Page 16 - The Digital Cloth issue 2

A big happy HELLO from me,
Mandy Murray!
I am the fun loving, creative heart behind
‘Sew Quirky’.
I live in a coastal suburb near Bundaberg
in sunny Queensland and love
surrounding myself with positive,
like-minded and creative souls. As a
youngster I was free spirited and always
pestering to make something. I was lucky
enough to have learnt to sew at a very
young age by my special Mum, who
nurtured and encouraged my creativity
immensely. My Mum still inspires me
to this day, listens to my ideas and helps
tremendously with Sew Quirky.
If I’m not in my studio surrounded by my
quirky creations, you’ll find me either
cruising around in my retro car, “Teddy”
a classic 1970 VW Beetle or enjoying the
outdoors, fishing with my Dad, bike
riding or kayaking.
It is often during these activities when
my mind is clear, the air is fresh and my
imagination is free to dream up my next
fun design. In addition to my amazing
family, friends and very supportive man, I
have a cheeky little helper by the name of
Toby, who is a playful Jack Russell.
In school I knew I wanted to be a teacher.
It was my desire to inspire, that led me
straight from graduating Year 12 into a
High School Teaching degree majoring in
of course… textiles! Teaching others fills
my heart
with
happiness.
My
passion to
be involved
closer with
the sewing
industry led
me into
developing
“WOW! This makes me smile”.
I couldn’t wish for a sweeter compliment.
Creating something handmade is so ex-
pressive and designing a pattern to share
with others is more meaningful than first
meets the eye. You never know where one
of your designs will end up.
Created with love from its maker and
likely gifted, isn’t that so special? It could
be welcoming a new little human into the
world or even brightening someone’s
day who may be suffering. Sewing has
the power to even enlighten, relax and
soothe the soul of the maker. The art and
journey of sewing is pretty awesome isn’t
it? That’s why I love it. Mix it with loads
of positivity and a spoon full of encour-
agement and you’ll have a perfect combi-
my pattern brand and establishing Sew Quirky. nation for success!
I could see the impact I had on inspiring my In life, many of us are in search of our
students in the classroom and I knew it was my purpose. I’m lucky enough to feel like
I’ve been given a gift to share, to inspire
destiny to share it further. I am
extremely grateful to have combined both my
love of teaching and sewing into a successful
business which allows me to travel not only
around Australia, but Internationally.
Developing my own sewing patterns has given
me the opportunity to spread my love of
creating with not only my local community,
but the whole world and if you wondered what
my favourite technique is, you could say I’m an
Appliqué addict. It is evident when you look at
my designs that I love putting a modern twist
on a traditional technique.
I enjoy mixing different mediums, such as
cork, vinyl and wool felt - it gives texture to
my creations. It’s also clear to see that I LOVE
COLOUR.
Mixing an array of contrasting patterns and
solids to achieve a pop of interest. When
people see my designs, the most common
comment I receive is;