chapels. In macaron colours.  One last thing before I sign off peeps.... if you're a QuiltNSW member, you might have seen the email today announcing the new Co-Presidents of the guild - the charming and effervescent Molli Sparkles, and... me! Ask a busy person and the job will always get done. I was approached by several members to stand for President and I just didn't think I would have the time, so I chatted to Molli and now we are officially the Dynamic Duo. If you live in Australia - yes, even if you don't live in NSW - now is the time to become a member and get involved with QuiltNSW. We want to see new general members, new committee members, new quilt show entrants. We want to know what YOU want from your quilt guild, and how we can make that happen! Between us we have a lot of fun ideas and a lot of energy, and a LOT of love for quilters, and most of all for our existing QuiltNSW volunteers and committee members. Are you a QuiltNSW member? What do you want to see from the guild? Are you an Aussie and NOT a member? Why not? I'm really asking - Molli and I WANT TO KNOW. And who better to ask first than my lovely SMites? (For those of you overseas, or of course Aussies who have never heard of QuiltNSW, we are the state quilt guild of New South Wales , which is the state that Sydney is in. We are the largest guild in Australia, and amongst our other activities for the quilting community we run a wonderful quilt show each year with over 400 members quilts, tutors and in 2026 - an exciting special international tutor! You'll be the first to hear about that too, I promise!) Sarah x

​Hello everyone! I hope you're all having fun sewing along with me. Don't forget to check in with a pic on social media, or email me, to get extra entries for the draw. You don't need to have anything finished, its more to show your progress as you go. If you post on social media make sure to tag me or I won't know! This week we are talking about my Christmas embroidery patterns , Merry and Bright and The Christmas Crew. Side note - if you are in Sydney and you want to see the cushions in person, they're on display at The Crewel Goeblin in Gordon for the next month or so! Or you can come and see them (and me!) at Quilt Market in Melbourne - thats a trade only show though, sorry peeps.  The cushions are VERY simple embroidery, and there aren't any stitches used that we haven't already discussed in the post for the Five Fabric Baubles patterns ( you can find that post here ), except for satin stitch. Penguin & Fish does such a lovely demonstration of satin stitch here that I haven't even worried about doing a new video for you! You can click right here and watch her neat and tidy satin stitches as many times as you like.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGPqSY2vJn8 Instead what I'm going to talk about today is some different ways to use your embroideries once you've finished the stitching. Obviously I have finished mine into couch cushions - they have a piped edge ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMrV3UphOLc ), and a zipper along the centre of the cushion, hidden under a flange ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ookJerZrDuI ). What if you don't really want a cushion though?  You could always frame them, to prop up on a mantle piece or hang near the Christmas tree. That doesn't have to be an expensive exercise. Yes, having them professionally framed can be very expensive, but if you go to IKEA or similar, and buy a nice frame, you can also do it yourself for a fraction of the cost. You need a frame that has a nice sturdy piece of card inside it, or otherwise a very sturdy piece of card cut to size. You can also use the board t the back of the frame that holds the frame shut if you like, but only if you don't mind the raw back of the embroidery being open to the wall when its hung. You could frame the embroidery in a hoop ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mQx6cboPB4 ) - it will have to be a large hoop though, as they aren't small circles. A quilting hoop might work best for this, one of the cheaper ones you can buy at big box craft stores would do the trick. You can wrap the edges of the hoop ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM4zixJruMo ) with some Christmas ribbon or fabric to make it look even prettier.  I have the cushion embroideries done in red thread and enhanced with some gold thread and gold beads, but you can do them in any colour you like! I love the multicoloured versions of these, and I use them as table mats on my Christmas table. All I did was to use a large plate to draw around the finished embroideries, about 1" from the actual embroidered circle. I then cut the circle out 1/4" from the line. I always use fusible fleece on the back of my embroideries as I stitch, so these were already backed - but if you want to do this and you haven't added the fleece, or even some quilt wadding, it's a good idea to do that and fuse or spray glue it to the back of the circle.  I cut out a circle of red felt ( you will need to buy yardage of wool felt, so that it wears well, can be hand washed and doesn't pill with use) and centered the embroidered circle onto the felt, thread basted, and then hand needle turn appliquéd the circle to the felt. I scalloped one of the edges, but you could just cut a plain circle, or use pinking shears. If you wanted the felt to have a backing, you can cut a circle of patchwork fabric the same size as the felt and place it right sides together with the embroidery, stitch around the edge with a 1/4" seam on the machine - make sure and leave about a 2" gap for turning through. After you turn it right sides out through the gap, give it a good press so that the edges are crisp, and then slip stitch the opening closed. They do look lovely and professional stitched like this.  The last suggestion I have is to turn your square of embroidery into a gift sack! Stitch a rim of red or Christmas patterned fabric around the outside of your embroidery until the front of the sack is the size you want it - which will depend on who the sack is for and how many presents you're expecting it to hold! Smaller for an adult and larger for a child, I'm thinking. You could even use the stars from my Jingle Bell Stocking to surround the embroidery and make the piece larger and more festive. Once you have the front piece to the size you want it, you can follow these simple instructions to make a beautiful sack in no time.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0Rm1KHyKBo If anyone has any other ideas for how they're going to use their embroidered panel, please let me know in the comments! ​And don't forget you can ask me any questions about any of the other Christmas projects too, just drop your queries in the comments or send me an email,  sarah@sarahfielke.com  Happy stitching peeps Sarah x​

​Hi Smites Well I was all set to keep banging on about my trip until the cows came home, but Christmas has reared its tinselled head and it will not be ignored. I promise to return to it though, because the inspiration from Notre Dame is truly something to see. For now though we need to discuss the tasty subject of Christmas baking. I always like to make some presents where I can. Sometimes I'm really just not organised enough, but at the very least I can usually get to the baking. Every year I make several of these for various people - it's my very favourite Christmas cake recipe, and it appeals to a lot of people who don't usually like fruit cake much. It's really delicious and not too heavy, plus when decorated with nuts and glazed with jam it really does look spectacular. I split the recipe out into two cakes as otherwise they are VERY large, and then I nestle them into tissue paper and put them into a white gift box with a red ribbon. Boom, Christmas. https://belindajeffery.com.au/recipe/my-last-minute-christmas-cake/ I like to make biscuits too (not those sort of biscuits silly American friends! English biscuits - you call them cookies 😘) and I try to make the kinds that will last a little while and not be stale right away, so that I'm not baking the night before I gift. I won't start making these for a few weeks yet, but I like to be organised with what I'm going to make so that I have everything on hand to bake and then wrap when I do make them. This year I'm going to try these, as they look very tasty and Christmassy, and will look very nice in a jar with some stripey ribbon. https://www.delicious.com.au/recipes/cherry-almond-biscotti-recipe/8s9bs8bj?r=recipes/collections/rja68pmk Shortbread is always a good one… I like this melt and mix shortbread, which I realise would make my grandma turn in her grave, but it’s very very tasty. https://www.womensweeklyfood.com.au/recipe/baking/melt-n-mix-shortbread-31702/ I do two batches, one like this and the other with 1/4 cup of cocoa added to make chocolate ones. That way when you package them, you can have half blonde and half brown bikkies, and they look very pretty. I’m going to do some paper decorations for my table and to hang in the windows this year too. Everyone is at my house for Christmas this time around, so I have 14 for roast turkey lunch! I’ll tell you how I’m making the paper decorations very soon. Off to marinate fruit peeps! Happy week to you all Sarah x

Hello Christmas Sew-A-Long peeps​ and a Merry Almost Festive Season to you! Five and a bit weeks to Christmas really is getting very close - I am NOT ready so I had better get my Christmas skates on. This is the second in our series of four blog posts for the Christmas Sew-A-Long. Each week we are are going to look at a different one of the projects included in the program, and give you some tips and tricks for making them - this week its the Jingle Bell Stocking! Thanks to everyone who has been posting check-ins on Facebook and Instagram! I'm loving seeing your projects. If you haven't joined the Sew-A-Long and would like to you can do that HERE , its free! All you need to do is purchase one of the patterns we will be working on (or own one already!), and then enter your name and email address at the link. That means you'll go into the draw to win some of the win prizes I'll have at the end of the four weeks. As you make progress with the projects, make sure and email me a pic ( sarah@sarahfielke.com ), post one here in the comments, post one to Instagram and tag me (@sfielke) or post one on Facebook and tag me - each time you post gives you another entry into the prize draw.  The patterns included in the Sew-A-Long are my Jingle Bell Stocking; my two Christmas embroidery panels, Merry and Bright and The Christmas Crew; my Christmas Tree Skirt, Merry and Bright; and Five Fabric Baubles. Has anyone started making the Five Fabric Baubles ? I would LOVE to see them if you have. They are quick and fun to make, not to mention cute and charming and festive. They tick all the boxes 😍  This week there's no video here, but the Jingle Bell stocking is easy to construct. There is a video tutorial for all those who have purchased the Jingle Bells pattern. Damian has opened access for you you have purchased. Let him know at bom2017@sarahfielke.com if he missed you. If you decide you don't want to do hand appliqué, you can always do it by machine, or use fusible webbing and a blanket stitch around the edges of the Bow and the Bell.  If you've never hand appliquéd before and would like to give it a try, I recommend that you take my online hand appliqué class - its on demand, you can watch it as many times as you like and your access doesn't expire, and it teaches you everything you need to know about my method of needleturn appliqué.  Wait, what Bell?? 😂 I taught this stocking in two classes in The Netherlands recently, and everyone in BOTH classes thought that this was a Christmas bauble, and wondered why it had holes, or dots on it. It's a big JINGLE BELL everyone! The kind that Santa has on his sleigh, that makes a beautiful clear and crisp Christmas ring as he flies through the sky. (Have you seen the movie The Polar Express? That's what was in my mind when I designed this. You haven't seen it?? Ooooh it's one of my very favourite Christmas movies, queue it up right now!). I'd love to know if anyone realised it was a bell.... or do you all think it's a bauble? Here's some photos of my happy students stitching in Den Bosch. And one of me with my dear friend Wietske, who owns the beautiful store I teach in there. Regardless, this post gives you a couple of tips on hand piecing the stars, if you've never hand pieced before. They don't need to be hand pieced, but they are lovely and relaxing to stitch that way, and can be done in front of the TV (while you're watching The Polar Express, of course). If you decide you would like to hand piece them, there's a little acrylic template set available for the star point and both squares, that gives you the seam allowance and registration holes to mark your seam allowances. Acrylic means you can rotary cut these too, if you're so inclined.  Hand piecing is a little different than machine piecing. When you stitch with a machine, you have a machine foot to help you guide as you sew, to keep you not only straight but also accurate. With hand piecing you have to create that line for yourself. Our templates have registration holes in the corners - so you can trace all the shapes out on to the back of the fabric, and then mark the place for the corner of each seam through the holes. I like to butt the template shapes up against each other so that you get more shapes out of your fabric, it's fine if they share an outer line. Make sure to use a very sharp pencil when you trace the shapes, and keep sharpening it as you go, because as you trace around shapes and mark seams and your pencil gets blunt, your lines become less accurate. (Apologies that my template here says Simple Folk - I don't have a set of Jingle Bell templates because I made my own when I was actually making the stocking). Once you have traced around all the shapes and marked through the holes, go back and join the dots up to create your stitching lines. The lines only need to go between the points, not all the way to the edge of the fabric. I like to use an add a quarter ruler for this step - we have those at the website too if you need one. Cut the shapes out using sharp scissors.  Put a pin through the dot at the corner, and make sure to match it with the dot on the other side. Repeat with the dot at the other end. Use a fine needle and thread for the stitching - you're doing the work of a sewing machine, so you want your stitches to be as small and as close together as you can manage, without going completely bonkers. Its much easier to make smaller stitches if your tools are small to start with - fairy stitches can't be made with a thick needle and thread. I like my own brand milliners needle in a #11 for hand piecing, and Aurifil 80 weight thread, but 50 weight is good too if you don't have 80 weight. I always use a colour to match the fabric so that you can't see the stitches in the seam after it's pieced, but here I've used a contrasting one so that you can see my stitches.  Essentially you're just working a running stitch. Begin at one dot, remove that pin and put your needle into the hole it came out of. Every few stitches, I like to take a back stitch for security. When you come to the next dot, tie the thread off. The star is assembled in exactly the same order as the pattern instructs - except that you are ONLY stitching between the dots, so when you get to a seam junction, pass your needle through all the dots at the junction and give it a good tight pull to secure it, and then keep stitching without sewing the actual fabric of the seam down in any way. Unlike machine stitching, where you stitch over all the previous seams in order to make a new seam, in hand piecing your seam allowances are all free standing. If you don't want any appliqué at all on the stocking, you can easily just make it all stars, on both front and back. My stocking doesn't have anything on the back, but you can make the stars cover it both sides very easily - just make sure that when you do, you REVERSE the direction of the construction, so that the foot turns in the opposite direction to the front of the stocking. The panel of appliqué is 8" wide when stitched in, and the stars are all 4" finished, so you can just drop two stars into that space where the appliqué is. If you're feeling adventurous, you can also nest the corners of those stars, which will make them shorter by 1" - that would mean you can get 3 stars into the space between the top and bottom groups of stars.  The final thing that you need to know is about positioning the appliqué onto that centre panel. I talk about it in the video that comes with the pattern, but I think it bears saying again! Make sure that the bell isn't positioned in the centre of the appliqué panel. You need to measure in 5 1/4" from the right hand edge of the piece of background fabric, and position the string for the bell at that point. That's because if you centre it, the curved section of the stocking (shown here with an arrow) is too wide for the piece of fabric with the bell on it. You can always add another piece of background fabric to the edge to make it wide enough, but when you're positioning the bell it's easier if you just have it in the right place from the start, and the background piece is cut wide enough to make it all fit if the string is positioned at that measurement. Have fun peeps! If you have questions, check in pictures or you're making one of the other projects in the Sew-A-Long and have questions before I get to the post about it, please feel free to drop them in the comments below so I can help you out. Have a great your second week of stitching, and make sure to show me your progress! There's some really fun prizes and you want to be in the running 🎅🤶🎄 See you next week. Sarah x

Hello Smites! You know when you've had a wonderful holiday, and then you come home and all the STUFF crowds in and it feels like you never went? It's that here this week. Lucky that lots of the stuff involves appliqué, and it's not all admin.... Continuing on with an excitable account of all the pattern and ornament I saw while I was away, one my absolute highlights was the Palace of Versailles. I have been here before, last year - ​however we were at lot later in November last time, and the gardens were pretty much bare, and the two smaller Trianon palaces were closed, the fountains shut off for the season. It was wonderful, but this time it was really spectacular. There was a large section of the palace that was closed for renovations last year too, the princesses bedchambers etc, and this time that was all open, so we got the full blast of splendour. It was a cracking day too, the sun was shining, it wasn't cold and the crowds weren't too large! Did we find a four leaf clover or something??  I shan't bore those of you who aren't interested with the palace history, but if you ARE interested, here's a link with some info about when it was built, and by whom etc, and what happened to it during the French Revolution etc. Fun fact, did you know that the palace was saved from running into total ruin after WWII by two huge American donations? All the info is here: https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history#louis-xiii-and-versailles1607-1638 And here's a bit of info about the Grand and the Petit Trianon as well. https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/estate-trianon/grand-trianon https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/estate-trianon/petit-trianon ​​​ The Palace is crammed full of things to delight a pattern lovers eye. I took a million and one pics, but I'll share a few favourites here for you. This incredible carpet: And this wallpaper: The corner of this carpet - Don't you think thats begging to be a quilt border?? I want to go and cut it out right now.... Can you imagine sleeping in here? At least by the looks of it everyone has to stay outside the railing..... I hope they're not perching on the stools to watch the royal personage sleep though.  The Trianon Palace is at the "bottom of the garden" - in that photograph at the top with the big long waterway, I am standing outside Versailles itself, and the Trianon and Petit Trianon are right down the other end. Just a short stroll. If you do go to Versailles, make sure that you book the ticket that includes the smaller palaces, because in my opinion they are every bit as spectacular as the big one, maybe even more so for me because of their history and the Petit's association with Marie Antionette. If you know anything about Marie Antionette, you might know that her use of colour and style influenced not only the French court of her time, but of courts long after her death (Napoleon's second wife, the Empress Marie-Louise, was fascinated with her and had dresses and hair pieces fashioned using her styles as inspiration), and of fashion and interior designers even until today. Far from being the selfish, spoiled "let them eat cake" queen that popular history paints her, Marie Antionette was actually a very clever and fascinating woman, who championed women's rights and was a wonderful, hands on mother (very rare in those days). Did you know that she never even actually SAID let them eat cake? It was all a part of the Revolution's propaganda machine, that put about pornographic drawings of her and spread awful rumours about her sexual habits, her marriage and her excessive spending. Much like Anne Boleyn, Marie Antionette was a woman dragged through the mud to further the political and power hungry aspirations of the men around her. I digress (don't get me started in history or you'll be here forever...!) The Trianon is like the pretty baby sister of Versailles, and the Petit Trianon is like the beautiful jewellery box next door. They are both so so charming and filled with beautiful furnishings, crockery and art. The colours are what really charmed me - everything it like a box of macaroons, or sugared violets. Every time I go to one of these beautiful houses, or to a museum or old building, I am so inspired and energised by the design and colour. I always want to be back in my studio with all my fabric available to start a dozen new quilts. Instead, I usually sketch from my photos and make scribbly little notes everywhere. And so you see this is where the problems start, because now I have THREE quilt designs I'm excited about for the 2026 BOM. They're all there percolating away in my head, and when the time is right one will sift to the surface! I hope you're enjoying my trip through a screen :) More next week - we went to the recently opened and refurbished Notre Dame Cathedral, and I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful. Have a great week peeps  Sarah x