Gum Valley Patchwork

40 years of Moda

Moda recently celebrated 40 years in the fabric business, and to commemorate this milestone they have released a very special fabric.

The selvedge looking print list many of the different Moda designers throughout the years as well as some of their ranges and the year of release. I took special note of 'Verna' by Kate Spain.......I stocked this fabric range and can't believe that it was way back in 2009......my time has really flown by! The fabric is listed on my website (here) and is $24 per metre......but don't um and arr about it for too long as I only have one bolt of 6.8m and once it's gone that's it........and I'm eyeing off a piece for my stash too!

Linda    :)

 

Silver Linings Shirtings

A new delivery is always exciting and everyone in always very keen to see what's inside the plastic.

I've had a little helper in the shop with me for a day, but after the Miss Georgia had gone I decided to unpack all of the lovely new bolts from the 'Silver Linings Shirtings' range from Laundry Basket Quilts.

These fabrics will make great backgrounds for applique projects, give you another option for stitchery blocks, or maybe some light value fabrics for a machine piecing project.

With 28 bolts in the range there is sure to be something there for every project! Check out these cute dog prints......

They are $24 per metre and all loaded up on my online shop here.

Linda   :)

Farmers Wife Stitch Along.....Day 1

Today was the first gathering of my our Farmers Wife Stitch Along Group. I have set the dates for the whole year and hopefully we will see some good progress towards making our own versions of this beautiful quilt. Anne has already started with about 26 blocks completed. She is stitching all of hers by hand.......you see Anne has a little bit of a love/hate relationship with her sewing machine and prefers hand stitching. She has a kindred spirit in Sandra, who after being given the book as a gift has also decided to hand piece her blocks. Jodie and Michelle have chosen to do the 1930's version of the quilt.......and even though there was a little bit of frustration at the start of the day, they were soon getting into making their blocks.....by machine. Jodie is using some beautiful Liberty fabrics and Michelle is using 1930's prints......both purchased through Lenora at Elm Grove Patchwork. Shirley cut out about 8 blocks ready for stitching by machine, while Betty is going to use her template sets and is thinking about hand stitching her blocks together.......another kindred spirit for Anne and Sandra. And that leaves me......as much as I love hand piecing as it is very accurate, I have decided to machine piece my blocks. I have also decided to cut as many of the blocks as I can using my rotary cutter.....assisted by a graph pad, pencil and maths. 

 So by the end of the day I had made my first 5 blocks.......

Four during the day and one after the ladies had left......and I would have made more but I had to stop and cook dinner. I think that everyone enjoyed the day and are looking forward to the next get together. I wonder how many blocks will be finished by next month.

Linda    :)

Yes I have ordered Christmas fabrics

I know I know.....it's barely a month since we were all drinking and eating too much and having fun with family and friends around the Christmas tree, but these things have to be done early otherwise we miss out. I must admit that I do only have two designers that I stick with for my Christmas fabrics........both are Moda designers......the first is Sandy Gervais and the other is 3 Sisters......this year I have decided to order 'Midnight Clear' by 3 Sisters.

Traditional Christmas fabrics which I do love.....but don't panic they won't be arriving until June so you have plenty of time to get organised!

While Rhys was showing me the new ranges I also fell in love with the new Bonnie and Camille range called 'Little Ruby'. Some of you might remember their range 'Ruby' which was out a couple of years ago.....well the talented Mother / Daughter team have decided to release a whole new miniature versions of these popular prints. But don't get excited I didn't order the range of cottons (sad face)............but I did order the range of 'Little Ruby' Flannels (happy face)!

Sixteen pretty prints in flannel which will be arriving in May.

Linda    :)

From little things

From little things I am hoping that big things grow.

The plants took a little while to get going and I thought that I might have been wasting my time but all of a sudden they took off....clinging to everything as they creep along the ground. There are quite a few little ones appearing along the long leaders.

Their biggest 'enemy' at the moment will be the weather......part of me wants an early Autumn with rain and cool weather.......the rest of me wants some nice hot weather for my watermelons to grow and ripen. Either way I'm having fun watching them.

Linda   :)

I'm wild.....

Yes I am angry......angry enough to swear on facebook but not my blog as my Mum reads this and I don't swear in front of my Mum. Most of my regular followers will know that we grow apples. We have about 260 trees growing for Russell for his apple cider........last year he made quite a few hundred stubbies and he is still drinking it. In 'my' orchard I grow a number of varieties for eating, cooking, and of course my Apple Pies. (Last year I blogged about the varieties that we grow.) Last year we were eating apples months after the last one fell from the tree.......this year will be the opposite. This is what I discovered late this afternoon on my way to water the vegetable garden.

We have been having a lot of trouble with the Black Cockatoos getting into our apple trees. They are large 'beautiful' birds with powerful beaks.....and this is what they look like.

We have had them in the cider apple orchard but when 6 flew out of my orchard I knew that there wouldn't be much left.

They crack the immature apples open, eat the pips from the centre, and drop the rest on the ground.

And it's not just the ones that they crack open that are wasted.....they knock others off the tree at the same time.

They also break off pieces of the branches, and as apples fruit on 2 year old wood this takes away the possibility of apples for next season as well.

So I think that you can see why I am so upset. They had already cleaned up my Snow Apples a couple of weeks ago and now I have very few Cox's Orange Pippins left and the Jonathons are all but gone. I know that they will be back so I don't hold much hope for an apple harvest. Funny enough they have left the Gravensteins alone......these might be our only Apple Pie apples this year.  As the Black Cockatoos are a native bird they are protected, so apart from Russell firing some warning shots in the air, I can only try and net the remaining Golden Delicious apples before they fall victim. Meanwhile I'm a nervous wreck as each time I hear their very distinctive call I'm out the back door looking around to see where they are. The cider orchard is a big problem as it is so large netting would cost a fortune.

The cider making this year will be limited.......maybe we will be back picking roadside apples again.......that's if they haven't been got too!

Linda    :)

 

Peaing time

This year we decided to plant all of our peas at the same time.....no staggered plantings for a continuous crop......3 rows all at once. After last years' messy row of peas, Russell erected some trellis for this years' plants to climb on......and climb on them they did and up and over the top.......note to self : make the trellis twice as high! We have had a couple of feeds of peas so far but the main aim of planting so many at once is so that we can blanch and freeze them for use over the cooler months. This afternoon I went out and picked and picked and picked........and filled my container.

And then we podded them all.

Next came the blanching........we had a great system worked out and they were done in no time at all. Eight bags of peas ready for the freezer.

I can see that this will become a regular activity in our house for quite a few weeks as the peas are loaded with developing pods of green goodness. We are hoping to freeze enough to last us for quite a few months........well that's the plan!

Linda    :)


 

I've made a start

A couple of weeks ago while I was having a little shuffle around in the shop I noticed that I am getting quite low in some of my small kits that I have available. Anyone that visits my shop will know that I design and kit up lots of small projects that range in price from about $12 up to $28........purses, journal covers, balls, table runners, table centres, bags etc.......some of them are also pre cut so all of the 'hard' work is done and all you have to do is stitch. Then I realised that AQC is under 3 months away so I thought that the time was right to get designing, stitching and kitting some new projects and maybe just a few new versions of some old favourites. The first project completed is this new version of my zippered pouch. This time I have used the lovely new Tilda fabric, some fusible pentagons and a pretty lace zipper. The 'Sweetheart Zippered Pouch' could be used for anything you like! Kits will be available soon for just $20 each.

The next little project is my 'Nellie's Needlebook', again made with Tilda fabric along with some fusible 1/2" hexagons, a little embroidery and machine piecing.

You also might like to personalise it so that no-one pinches it on you.........unless of course they have the same initials........isn't that right Granny Loz! These kits will also be available soon for just $15 each. Both would make great gifts......it's never too early to start on those Christmas Swaps!

Now what will I make next?

Linda     :)

Scrap bags

Last weekend I decided that enough was enough! I had boxes and tubs of off cuts and scraps.......left over from making shop samples including Block of the Months........left over from making up kits for Material Girls Clubs, Christmas Clubs, Shop, AQC and Quilt Shows........left over from projects that never quite made it through to the kitting stage. More than I could ever use........

So out came the scales and the plastic bags and I have sorted and weighed and bagged up some great combinations of fabric scraps. They are ideal for applique, hexagons, scrap quilts, etc etc. All bags weigh between 500g and 620g........in all different sized pieces of fabric.

I have bags of flannel, bags of red fabric, bags of creams, and greens, and Christmas themed, French General bags, Brights and pastels.....too hard to describe them all and too hard to list on the website.......in fact there were 38.......but now 36 available. Priced at $25, they are great value so please check them out next time you call in.......that's if they are still around!

Now to start filling that tub again........

Linda     :)

Simply Christmas No.4

We have only just had Christmas and still haven't cleared the credit card and here we are talking about a new Christmas Book! Gail Pan has been very busy designing and stitching 8 new Christmas projects for her latest booklet in her series 'Simply Christmas'.

Great value at just $19.80.

Gail will have the books ready for shipping early next week and I have placed my order. If you would like to order one please let me know, or you can pre-order online by clicking here.

Linda    :)