Gum Valley Patchwork

'Love' Block of the Month is finished!

Yes that's right I have finally finished my version of Natalie's 'Love' Block of the Month quilt.

It is now hanging in the shop and looks beautiful.......if I do say so myself :P........really love the 'Secret Garden' range of fabrics too.

The Block of the Month will be run over 9 months and every month the package will include the pattern envelope and fabrics. I will also include the Cosmo threads, staflex and enough Yarn Dyed fabric - to use for the quilt or to make a second quilt with Month 1. The cost will be $20.00 per month (plus postage if required) and will commence in March 2012. Month 9 will also include the sashings, border and binding. The finished size is 40" x 40".

If you haven't already signed up for this BOM but would like to please let me know......there is still plenty of time........... or you may like to order online at my shop........ click here

Now onto the next project......

Linda  :)

It seemed like a good idea......

Whose bright idea was it to start making the carry bags for the shop instead of buying them?

Oh that's right it was mine!

While I should have been working on finishing off the 'LOVE' Block of the Month or infact any of the dozen things I need to stitch by next weekend I thought I'd whizz up some bags. Maybe with time I will get quicker ....... especially if I ditch the french seam idea!

Linda   :)

A little extra for Australia Day

I know that it's not Australia Day anymore but I couldn't pass up the chance of posting this on my blog. I read it yesterday morning on Jaime's facebook page and thought it was great and wanted to share it with you all. Some of you have probably already read it........some of you will laugh because you get it.........some of our overseas blogging friends may not understand it.........but here goes anyway:

YOU KNOW YOU'RE AUSTRALIAN IF:
* You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.
* You're liable to burst out laughing whenever you hear of Americans "rooting" for something.
* You pronounce Melbourne as 'Mel-bin'.
* You believe the 'L' in the word 'Australia' is optional.
* You can translate: 'Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas.'
* You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.
* You think 'Woolloomooloo' is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.
* You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.
* You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.
* You understand that 'Wagga Wagga' can be abbreviated to 'Wagga' but 'Woy Woy' can't be called 'Woy'.
* You believe that cooked-down axle grease makes a good breakfast spread. You've also squeezed it through Vita Wheats to make little Vegemite worms.
* You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.
* Beetroot with your Hamburger... Of course.
* You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song 'Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again' And "Living next door to Alice".
* You believe that the confectionery known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.
* You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.
* Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.
* You understand that 'excuse me' can sound rude, While 'scuse me' is always polite.
* You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.
* You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle and a seat belt buckle becomes a pretty good branding iron.
* Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.
* You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call 'Anzac cookies'.
* You still think of Kylie as 'that girl off Neighbours'.
* When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.
* You know how to abbreviate every word, all of which usually end in -o: arvo, combo, garbo, kero, metho, milko, muso, rego, servo, smoko, speedo, righto, goodo etc.
* You know that there is a universal place called "woop woop" located in the middle of nowhere...no matter where you actually are.
* You know that none of us actually drink Fosters beer, because it tastes like shit. But we let the world think we do. Because we can.
* You have, at some time in your life, slept with Aeroguard on in the summer. Maybe even as perfume.
* You've only ever used the words - tops, ripper, sick, mad, rad, sweet - to mean good. And then you place 'bloody' in front of it when you REALLY mean it.
* You know that the barbecue is a political arena; the person holding the tongs is always the boss and usually a man. And the women make the Salad.
* You say 'no worries' quite often, whether you realise it or not.
* You understand what no wucking furries means.
* You've drank your tea/coffee/milo through a Tim Tam.
* You own a Bond's chesty. In several different colours.
* You know that roo meat tastes pretty good, But not as good as barra or a meat pie.
* You know that some people pronounce Australia like "Straya" and that's ok.
* And you will forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand!!!

Hope you enjoyed.....otherwise sorry!

Linda   :)

PS. Not sure what happened to the font etc ........ I guess it had a lot to do with the cut & paste job I did......oh well.

Tripping around

Just before Christmas I ordered some new brochures for the shop. The original ones that I had printed about 4 years ago were outdated and I had to put that many stickers on them they just looked terrible. After Funky Printing returned from their Christmas / New Year break, they printed and dispatched the 2 boxes containing my 9,000 brochures. They arrived on Tuesday and look like this. 

Yesterday I took a little road trip to deliver some bundles with the first stop being just down the road at Apostle Whey Cheese  

Dianne was off doing what she does best......making cheese.....so I left the brochures with the girls and continued on down the road a little bit further to GORGE Chocolates.

Those ladies who attended my Stitch in Spring day last year will know GORGE Chocolates as everyone received a lovely bag of these yummy handmade chocolates in their goody bag. I was very good and didn't buy any but instead had a chat with Jason and his daughter Anna before I was in the car once again.

The next stop was at Princetown.......and it certainly was a busy little place yesterday with lots of tourists. I called in to the Princetown Store which is now run by Ryan and Tiffany Jones who used to own GORGE Chocolates before Jason & Mel bought the business.

I haven't been to Princetown for a couple of years and I was pleasantly surprised at how much it has improved since my last visit. There was a constant stream of cars and visitors so I didn't stay too long........but long enough to have an icecream......well I didn't buy any chocolates....lol!

I was off and on my way to the Port Campbell Visitor Information Centre..........past the Twelve Apostles.......OMG how busy is that place now! I can remember when we used to just pull into a little gravel car park on the same side of the road as the Apostles where you got out of your car and stood and looked at them. Now there's a car park that holds a couple of hundred cars plus buses, a Visitor Centre, kiosk & toilets, an under road walkway and sealed tracks, seating and guard rails.

After Port Campbell, I continued along the Great Ocean Road to Peterborough. After a quick visit to the Caravan Park I headed up to have a little break at the lookout. Peterborough is a beautiful town.......a lot less hustle and bustle than Port Campbell. As kids, Mum would sometimes take us for a drive to Peterborough in the Winter time and sit and watch the rough seas at the lookout.
Yesterday the sea was a little choppy but I always think it looks nicer that way. I am definitely not a beach person........I like looking and walking.......but not swimming. The Curdies River ends at Peterborough but of course the mouth of the river is closed at the moment.

With the mouth closed the river is nice and calm and warm making it great for kids to swim in.

Relaxed I headed this time to Timboon to the Railway Distillary followed by a quick hello to Mum and then off home. One last delivery before home........Newtons Ridge Winery......and home in time to milk the cows. It was great to have a little road trip around the district.........I don't get the chance very often. After the news this morning of the rain in Northern Australia and the heatwave in the west I am convinced more than ever that I do live in the best part of Australia.

Oh and Happy Australia Day....wherever you live.

Linda   :)

333 days to go (or thereabouts)

Our Christmas lunch is hardly digested and the Christmas quilts are still hanging ....... yes I know I need to take them down! So what does Rhys show me last week.........all of the beautiful new Christmas fabric ranges due for 2012. After browsing through the big collection of them I ordered Sandy Gervais range called Merry Melody.

It is the third year in a row that I have ordered Sandy's Christmas fabric.........what can I say........I just love what she does for Christmas. I have ordered the full range of 39 bolts..........prints in berry red, holly green, ivory and ebony (yes black!)

Delivery isn't until July so I do have a little more time to get back into the Christmas spirit!

Linda     :)

Three to go

My weekend's stitching saw me complete three more blocks for the 'LOVE' Block of the Month that I will be running this year.

This is probably my favourite so far.

I hope to get the last three blocks finished by next weekend so that I can get the sashings and borders on.

Linda    :)

Watching the skies

Tonight I have been watching the skies and checking regularly on the CFA website. Smoke has been blown our way from a bushfire to the east of us. Fortunately it is far enough away but at one point during milking I thought that it was only just up the road. The latest refresh on the CFA website states that it is under control......but I will keep checking during the evening.

Hope everyone is safe.

Linda    :)

A new blog

You might remember them as Julia & Ron and Snow & Barry White but now my sister Cathryn and her husband Mark have taken on a new role. Last year they made a new years resolution to see 50 movies during the year and Cathryn kept a journal recording all of the details. They said it was a lot of fun but also exhausting at times......family and friends sometimes joined them. This year they have decided to do it all again.......but this time around they are going to share their experience and blog about it. So with the help of their daughter Lillian, Cathryn and Mark have set up their blog Cathryn & Mark go to the movies . They have already seen 3 movies and I know that I will be following along.......will you?

Linda  :)

 

So worth the wait.

Way way back in November I placed an order for some more of the gorgeous Cottage Garden Threads with Pam & Katie. I knew I would have to wait until January for them to be delivered.......I was very patient and yesterday I was rewarded with a lovely big parcel. I now have 28 colours of the beautiful stranded embroidery threads in stock. There are many many more colours but I have to start somewhere! I also purchased a rotating stand which will make it a lot easier to display them.

The names are just brilliant.

The threads are $6.60 each.

But wait there's more..... I also ordered in the full colour and size range of their hand dyed Ric Rac.

15 different colours, 5m reels. 5mm wide is $11.00 and the 8mm wide is $15 per reel.

So pretty..........what will I make first?

Linda    :)

Let's Party :)

As I mentioned in this post our 'baby' turned 21 on Wednesday. Saturday night saw the official celebration of this milestone. There was a family and friends BBQ tea followed by the fun of a 21st party. Hannah arranged the whole event and made the theme for the party 'Do the White thing'........because our surname is White. Guests came up with some very different interpretations of the theme. We had Snow White and Barry White.....oooh yeah! (You might remember them as Julia & Ron back in November.)

There was Seymour Nuts and the White Rabbit......

I'm a bit worried about my brother Pete......he always seems to go to fancy dress parties as nutters.......he was Charles Manson at the last 21st and an escaped lunatic to this one. Check out his name badge.

Maybe it is all the torment of having 3 older sisters!

My costume confused a lot of people......you see my maiden name was Goode and my married name is White.....so I am a Whitegoode.....a refrigerator......complete with photos, magnets, and other stuff!
All of the Goode 'kids' together.

Hannah ordered her toga costume over the internet and when it arrived it was cream......no good for a White themed party.....so guess what I did on Thursday......made a new one! In the end it looked pretty good but that was after quite a bit of me saying " I hope this works out okay" and "I hate sewing this stretchy shit fabric" and Hannah saying "it will be fine Mummy"!

Hannah (with help from Emma) made her own Chocolate Ripple Birthday cake. But when 21 was too hard to arrange she opted for roman numerals instead!

I had the honour of making the speech and had typed it onto a single page. That wouldn't do so I stuck together about 8 extra pages of dummy notes and when I unfurled it in front of Hannah she nearly died....lol!

We left early to take Grandma White home and left the 'young' ones to party the night away.....I was soooo glad the party was at Hannah's house and not ours! 

Linda   :)