Gum Valley Patchwork

Stitching for a mission

Today I attended a sewing bee with a difference. It was organised by Debbie from The Simpson & District Community Centre who came up with the idea of making quilts from polar fleece off cuts. The off cuts were donated by Linda from Jumpsuit Jamas. Linda runs a local business that makes onsies / jumpsuits from high quality polar fleece in numerous colours and sizes. She donated the normally discarded off cuts to the Community Centre for the quilts which will be donated to the Melbourne City Mission in their work with the homeless and disadvantaged.
Although there were only eight of us, we managed to make our way through most of the two huge bags of fleecy. We completed 2 quilts, another is almost done, and there are more blocks stitched ready to start a fourth.
We doubled the polar fleece so they will be very warm and are sure that they will be appreciated by whoever receives them. 

Linda   :

Email Newsletter

Over the past few years I have been building up my database of email addresses so that I can keep everyone up to date with the happenings of Gum Valley Patchwork. I have decided to formalise the way I do this, so I recently signed up with Mail Chimp which is an email newsletter 'service'. Two newsletters have already gone out and I have received some great feedback on them. However, I have noticed that there are some ladies who have not opened them. I am concerned that the newsletter may be going straight into some peoples Junk folders. So if you normally get my emails and haven't received the new newsletters please check and add me to your safe senders list. Or if you would like to start getting them please send me an email and I will add your address to my database. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Linda    :)

A change is as good as a holiday......

yeah right!

But I gave it a go anyway and it does look nice.........
What do you think?

Don't forget my Sale continues tomorrow through to Sunday with 20% off all stock. It was lovely to catch up with Tammy, Effie and Joan who are all looking forward to coming along to the Stitch in Spring day in September. And as always it was great to see Janine and the other ladies who braved the not so nice weather to grab some bargains........don't worry they didn't buy everything and there is plenty left.......lol!

Linda    :) 

Celebration Sale

The new extension at the shop is finished (well except for a little painting) and to celebrate the completion of the new classroom I am having a Sale......yippee! There will be 20% off all stock on Thursday 26th through to Sunday 29th July, 11am to 4pm. Yes that's tomorrow through to Sunday! Come along and have a look at the room. Enjoy a cuppa and biscuit and check out what's on offer in the shop. I have also had a little rearrange which I hope you will like. New stock is arriving all the time so if you haven't been out for a visit in a while maybe this is a great opportunity to come for a drive.

Linda   :)  

Happy Birthday Mum

Today is a special day.

75 years ago today my Mum was born.

And without her I wouldn't be here!

So last night we had a family dinner to celebrate the occassion.

The four big kids

The four grandkids

Plenty of food and even a grandson-in-law or two (is there such a word?)

Some flowers on the table.......Not a bad job as I didn't have many flowers in the garden to work with  (though I think it looks like it should be on a coffin.....lol!)

And of course a birthday cake

It was a great night.........Happy Birthday Mum.

Linda xx

 

Half way through

We are half way through Winter already and I do hope that the second half goes just as fast as the first six weeks. Love it or hate it, it is one of those seasons that we have to have. The rain fills our tanks and dams, flushes out the creeks and rivers, saturates the soil in preparation for a bountiful growth of grass when Spring eventually arrives.
The cold and wet will make us appreciate the warmer days too. During Winter my farm jobs are many but the most important one at the moment is looking after these scallywags.....
Do you know how hard it is to take a photo of calves? Well this was photo number 20 I think! And then there is my attire. There is no way to look attractive, stay warm, clean and dry at this time of the year without the full kit and kaboodle.

Unflattering, unglamourous, with a touch of beanie hair.........that's me!

Linda    :)

No brainer

No prizes for guessing how I have been spending my 'days off'.

Only a little bit more to do.....yay!

Linda   :)

So glad the weekend is over

I don't often say this as I usually love the weekend as I spend it at the shop. But the last 4 days has been so very cold as the heater in the downstairs area of the shop decided on Thursday morning not to work. It was actually warmer outside than in the shop! So apologies to everyone who had to shiver their way around while looking at fabric. As the heater upstairs was working I spent most of the time up in the classroom stitching.......not a bad alternative I guess. I whizzed up this bunting out of some of the bright Ruby fabric.........

all 11 metres of it. I used some ready made bias which made the job super easy. So what is it for? Well the extension is now painted and as I mentioned in my last post the floor coverings will go down on Tuesday. Then it will be the skirting boards and arcs, power & lights, and the new reverse cycle airconditioner / heater. So big celebrations are planned for the 26th - 29th July, and you can't have a celebration without decorations and a Sale! I will post more details when I have worked them all out.

I have also started stitching some secret squirrel stuff..........the thing I will say is that I need to make 70 of them!

Linda    :) 

Getting closer

The extension continues to progress quite well and the plumbers were back today to put more of the corrugated iron on the walls as well as some other jobs. I snapped this photo as we were leaving this afternoon (prior to the guttering going on).

 
The plasterer finished his part of the project yesterday so Russell and I started the painting today.

 
It is a big room and after a visit from my sister Cathryn on Sunday, I have decided to take her advice and paint the whole room (ceiling and walls) the one colour........boring I know but my sanity is worth more to me than having a white ceiling! With all of those angles where does the ceiling start and finish
.....too much cutting in for me (and Russell)! So today we sealed the plaster
and tomorrow we will put the first coat of paint on. The floor coverings are going down next Tuesday so we are certainly getting closer to having the room finished. Fingers crossed for the end of July!

Linda    :)

Look who the Sharon delivered.

A parcel was delivered by our very lovely postwoman today

Look who was eager to get out before I had a chance to open the box properly

Steady on Dozer..........
Isn't he fabulous! Dozer is the latest beginner pattern from Jodie and will be available very soon. Also hidden in the box was this cute little Teapot Pincushion
It is a new Creative Card and will also be in stock very soon.

Well I must rush off to the dairy and get done before I scoot off to the last Material Girls Club class tonight. Russell said that there is nothing on TV so he is going to watch a movie he recorded last night called "Dawn of the Dead". From what I saw of it last night I am soooo glad that I will be spending the evening with 7 lovely ladies instead of flesh eating zombies!

Linda     :)  

PS. Thanks so much to Jodie for sending me these wonderful samples.......I am so lucky........love them!