Gum Valley Patchwork

Third time lucky

This was just going to be a quick post before I headed off to the dairy for the afternoon milking. I had it all ready to go and then …you guessed it ….computer froze. So I did the usual – turned it off and rebooted it. It reminds of the tv show on the ABC – "The IT Crowd". The guys answer to everyone’s computer problems is always "Have you tried turning it off and on again?"….lol…I digress. So now I’m back inside and it is after milking and it’s second time lucky. So here goes…….

Yesterday I had a visit from my Mum and my sister-in-law Andy. Mum bought me some of her lilac blooms…

They look (deep mauve/purple) and smell soooo good. (sorry about the photo - damn camera has no flash). I know that they won’t last very long as lilacs don’t really make good cut flowers, but I’m enjoying them while I can. I might have a go at planting one next year in the garden at the shop.

Hannah sat her year 12 English exam today (along with about 47,000 others) and was very nervous indeed. She is not very confident of doing well but with English out of the way she will have almost a week to revise for her Accounting one.

New in the shop this week : more cutting mats; templastic; and cones & reels of signature thread. Due in next week : some more chenille – chocolate, pink & green. There was a problem with the raspberry chenille so it won’t be available until January 2009.

Linda   :)

Aarghhh.....just about to click on the publish button and it froze again.......the reset button certainly is getting a work out today. 

Unexpected visitors

I’d like to share with everyone a recent blogging experience that I find quite funny.

I have only been ‘blogging’ since April but I am really enjoying the adventure of it all. I am always keen to see where visitors are from and how people find my blog. I can sometimes find this out through viewing my stats via typepad – especially if someone googles me. This leads me on to the topics that people google. More often than not it’s just plain old Gum Valley Patchwork, or maybe suffolk puff quilts etc etc. But a new topic has been quite requested lately. It seems that my post about Emma’s 18^th birthday quilt has been ‘popular’. Not necessarily by patchworkers keen to learn more about New York Beauty quilts. It seems that the title – "She’s Hot Mum" has attracted people googling – ‘hot mum next door’ and ‘friend’s hot mum’ etc! I wonder what these people think when they log onto my blog and find a quilt……….lol…….not quite what they expect!

Linda   :)

A premonition or just excellent timing

The arrival of the ‘Butterfly Fling’ fabric the other day meant that I had to do some re-arranging to squeeze it into the shop. So I spent Friday morning shifting a few different bits’n’pieces around and I managed to end up with an empty basket! "Well that will be very handy for the 10 new bolts of Deb Strain’s ‘Bistro’ range that are due in October" I thought………then half an hour later the delivery van pulled in and voilà…….in he came with a box of ‘Bistro’ fabric!

(The bolt in the middle if black with swirls - like the beige beside it).

I have also been very naughty…..even though I have been making good progress on my ‘works in progress’....I just couldn't resist and I have made a new quilt using the ‘Butterfly Fling’ fabric.

I drafted up this pattern about two years ago, but my first attempt at making it didn’t turn out as I had hoped. A change of tact – I have used 9 fat quarters instead of 7 different fabrics. I have also started a new version of my ‘Lollipop’ cushion using the same range, but have only managed to make 25 suffolk puffs so far. I won’t be able to do any sewing tonight as it’s tax time again – the dreaded BAS…..it's not difficult but it has to be done to catch tomorrow’s mail.

Linda    :)

Butterfly Fling

More fabric arrived at the Shop this afternoon. It was the rest of the ‘Butterfly Fling’ range from Me & My Sister.

The Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes also arrived.

Now I can’t wait to have a play and make something…..But first I’ll try and finish off one or two of my current works in progress.

I have been using some of the left over pieces from the ‘Royal Holiday’ panels that the ladies in the Christmas Club have been using. I have made some wall hangings and table runners (not yet completed) which will be available for purchase through the Shop.

Prices range from $40 to $65.

I apologise for the quality (or should I say lack of) of the photos. The flash on my camera doesn't work.

Linda    :)

Christmas Newsletter

I have just created an album for my 2008 Christmas Newsletter. If you are interested just click on the wreath and then click on it again. The only thing I didn't include was the joke. Anyone who gets my newsletter mailed out will know that I always like to include jokes. Now so that everyone out there doesn't miss out here is the joke......

Someone is watching you!

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shone his torch around looking for valuables. When he picked up a CD player to place in his sack a strange voice echoed from the dark saying ‘Jesus is watching you’. He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked off his torch and froze. When he heard nothing more after a bit, he shook his head and continued. Just as he pulled the stereo out to disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, ‘Jesus is watching you’. Freaked out, he shone his torch around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally in the corner of the room, his torch beam came to rest on a parrot.

"Did you say that?" he hissed at the parrot.

"Yep" the parrot confessed, then squawked, I’m just trying to warn you"

The burglar relaxed. "Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?"

"Moses" replied the parrot.

"Moses?" the burglar laughed "What kind of people would name a bird Moses?"

"The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus."

I hope you enjoyed the joke ......

Linda    :)

Just a few garden photos

Another beautiful day and farm thoughts turn to the upcoming silage season. Russell is anxiously looking at the weather forecast every night, trying to work out whether he should cut the grass or not…will it rain…will it be warm enough to wilt the grass ready for baling and wrapping. It certainly is a tense time of the year. But we always make it through and then head straight into the hay season…the cycle then repeats itself.

I am busy working on my Christmas Newsletter / Update at the moment. It will have all the news about the shop and also details of my annual sale…..everyone loves a sale…. :) and will be posted (and posted) in the next week or so.

A couple of photos I took yesterday afternoon….this is one of my ‘Jonagold’ Apple tree at home. The ‘Jonagold’ is a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Jonathon (The pear tree is in front of it).

It is in full blossom ….. the smell is just divine and the bees are almost deafening (well not quite but they are very busy).

Hopefully we won’t get too many strong winds and I will have lots of apples next year….mmmmm apple pies..yum. It has always been a very good producer and this season looks like no exception.

At the Shop the ranunculi are in full bloom providing a bright dash of colour in the garden.

The catmint along the rocks is starting to really take off and the bees love their purple flowers. They also self seed quite easily so I'm transplanting a few of them to different parts of the garden. The taller plants behind the ranunculi are white hebes (not flowering yet) and rock roses (just starting to show their bright pink flowers). 

Linda   :)

Patchwork World

While googling for some information recently, I came across this lovely quote about apple trees.

Why do we need so many different kinds of apples? Because there are so many different kinds of folks. A person has a right to gratify his legitimate tastes. If he wants 20 or 40 kinds of apples for his personal use, running from ‘Early Harvest’ to ‘Roxbury Russet’, he should be afforded the privilege....There is merit in variety itself. It provides more points of contact with life, and leads away from uniformity and monotony." -Liberty Hyde Bailey in 'The Apple Tree', 1922

After reading it I thought that it was also quite appropriate about quilters and our need for different fabrics as we all have different tastes. What appeals to one person may not be loved by the next. The patterns we choose, our combinations of colours and the quilting designs we use are all influenced by who we are. A great site to visit and look at other quilters' work is Quilters Show and Tell . Why not submit a quilt and story of your own? We do really live a patchwork world.

Linda   :)

Busy, busy, busy....

Busy, busy, busy…..that’s my life. Today I have a ‘day off’ but there will be no lazing around for me. A quick bit of computer work, trip to town to do the banking and pick up a couple of parcels from the post office and home to the garden…..then to top it all off we herd test tonight and then back to Timboon for Garden Club. One of the parcels at the post office is from a nursery that I have ordered 70 ‘Avonview’ lavender plants from. I decided to buy the rest of the plants to complete my hedge so that will be the priority job for this afternoon.

Yesterday saw Lenora come along to the Shop and teach her wonderful ‘Send a Christmas Wish’ quilt to a group of very keen ladies. They all had a fantastic and I thank Lenora very much for offering this class.

I snapped these couple of photos on Saturday afternoon in the garden at the Shop…..I spied a blue tongue lizard wandering across the carpark on the sunny afternoon.

He wasn’t too impressed when I interrupted his stroll for a photo shoot.

But he quickly hurried off after I left.

Linda   :)

A parcel in the mail

I love getting parcels in the post. Often I have to travel in to Timboon (24 km away) to the Post Office to collect them but yesterday one was delivered to my mailbox. It was a book I had ordered through OzQuilts and it was ‘Karen K Stones Quilts’. After I posted the story about the New York Beauty quilt that I made for Emma’s 18^th birthday I had an enquiry from a lady about a pattern for the border. I couldn’t find mine so was googling to see if I could locate the book for her. I came across this book

 and just couldn’t resist buying it. I had so much fun making my first Karen Stone quilt that I would love to make another. For the time being I am just oogling at the photos but maybe one day (not soon I know) I’ll make a start on my next Karen Stone quilt.

We are in for a lovely weekend - weatherwise - and Russell is heading off as an official to a go-kart race meeting in Portland. Because the weather is good the bike leathers have been donned and the dust brushed off the motorbike seat - the open road awaits! Meanwhile I'll be on milking duty in between running the shop and trying to catch up on a little gardening (thanks goodness for daylight savings). The flowers are really enjoying this beautiful spring weather and the roses are starting to bud up nicely.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Linda   :) 

A love that has blossomed

I must admit that I wasn’t very taken with this plant when I first saw it, but I have grown to love it. Its long beautiful spikes of blue/purple flowers are an absolute ‘lolly shop’ for the hundreds of bees that visit it every day. I’m talking about my Echium.

A few years ago I planted one in my chook pen for the reason that they attract bees and I thought that it would be great for the pollination of my fruit trees. It was planted between the grafted pear tree and ‘King Billy’ plum tree and opposite my large Jonagold apple tree. This year it has produced the most magnificent display of flowers, which will last for many weeks. I also have a pink variety

and although the bees visit it they do prefer the blue flowers. Bees love blue flowers. I have also discovered that about one hundred small seedlings have popped up near the main plant – so I will have some extra plants to transplant into other parts of my orchard at home and at the shop.

For those interested in reading more about our farm I have put together a few photos and a bit of information about it. Just click on 'Our Farm' under The Shop section on the left of the blog.

Linda   :)