Gum Valley Patchwork

A taste of Spring

We certainly had a taste of Spring yesterday. It was a glorious day, I even left the front door of the shop open and didn’t even turn the heater on. One thing is for sure though an open door always attracts a blowfly….I couldn’t believe it - even with all of the cold weather we have had! I was busy upstairs sewing when in it flew past me, needless to say he wasn’t alive for long.

My sewing project yesterday was to finish off my 'Footpaths in the Forrest' table runner. I have long admired Lenora's  so I decided I just had to make one. I shortened mine slightly (just left two rows off) and I didn’t stipple quilt it, but it has come up a treat.

Last night I drove to Ballarat with Russell for a meeting that he was attending (go-kart related), and of course took some of my stitching to do. After dinner the meeting started and I moved to another table in the bistro to sit quietly and sew. There were several children having meals with their families and they were quite intrigued with what I was doing, eventually coming right up to me and asking the usual 50 questions. They were very interested when I explained what I was making and showed them my progress. One young girl even asked if I was knitting.

Linda   :)

PS. I will be using the 3 Sisters, Peace on Earth range to make my 'Send a Christmas Wish' Quilt. 

I've made a start

I thought that I was pretty optimistic in taking my sewing to Melbourne with me on Sunday – especially when I also took a magazine with me to read. I did the usual flip through the magazine and looked at the photos. I hate to admit it but I have only read one book since I left school way back in 1980. It more than likely has something to do with those terrible novels that we had to read! Or maybe it is just that I prefer to see something for all that time spent – a nice quilt or a planted garden. Back to sewing…..I did managed to make a great start on my stitching for my ‘Send a Christmas Wish’ Quilt.

I haven’t added the knots and stars to the blocks yet but they are well underway.

Off to do some more stitching....

Linda    :)

The goode kids

The rain is still falling but not quite as much as last week. It has rained for 20 days this month but the outlook for the next few days is fine….yippee!

As previously mentioned I have ordered a range of fabrics by Sandy Gervais called ‘Tranquility’. Unfortunately they won’t arrive until December which seems just soooo far away. I thought that I’d try and scan some of the photos for everyone to check out – they didn’t turn out too great (the colour isn’t quite true). I think we need to buy a new scanner as the old one is very temperamental. But here goes anyway:

 

There are about 48 fabrics in the range so this is just a very small selection.

I’m heading to Melbourne with a friend this afternoon – after I close the shop and feed the calves. We are staying the night and then coming back home tomorrow afternoon. I know that I won't get much spare time but I’m still going to pack a little stitching to do (just in case). I really want to start my own ‘Send a Christmas Wish’ Quilt. I made my sister Cathryn one for Christmas last year and I know that I can’t keep Lenora’s quilt hanging in the shop forever. So I'm going to trace off some of the blocks and take them with me.

I’d like to say a special hi to my sister Ann who is recovering from an operation she had a couple of weeks ago. Ann is the eldest in the family, followed by me, then Cathryn and last but certainly not least Peter.

I looked out this old photo of the four of us standing very straight in front of the garden at home. Mum’s garden was filled with dahlias and the large orange and yellow african marigolds lined the driveway every year. In the summer giant monarch butterflies would seek out the marigolds – a sight that I haven’t seen since I was a kid. Great memories!

Linda    :)

Rain Rain go away......come again in about 6 weeks time!

When will it stop raining? While a vast area of Victoria is crying out for more rain we have had well and truly enough for the time being. Since the start of July just under 11 inches (or 270mm) of rain has fallen on our farm. The dams are all full and the tanks are overflowing. The paddocks are saturated and now any rain that falls just sits on the ground waiting to run away down to the creek. Likewise the garden and lawn at the shop is soggy with water lying around everywhere. So for the time being the lawn mower is having a holiday and it looks like it will be another few weeks before I attempt to cut the grass. Even though the garden beds are in need of tidying up there are a few patches of colour poking through. The snowdrops have managed to push their heads up through the seaside daisies under the silver birches, the grape hyacinths are providing a splash of blue and the daffodils are putting on a spectacular display despite the snails having a go at them.

These daffodils are in my vegie garden and have flowered and multiplied quickly over the last 2 years. I think that I will have to dig them up and shift some of them later in the year.

Rhys called into the shop this afternoon for his bi-monthly visit to show me all of the new fabric releases. I have ordered the complete range (except the panel) of the new range by Sandy Gervais called ‘Tranquility’ as well as some extra bolts to top up the ‘pews’ and some books with quilt patterns using jelly rolls and layer cakes. I will keep you posted when the fabrics etc start to arrive – so stay tuned.

Linda    :)

Suffolk Puff Quilt

Today I continue on my quilting journey with a quilt that I made only a few years ago. It started when a friend gave me a garbage bag full of fabric. It was a wonderful assortment that she had collected over a 6 year period. I set about sorting them out into colours and ranges, and finally decided that I would like to make a quilt out of suffolk puffs. I began making the puffs – all 900 of them. I used a paper template to cut the circles and then stitched them by hand (not a yo-yo maker in sight). On a good night I could make about 40. It was very relaxing and quiet so I didn’t attract any dirty looks from the rest of the family as they watched television (as opposed to machine sewing!). From there I hand stitched them together in rows of 3 and then blocks of 9, and then stitched the blocks together.

Now I wanted to attach it to a background. After much thinking I decided to stretch a backing on my quilt stretching frame. Then down went some light weight wadding, then the background fabric, then finally the suffolk puff quilt. It was pinned into position and then I attached (through the centres) all of the puffs around the outside of the quilt. My first plan was to do this to all 900 but after it took 2½ hours just to do the outside rows it was onto plan B (skip the next 4 rows and do the 6^th rows in; then skip 4 and do 11^th rows etc til the centre).

Once it was finished off with the binding and displayed in the shop my friend (who gave me the fabric) said she wanted it. I told her that she could have it when I die. She was happy with that until I reminded her that as I was only 3 years older than herself and as I planned to live for a long time she would ultimately only own the quilt for a couple of years! So to remind her that she can’t have it until I die I bought this badge

 

and attached it to the quilt.

Linda    :)

Mud and money

It has been so very wet here over the last few days. In our area we have a reasonably reliable rainfall and can usually expect a wet August. A few years ago we had a lovely mild winter but paid dearly come Spring when there wasn’t the moisture for good pasture growth. This led to less silage and hay being made which meant we had to try and buy it in – an expensive exercise. Russell’s father had a saying – that in this area you have to have mud to make money – which is very true. So going on that hopefully there will be lots of $ in the monthly pay cheques to come 8-) - maybe even some for fabric!

Yesterday I traveled to Melbourne to attend some of the Uni open days with our daughter Hannah. It is difficult at 17 to know what you would like to do when you finish school, but I think after yesterday she is getting closer to deciding. She’s a great kid and I’m sure she’ll do well. Her Grandmother says she'll go far with that smile of hers!

This is Hannah - the photo was taken last year at her deb.

While all this was going on Russell was left in charge of the Shop. With the weather so cold and wet he certainly didn’t mind spending the day inside and testing out his coffee making skills on the expresso machine and catching up on some of the Olympic action. He is also getting quicker at cutting out fabric.

Linda   :)

Laughter, Food & Sewing - a perfect day :-)

So far so good with the computer – no more nasty viruses - and I am gradually catching up on the backlog of work. Today I had a group of lovely ladies return to the shop to spend the day sewing. They came along and used the upstairs classroom area to work on their sewing projects. Much laughter and talk was had and plenty of food was shared, but I’m not sure that a lot of sewing was achieved! Two of the ladies brought their daughters along – Elizabeth, 9 and Helen, 11. The girls also did a wonderful job sewing on their machines and were quite keen and productive patchworkers. Well done girls!

Last week I attended the Gift Fair in Melbourne (just for one day) and have ordered some new things for the Shop. So over the next 3 – 4 weeks they will be arriving in the shop. But in the meantime, last week I unpacked a new range of soap that looks good enough to eat. Lemon meringue pie, jam tarts, chocolate eclairs, vanilla slices and rocky road just to name a few. Also the extra wide backing fabric from the 3 Sisters Peace on Earth range has started to come in. I have the blue print in stock, with the green and cream still on back order. They are 280cm / 100 inches wide and are $32 per metre.

Linda    :)

PS. The classroom in the shop is available to groups who would like to get together and spend a day (or 2) sewing. The area can seat up to 8, and the urn with tea/coffee is provided at no cost. There is also an iron and a quilt stretching frame for use. There are a number of B & B's around and it is only a 20minute drive to Port Campbell. Please contact me for bookings / availability.

I'm back......

I’m back……..No it’s not that I have been away on a lovely holiday on a tropical island or skiing in the Swiss alps, I have been here at home in amongst cows and calves and all things farming. The reason for my absence from my blog is that I have been without a computer for about a week. Oh how I have missed it. The first couple of days was actually quite nice and I even managed to catch up on some paperwork that has been hanging over my head for quite a while (well actually for about 18 months). However for the last four days I have been getting very anxious as the work has been piling up, so I was extremely relieved when the computer technician delivered the hard drive this afternoon. All I can say is that I hope I never catch up with the person who invented the trojan virus (and all of the other nasties that were ‘living’ in our computer) - I’m not quite sure what I’d do! So this afternoon I have been wading though the pile of emails and trying to catch up on the replies. My apologies if I haven’t quite got to yours yet …. it is coming.

I will be back with more sewing news soon

Linda    :)