Gum Valley Patchwork

The Secret is out!

It is no secret that I used the lovely 'Wiscassett' fabric range to make my 'Dear Prudence' quilt out of.

It is no secret that I have the beautiful 'Prairie Paisley II' fabric range in the shop and that I am using it in my new hexagon quilt.

It is no secret that I have ordered the gorgeous new 'Independence Trail' fabric and wool for delivery in August.

It is no secret that I do love Minick and Simpson's fabric.

Prior to leaving home on my big adventure, a last minute decision saw me 'throw' my new hexagon quilt into my carry on luggage.........I was secretly hoping that I would get to meet Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson at Quilt Market and show them my latest project. I have emailed Laurie and Polly a couple of times when they were so nice to put photos and a link on their blog about Prudence. I was both nervous and excited about meeting the ladies behind the name. I needn't have worried as they were lovely. Laurie posed for a photo with me

And Polly signed a copy of her new book for me.

I am secretly hoping that one day I will be able to meet them again and show them my completed (new) Hexagon Quilt and who knows maybe Prudence might get to meet them in real life too.

The secret is out.....sorry Gail but this was the highlight of my trip!

Linda    :)   

PS. After reading Polly's book I now have added rug making to my list of things that I must make!

Mostly Moda

Friday was the first day of Market and OMG it was huge! But before the doors opened at 9.30am, I attended my first Teach and Take class at 8am. I enrolled in 3 different classes......one each morning.......Fat Quarter Log Cabin with Marti Mitchell (Friday), Button Stacking 101 (Saturday), and Big Stitch with Carolyn Forster (Sunday).

I started my trek up and down the aisles........34 in total of which I only visited 2/3rds on the first day. Time ran out and so did my legs! Here are some of the photos that I took around the Moda area of the Market.

The Moda stand was massive and I couldn't get it all in the one photo. It was surrounded by many of their designer booths including

Figtree Quilts:

Sandy Gervais ........remember I ordered her Christmas range 'Merry Melody' which is due in June / July. Sandy told me that she is currently working on her new Christmas range for next year!

Kansas Trouble Quilters (sorry about the extra bods in the photo)

Sweetwater:

Me and My Sister:

There is also another very special photo that I want to share with you but I will save that one for it's own post tomorrow.

But before I sign off I want to tell you that we also attended the Moda Customer Thank You Dinner on the Friday night after Market closed at 6pm. It was just a small gathering of me and 1,499 of my closest friends.

A 3 course dinner and entertainment.

Linda     :)

 

 

 

Back to School

A major part of the Spring Quilt Market has to be the Schoolhouse classes. On the Thursday morning I collected my booklet of all of the classes that were being offered.......there were pages and pages to choose from with classes held every 15 - 30 minutes. Somehow I managed to select classes held in opposite ends of the Convention Centre so I had to race between the rooms. The first Schoolhouse was at 10.20am with the final one at about 4.30pm.......some were interesting and others not so. I also volunteered to help Helen Stubbings (Hugs and Kisses) at her 2 Schoolhouse sessions.
She had a great turnout.

While I was at the Schoolhouse classes, Gail was busy setting up her booth and getting ready for the opening on the Market on the Friday. Here is what her booth looked like.

 

Back tomorrow with more photos.

Linda    :)

Fabric fix....US style

Well we arrived home safe but very tired after three flights and many hours of waiting in airports. I wanted to stay awake as long as I could yesterday to try and get my body back into the Australian time zone but by the time 8pm arrived I just had to go to bed. And boy did I miss my bed! All snuggled in it took me about 2 minutes and I was asleep.......11.5 hours later I felt refreshed and ready to head back to the shop. So now it is time to start sharing some of the photos and stories about my trip with you all........now where to start?  I have already told you about the first few days in my post on the 15th May so I will pick up the story on Wednesday 16th May.

We had to move motels so we packed up our bags (including my empty suitcase) and took a taxi to our new 'home' The Crowne Plaza. It was a lovely motel and only a very short walk to the Convention Centre where the Quilt Market was. After we checked in we met up with 3 wonderful American ladies who Gail had met through blogging and facebook....... Roseann, Melissa and Kelly Ann. Roseann chauffered us around in her lovely jeep and it was quite weird being on the 'wrong' side of the road.

Our first stop was a beautiful shop called The Quilters Station.
Oh how I wish I had more room in my shop to stock more fabric!
Look at all of the lovely greens.

Next stop......after we dragged Gail away.....was the Quilters Haven store.
It was light and cheery with lots of bright colours.

I was certainly glad that Roseann (and her gps) knew where she was going as I had absolutely no idea which direction we were heading in.........but we ended up at Harpers next.......another beautiful shop.
Do you really need more fabric Gail.......cause you are not putting it in my empty suitcase.....lol! We enjoyed a lovely lunch across the road at the Great Day Cafe and then hit the road again to visit the fabric, scrapbooking, wool and giftware shop called Urban Crafts.
I wonder who that is at the counter with Roseann?

After a refreshing drink and a photo shot of the Kansas City skyline
we ventured acoss the road to a dog store.........and inside were these treats

Dog biscuits! I wonder whether Lister would enjoy eating these.........I'm sure they wouldn't last very long at all!

On the return trip back to the Crowne Plaza we enlightened our new US friends about certain Australian wildlife ie. huntsman spiders and snakes........ I am not sure whether they are keen to visit us anytime soon!

Linda    :)

Getting ready to leave

I know that I have only posted once since I arrived in the US but I promise I have lots to tell and show you all when I get home. I am using my phone for facebook and checking emails, but I am unable to upload photos into my blog posts. I didn't want to bore you all with lots of words and no pretty pictures so I will save them for future posts.
We are spending our last night in Kansas City before we catch our first of 3 flights at 2.35pm tomorrow (Tuesday 22nd) afternoon. It has been a great experience but I will be glad to get home to Russell and my own bed........but not the cows!
Linda :)

While the boss is away........

we are having a mini 

SALE

Yes that is right! While Linda is away in Kansas City there will be 10% off all stock on Thursday 17th May through to Sunday 20th May. Call in and check it out...... 11am to 4pm each day.

Jodie (& Russell)   ;) 

Reporting in from Kansas City

Hi from the big US of A. Gail and I have recovered from our big day on Saturday....and I am really glad that we have got another 8 days before we do it all again. There was only one little hiccup at Dallas when Gail lost me! Well I wasn't lost.....I knew exactly where I was......in a customs check line which saw me queued for about one hour in a sealed and separate room.......like on Border Security. And why? Because I put that I had been on a farm and had been in touch with farm livestock....I was being honest and in the end the officer was very good and my bags were just xrayed and I was on my way. But in the meantime Gail was just a 'little' bit worried and even had me paged! She looked very relieved when I appeared. Lucky we had allowed plenty of time for our flight to KC.
Yesterday was of course Mothers Day and everywhere we went people were wishing us happy holiday which was lovely......strange but lovely. We visited the River Market area which included the farmers market and the fabulous Antique Mall. We made a couple of purchases and wished that our bags were bigger. A Sunday afternoon bus ride out to the Blue Ridge Walmart Store provided some very cheap entertainment.......all for a $1.50 fare. The city streets were very quiet.....quite different to Melbourne on a Sunday. Today we expected lots of people and traffic but were again surprised by how quiet and empty it felt. We trekked around the city trying to find some shopping centres but didn't find anything that compared to what we have at home. So this afternoon we took another entertaining one hour bus ride to The Legends Shopping Centre. The people on the bus were friendly and we chatted with a guy who kept us amused and informed for most of the trip. A bit disappointed again but did manage to find and buy a couple of things. Maybe we are suffering withdrawals from Patchwork Shops.......we have a big Patchwork Shop tour planned for Wednesday but maybe we can visit a couple tomorrow.
Have felt really safe......except tonight on the news the police found a body on fire near Brooklyn and 19th........not sure how close that is to here but don't think we will be going out after dark!
Linda :)
Apologies for a photoless post but I am using my phone and can't upload any photos.

We're here!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we have arrived safe and sound in Kansas City after about 28 hours on the go and 3 flights. A few small hiccups but all worked out okay in the end.
Linda :)

Up up and away

Last December when Gail invited me to attend the Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City USA it seemed like so long to wait. Now it feels like the 5 months have disappeared into thin air. This afternoon I head to Melbourne to stay the night prior to catching the first of 3 flights early tomorrow morning. I haven't even packed my suitcases yet.......everything is organised (I think) and just needs to be checked and loaded. I made 2 new skirts and a new satchel bag last night.......yes I know 5 months to do it and I wait til the last night! Yesterday I had a visit from Lenora ....... it was great to catch up and sit and chat and have a rest even if it was only for a little while. Lenora also gave me a gift for Gail and I to share.

Inside were lots of nice goodies.

I hope that we will not need the Panadol.....and the hand cream will make my hands nice and soft (and so will not milking cows for a fortnight.....yay!). Ummm not sure that Gail will get to see any of the chocolate.....I will have to taste test as I don't want her to get sick! When I told Russell about the lovely survival pack that Lenora had given us he asked whether there were any condoms in it!!!!!!!!!! ....... NO!

While I am away Jodie will once again be running the shop for me. It seems like she has been there more than me lately! So why not pop in and say hi and check out some of the new stock that has arrived:

The pre cuts for 'Independence Trail' arrived yesterday..... Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes for $44 each and Charm Packs for $15 each.

Pinky Hanky Linen and Red Hanky Linen are $22 per metre. (Don't forget there is also white, beige and taupe too.)

White Shapeform is a woven fusible interlining which can be used for bags, sewing and other craft items. 112cm wide and is $16.00 per metre.

Well that's it from me.........I hope to be able to do some blog posts and facebook updates while I am away so stay tuned. Off to pack my bags :)

Linda   :) 

PS. Here is the photo I took yesterday afternoon of the extension. There was quite a bit of activity on site yesterday and it is starting to take shape.

I'm sure it will look quite different when I get back......well I hope it does! I have asked Russell to take some photos while I am away.

Independence Trail

is the new range of fabric by Minick and Simpson.
When Rhys showed me the fabric samples last week I couldn't help myself and I ordered the full range.

 
But wait there's more........Polly and Laurie have also designed a beautiful range of 24 woollen fabrics

I ummed and ahhed........I really love them - 8 reds, 8 blues & 8 neutrals.......but should I?........so before Rhys throttled me I ordered the collections......1 yard of each.......ooohh and more of the red check because I think a skirt or coat would look great made from it! But before you get too excited it won't be arriving until August, which will give me time to work out where I am going to fit it......lol!

Linda    :)