Busyfingers Tapestries was founded by Sue’s father many years ago and the name was handed over to Sue in the early 90’s. Sue's love of Patchwork transformed that business into a quilting business and Patchwork with Busyfingers was born. Sue’s passion for Patchwork began in 1980 when she was expecting her first child. She made one quilt a year for 3 years. After her third child was born Sue decided she could get a little more serious now that she had a girl. Obsessive is probably the best way to describe it now, with most of her days being filled with designing, teaching & mentoring across Australia and all over the world.

Sue began teaching mostly up and down the East coast of Australia, starting in NSW on the Central Coast and then moving to Victoria, where she spent 4 years teaching almost full time. Sue's business began while living in Victoria and it has gone from strength to strength.

Sue and her family (6 in total) then moved to a small property in a beautiful part of the country called Eumundi in the Noosa Hinterland. She started the business as a mail order business through local magazines, she then took it online and was cutting, packing & shipping right out of her own home. The team began to grow and this is where she found some time to write her first book "It's a Hexagon kind of Christmas" which was launched at the end of 2003.

English paper piecing is an age old art and although Sue didn’t invent this technique she sure has made it much easier. Her paper & template business was the first in Australia and is now servicing the entire world. Sue then introduced the Glue Pen method to the industry and this notion single handedly changed the entire technique. With a little help from Charlotte at Sewline we were able to turn a world of machine pieces around and show them that it’s not just about the sewing machine, we can enjoy both techniques together.

She finished her second book Hexagons from the Guest House at the beginning of 2004 and her third booklet called Playing with Paper followed in late 2004, fourth book A Road Less Traveled was published in 2009, fifth book New English Paper Piecing in late 2011 and her most recent Raspberry Parlour in 2015. She now has 9 Playing with Paper booklets covering all different English paper piecing shapes & techniques.

In 2005 Sue and her husband purchased a beautiful, private 3 acre property. They landscaped the gardens, added several ponds, a dam and fountains and together with a seasonal creek, this all lays in front of a lush green mountain backdrop, away from the hustle and bustle of the real world.

2010 was an amazing year for Sue seeing her win "The Sunshine Coast Business award" for Export.

Sue was asked to design fabric for Riley Blake Designs in October of 2011 and now with her 20th fabric collection releasing worldwide in January 2022.

She looks forward to teaching worldwide again in the future as her passion for the industry grows mentoring young designers and shop owners.

Our online store continues to trade online only.