Gum Valley Patchwork

Last fling of Spring

We are nearing the end of Spring with Summer to officially start on Monday. Today's weather was beautiful so I decided to leave the front door of the shop open. I usually regret doing this as so many flies find their way in......don't ask me how they do but they just do. Lister was also enjoying the Spring weather and was practising being a speed hump at the door.

I love how dogs just lay down and sleep wherever and whenever the mood grabs them......on the track, on the lawn, in the carpark, on the ramp and in the door way......what a life!

Linda    :)

'Pressed Flowers'

I picked up this pattern when I was at Spring Market in the US in May. I bought ten of them back with me and waited patiently for the lovely 'Persimmon' fabric to arrive in the shop. I love this range and I think that it really suits the pattern.

I decided to add a couple of extra borders to make the quilt just a little bit bigger.......would fit a single bed.

The kits will be available soon and will include the extra instructions & fabric for the extra borders. I know technically it isn't finished, but for the purposes of 'the one project a week prior to AQC pledge', I think that it fits in.

Linda    :)

 

 

TBT#5

It's Thursday again so that means one thing.....TBT. Since I started doing TBT I can't beleive how fast the weeks go by. This is #5 already! This week I turn back the pages to when I was about 19 or 20. We were in Melbourne and while I worked at the SECV, Russell was doing his Fitting & Turning Apprenticeship at the Naval Dockyards in Williamstown. Every month or so we would go out with the guys (and their girlfriends) that Russell was doing his apprenticeship with. It was mainly to restaurants around the western suburbs but on this occassion we went to Bunratty Castle for a medieval feast and show. The photographer would come around and take the usual photos for you to buy at the end of the night and this is mine.

Don't I look young! No glasses (hated wearing them when I went out), makeup and long hair......yes I did have longer hair once upon a time. Russell just commented......"Gee you were good looking then".............Well Mr White, I have a photo of a very young and good looking you too........but I am going to keep that one as bribery!

Linda    :)

And he is still smiling.

Since it is less than a month until Christmas I decided to spend the day shopping........I do not have a lot to buy so I was hoping to get the whole lot wound up and finished in one day. Hmmm......well that didn't happen did it! I get so easily distracted buying things for me and the garden and the shop. I must admit I had a fun day and should be able to wrap it all up next time I hit the shops. 

Russell also had a fun day today. He had the day off work to attend a Rural Finance Corporation talk in Port Campbell......sounds boring as bat shite doesn't it!? Well it wasn't........the guest speaker was the one and only Jane Bunn.....everyones' favourite weather presenter. She is a qualified meteorologist and has recently signed up with Channel Seven to present their weather. Russell took a friend (and fellow Jane Bunn 'groupie') along for the day. Both Bob and Russell learnt lots.......lots about the weather, that Jane is taller and thinner than she looks on TV, that she is prettier in real life, and that she is a friendly and lovely lady. She even lined up for photos........

(This is a guy who hates getting his photo taken and hates it even more when I put them on the blog. But he never hestitated when I said that I would blog about his day.......he was quite happy for me to do it......lol!)

All jokes aside, Russell was very impressed with Jane and he said that he now understands the weather a lot more. 

Linda    :)

 

Drum Roll please............

I am pleased to announce that I have booked one of the guest tutors for the 2016 Stitch in Spring at Port Campbell........Leanne Knell from Petals & Patches has jumped at the chance to come along. I didn't have to ask her twice.....lol! I have known Leanne for a number of years so it will be lovely to have her join us.

I also promised to tell you about a new BOM that I will be running next year. It has been designed by Leanne and is made from the new range called 'Pocketful of Daisies' by Lynette Anderson, which arrived in the shop last week.  The new BOM is called Daisy Meadows and will run for 7 months.

The quilt incorporates applique, stitchery and machine piecing. The quilt was hot off the machine so hasn't been quilted as yet.

The price is $22 per month and includes the fabric, Cosmo threads, Staflex, Pattern and Binding.......great value for a beautiful quilt.

As soon as Leanne sends me the patterns, I will be stitching up a sample for the shop, kitting the blocks up as I go. I will show you some progress blog posts along the way, but if you definitely know that you would like to sign up, please let me know.

Linda   :)

AQM Day 2

As promised I am back to tell you about a few of my purchases for the Shop. I have already mentioned about the fabric ranges that I ordered on Saturday, but here is a photo of the lovely Charm Packs and Jelly Rolls from the 'Mill Book Series' range.

I only have 12 11 Charm Packs and 4 Jelly Rolls at this stage, but more will come with the fabric next year.

We have so many talented designers in Australia and it was great to catch up with so many of them  over the weekend.

You all know that I have finished Natalie's BOM quilt, and it is with Wendy at the moment getting quilted. I love Natalie's work so when I saw her new release projects I had to have them........her new Christmas Wall Hanging pattern and a new Hexagon quilt pattern. They will arrive late this week / early next week, but here is a snippet of the Christmas pattern.

Another talented Australian designer who has wonderful designs is Annie Downs from Hatched and Patched. A few years ago I had some of her gorgeous notepads, and I was excited to see that she had packs available to buy and take home (certainly saves on postage). There are 7 designs and they would make a great little Christmas gift or stocking stuffer.

I have some of Annie's patterns on the way, but I also bought some of her crushed walnut shells which are great for pincushions. I only have 10 bags of the 2 cup size and they sell for $6.70 a bag.

I caught up with Janet Rowe from Wildcraft Farms. Janet was kind enough to lend me lots of her samples for AQC last April, and it was lovely to see her back at AQM after quite a few years away. I stock Janet's 'Quilt in a Card' and 'Kit in a Card' patterns, and they too make great gifts for stitchers. I have placed an order to top up my stock for the coming festive and holiday season. I did bring home 4 copies of her newly released 'Believe' pattern book.

The quilt is lovely made up in the reds/pinks, but it would also look fabulous in other colours too.

I came home with more packets of Helen's fusible hexagon shapes in 1/2", 1" & 1 1/2". Helen is in the process of producing other fusible shapes which will be available early next year. These include more hexagon sizes, clam shells, diamonds, apple cores plus more. I will be offering Helen's newly released Applique Club in the new year, but I will write a searate blog post about it.......so stay tuned for more details.

A visit to AQM would not be complete without catching up with friend Jodie (aka Mrs Ric Rac). It's always great to see her......even though she only lives in Ballarat, we have to go to Melbourne to see each other! Jodie is so generous and I came home with 2 new additions to my family of softies. The patterns are on their way, but in the meantime let me introduce.......D for Deer

and 'Mr Right' (whom I have already kissed as I love him to bits......and I am glad he didn't change into a Prince as I love frogs heaps more than princes!)

Jodie also gave me a lovely gift........but I have almost eaten them all so not a lot to show you there!

I also caught up with Marg Low who was our guest tutor at the Stitch in Spring last year, and I have ordered some of her lovely patterns too. In fact the Christmas Club ladies will be making one two of her projects next month, but don't worry I have ordered extras for those who aren't booked in.

I am going to leave it at that for today as it is time for me to cook dinner, but I will be back tomorrow with some exciting news about a new BOM and an announcement about a new tutor for the Stitch in Spring 2016!

Linda    :)

 

The numbers have worn off!

Even though I enjoy going to Melbourne it is always nice to get home.

I will be back again tomorrow for a wrap up of Day 2 at AQM and to give you a few peeks at some of my purchases. Off to put the credit card on ice to try and cool it down....it certainly had a work out today!

Linda    :)

Australian Quilt Market, Day 1

Every year the Australian Quilt Market is held in November in Melbourne. Don't panic you haven't missed out on some whizz bang Quilting extravaganza......it is a trade only show for wholesalers to exhibit and show off their products to retailers. Usually I only attend on the Saturday, but this year I had a long list of things I needed to look at and I decided to take my time and attend both days (Saturday & Sunday). Today I did a little bit of buying......a couple of new fabric ranges including Bonnie Sullivan's 'Flower Patch Flannels'.......(sorry about the photos but the lights were so bright)

They are due to arrive in April......just in time for some stitching for winter.

I also ordered the full range of the beautiful Mill Book Series Circa 1892 from Collections for a Cause by Howard Marcus for Moda. While this link isn't great it does give you an idea of what the range is like. I did manage to buy some Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs in the range to bring home with me, but have got more precuts on order which will arrive with the bolts in April next year. Unfortunately the falling AU$ (which is great for dairy farmers) has meant that the price of the precuts have gone up.

April is going to be sooo busy with deliveries next year! In fact the new range by Helen Stubbings might also be arriving then. Fancywork Box is so pretty AND it has greens.....yay! Helen is one of our guest tutors for the 2015 Stitch in Spring which is super exciting. I am looking forward to Helen's Show & Share Session tomorrow morning........she has released some new fusible precut shapes which are on my list to check out.

That's it for today for me. I have had an early dinner (which in itself was a drama), and now I am off to read up all of the literature in preparedness for a day of spending and trying not to melt the credit card.

Linda     :)

TBT #4

Last week Russell headed to Tasmania to be Chief Steward at the Tasmania State Titles for their Karting Association. He was away for 4 days and believe me it is no holiday for him. It usually takes him a couple of days to recover from these large meetings. No we are not milking cows anymore the pressure has been taken off me......I no longer have to shut up the shop and race home to milk the cows.......yay! This got me looking at an oldish photo of the one (and only time) that I had a 'race' in a go-kart. Prior to the track being built at Cobden, we would make the monthly trip to the Geelong Kart Track (which you can see from the Geelong bypass now) for their Club Day. Russell would race, the girls would play, we would have dinner in Geelong and then make the long drive home with tired and grumpy kids.......but it was fun. This photo was taken at their Christmas Club Day, I think in about 1995.

They decided to have a ladies race. I used Russell's go-kart and his race suit & helmet. I thought that I was going so fast.......you sit very close to the ground so it feels like you are speeding along. When I came in Russell told me (and I quote) "You go faster on the 4 wheel motorbike getting the cows than in the kart"! That was it.......I have never been in one again......certainly not for me......lol!

Linda    :)

'Lexie's Bag'

My plan for the next 5 months is to be so well prepared for AQC that I will be twiddling my thumbs in the week leading up to the show. So part A of the plan is to make (and kit) one new project a week.....whether it be an original design or one from another designer. I will also be working on some larger projects (like another BOM or 2) at the same time. So today I thought that I would show you project #1 'Lexie's Bag' that is almost ready......all that is missing are the handles and then it will be ready for a proper photo shoot.

I started it last Wednesday so I don't think I have done too bad so far. I need to write the pattern and cut & pack the kits.

The fabric that I have used is from the beautiful range called 'Lexington' by Minick & Simpson......probably one two of my favourite designers. I have about 25 of the fabrics from this range in the shop along with Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes and Charm Squares.

The bag kit will come with leather handles like these lovely green ones, but in navy blue.

I have placed a large order for the handles (Navy Blue, Black, Red & Light Green) from a supplier in China and I am hoping that they will be here within a couple of weeks. I will be selling the handles on their own also.

Linda    :)