Gum Valley Patchwork

Christmas Sale

It's that time of the year again when I have my Annual Christmas Sale.

It starts with a special opening tomorrow night from 5pm to 8pm, and then continues Thursday through to Sunday 3rd December, 11am to 4pm each day. There is 20% off all stock......the new and the not so new. There is even 20% off the Specials fabrics ($12/m) and the Bargain Bundles, and if you finish a bolt of fabric it's double discount.....20% off for finishing the bolt and 20% for my Sale. It really is Christmas at Gum Valley Patchwork! There are a few things not included.....Block of the Months, the purchase of gift vouchers and lay-bys.....but that's it!

Oh and if you spend $30 or more (after the discount) you get to pick a fat quarter from the Christmas Basket.

Ho ho ho!

Linda    :)

Give me an A, give me a Q, give me an M..........AQM.......yay!

Here in Australia we have one Quilting wholesale trade show a year. It is a relatively small show, but it does provide a great opportunity for us retailers to see most of our suppliers all in the one location all on the one weekend. It was held on the weekend in Melbourne and I always attend on the Saturday. Accommodation usually isn't an issue but you always know when there is something big on in the city as the room prices go up........and boy there must've been something on! I found out on Saturday morning that the Australian All Star Cheer and Dance Championship Nationals were on........over 1,200 teams and 10,000 athletes competing over 3 days and nights.......all at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre next door to AQM. It was a sea of lycra costumes, pony tails, make-up and glitz.......at the competition......not at AQM!  We were a much more subdued lot with all things quilting on our minds.....not a dance move to be seen.

I always get to meet up with fellow quilt shop owners and designers, and it was lovely to sit and chat with my good friend Gail Pan.......boy that was the quickest one and a half hours ever! I also stopped by Leanne's beautiful stand and couldn't resist some of her new patterns.

They should be arriving later in the week. Oh and happy birthday to Leanne for today.......hope you get some wind down time after such a hectic weekend.......and cake!

I stopped by and checked out the gorgeous Tilda display

and am so excited to say that 'Sun Kiss' will be arriving in the shop in April.

That will make 6 full ranges of new fabrics due in the first 4 - 5 months of 2018.....eeek!!!

Aside from the usual restocking of wadding, notions and supplies, I ordered some goodies for the ladies attending the Stitching by the Sea Retreat next March. It's always fun sourcing little bits and bobs for the goody bags. I was also taken by a new concept from Claire Turpin Designs called Pick & Mix. Claire is known for her quirky cushion designs. She has now come out with some quilt patterns and a template that when combined with a cushion pattern makes a quilt. You just pick and mix the designs!

To save a lot of confusion I have just selected 2 of the quilt designs and 3 of the cushion patterns, but I can always order any of the others in. These should be arriving early next week, and I am looking forward to making up a shop sample over the coming weeks.

The PK Fabrics Pre-cut stand is always a popular first stop on the Saturday morning and I was lucky enough to pick up a fat 1/4 bundle of the Home Sweet Home fabric range, which isn't due in the shop until March, but this will give me the opportunity to get some samples done early......well that's the plan! 

Can you find me?

I'm off to find some room for all of the new goodies that will be arriving!

Linda    :)

"Sycamore' Table Centre

For our homemade Kris Kringle at our Christmas get together on Sunday, I chose to make a table centre. Because we didn't know who would be getting our gift, I decided to make it out of the new 'Sycamore' fabric range by Jan Patek Quilts.......this way it would suit either a man or a woman. And because I wanted to keep one as a shop sample, I made two!

My gift was picked by Craig.........phew!

I now have kits made up......pre-cut and ready to stitch! They are listed on my website here for $25 each.

Linda    :)

It only took three years

We have been living at the shop now for just over three years and to tell you the truth, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. There were a few things that we had to do before we moved in.......put in a shower, built a garage and erected a clothes line. There was of course one more thing.....a mail box. So as a 'temporary' measure Russell put a 20 litre blue plastic drum on a pine pole. It's been three years.........three birthdays of me saying "do you know what I would like for my birthday".........and three replies of "yeah I know.....a mailbox". Late October I saw this old tin dog kennel pop on on one of those Buy, swap and sell facebook pages and I had the bright idea that it would make a perfect mailbox. Large enough to put medium sized parcels in.......you see we live 24km from our Post Office and if they can fit the parcel in your mailbox they have to deliver it. I did ask Russell what he thought......I tend to be the ideas one and poor Russell has to work out the 'how to' parts!   Three words men hate to hear.........I've been thinking.......lol! So we went to Cobden, parted with $30, and came home with the kennel on the back of the ute.

It had been lined with corflute, possibly for insulation......I pity the poor dog who ever had to live in this sweat box. Russell cleaned it out, cut a larger opening, spray painted it, stuck the numbers on, welded up the pole, dug the hole, and mixed the 8 bags of ready set concrete. I lined it with some contact and added the water to the wheelbarrow for the concrete.........I told you that I am the ideas person! We bolted the mailbox into position on Tuesday and yesterday it was christened by Jane our lovely mailperson......complete with a small box of goodies from New Gippsland Seedfarm.

The numbers are perfect too.......doesn't it look great! 

Now I just need to rip the other old mail box down.

Linda      :)

New books

A couple of weeks ago I placed an order for some new release books from Martingale in the US. They arrived on Friday but as they were at the Post Office I haven't had the chance to get in there......until this morning. It was a heavy bag containing 2 boxes of beautiful books. They are now unpacked and I have even listed them on my website. There are eight titles, 5 of which were recently released at Fall Quilt Market in Houston. They include.......'Patches of Blue' by Edyta Sitar

'Simple Harvest' by Kim Diehl

'Stitches from the Garden' & 'Stitches from the Harvest' by Kathy Schmitz

'Cozy Quilts and Comforts' by Lynne from Kansas Trouble Quilters

and 'Easy Layer-Cake Quilts' by Barb and Mary of Me and My Sister Designs.

I also have four copies of the beautiful '120 Original Embroidery Designs' by Yoko Saito.

You can check out these titles plus others on the Book page of my website.

Linda     :)

An early Christmas

Yesterday I blogged about part one of our weekend away.......and today is part two. When Russell booked his Jet Fighter Flight, it seemed like a perfect chance to have a family Christmas get together in Melbourne. All of the 'kids' and their partners live in Melbourne as does Cathryn. Christmas gets hard when kids grow up and have in-laws and extended family commitments, so it was so great that almost everyone agreed that Sunday 19th was a perfect day for our Goode extended family Christmas. Cathryn hosted it and it was perfect.....the setting, the weather, the food and especially the company. Hannah's annual bitches Christmas was a hit with the most sought after gift being the Christmas Fairy lights. I was very glad that everyone was distracted by the sparkly lights which kept them from stealing my Bertie Beetle Cooler Bag.....which I love by the way! we usually don't do gift giving......just for the little ones.....

oh and maybe the big kids by Auntie Andy! But this year I decided that it would be nice to have a handmade Kris Kringle and wow what can I say.....we are a talented bunch! There was a planter box, a chopping board, dried herbs and preserves, apple cider, preserved tuna, home baked goods and sweets, patchwork and other crafty stuff......I picked these gorgeous cup cakes made by Andy........they look too good to eat.....

but I will because I know how yummy they are!

Russell picked the photography gift from Craig.......and we all lined up for individual family photos as well as this lovely big group photo.

It was a lovely day and the best way to finish off a fantastic weekend. We headed for home with full hearts and full bellies.

Linda     :)

A bucket list tick

Late last year Russell received a Red Balloon gift voucher from Karting Australia as a thank you for being an official at all of the rounds of the Australian Kart Championships. Although Russell is reimbursed for his traveling, accommodation and meal costs, the time he spends undertaking his role is purely as a volunteer. It is both a physically and mentally draining job, with him often taking a full day to recover if he has had 3 days away interstate. Hannah had also given Russell a Red Balloon voucher and a couple of months ago he decided to check out and see what he could redeem them on......before they both expired. He shortlisted a few activities and he decided on what he wanted to do............a Top Gun Jet Fighter Flight. There was a 'little' bit of a gap in the price........I said " Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday'.......and Russell booked it! Fast forward to Saturday and we were on our way to the Wangaratta. It was an early start and a long drive, and we made it right on time.

After watching and then hearing about previous participants experiences I was extremely glad that I wasn't going to be the one up in the sky pulling 5g. After a flight and safety briefing, it was time to suit up......with sick bag in (unzipped) pocket.

Last minute briefing and all buckled in.......

and it was thumbs up from Russell

Russell decided to extend his flight from 15 minutes to 20 minutes and it didn't seem long before he was back on the ground......with sick bag is mint condition!

Although he wasn't sick he did feel queezy about 30 minutes after landing.......which is apparently quite normal. Of course we had to buy the video.......do you think he enjoyed himself?

He was even smiling upside down!

It is something that he has always wanted to do.....a bucket list tick.....big time. And me?.......I am just happy to watch the video!

Linda     :)

What a difference

I have been trying to get some book work done for the past 3 days but haven't been too successful so far. On Monday I was all set and bam! our nbn went down. I decided that while I was in an angry mood I would do some housework and have a bit a lot of a tidy up. I must admit that I was pretty pleased with my day's work........even though the book work was still not done. Yesterday.......as it was going to be a hot one........I decided to mow the lawns first and then get stuck into it. Unfortunately I had a whoopsy with the mower......again (same thing happened last week).....with the cutting deck coming off and getting wedged under the mower. Worse still was it was out on the side of the road and Russell wasn't due home until later.

I retreated inside to once again make a start on the book work.........I was getting right into it when Russell came home early as he was finished work for the day. We moved the mower off the roadside and decided to pop in to Colac. While Russell was getting his hair cut I picked up my new quilt from Clever Ducks Quilting. Wendy had finished custom quilting it and it looks beautiful! 

 What was the point in going home too early? We went out for an early dinner and then saw Murder on the Orient Express.

So lets try third time lucky.........with the mower back together I finished what I didn't do yesterday......and yay it stayed in one piece! I have done my accounts........well that's one tick. Even though I still have the Show books to do as well as our 'farm' accounts, I am updating my website.....popping up some new kits, updating my homepage blurb and the photos on the slide show. I came across this old photo taken on the 3rd May 2008. 

Nine and a half years later it looks like this....

 

Not quite the same angle but I think that there are a few differences!

Enough procrastinating........it's back to the books......well at least until Pointless comes on the telly!

Linda     :)

Better than crappy bunting

I recently 'volunteered' to make Hannah some Christmas Bunting........she asked whether Emma or I would make it for her as the ones that you can get on Ebay were "all so crappy".  Emma was relieved that I had said yes to the request as she said that her stash wasn't big enough.........hmmmm.......will have to fix that!!!! I pulled out some green, red and cream fabrics.........not all Christmas fabrics........and fused them to some heavy weight interfacing. This was so that.... 1. I didn't have to the flags double sided, and 2. it would make them stiffer. I stitched along 2 edges.....just in case the interfacing came adrift.

It was then time to pink the edges......the off cuts were so pretty!

And finally the pre-made bias tape for the top. Although it is an orange / red colour, it still works well. All up about 19m of Christmas bunting in 2 lengths.

It will be on display in the Mitchell Shire's Social Club Marque at the Kilmore Races in late November. If  it looks good.....I made it. If it looks crappy......Hannah bought it off Ebay!

Linda   :)

 

Chock a block full of fabric goodness

The first few months of 2018 will be chock full of new fabrics arriving at Gum Valley Patchwork.  'Farmhouse Reds' in January along with the cute 'Guess how much I love you' Flannels.

February will see the full range of 'Garden Delights II' arrive.

As I mentioned on Friday, the cute prints from Stacy Iest Hsu's 'Home Sweet Home' range will arrive in March, followed closely by 'Jardin de Versailles' by French General in April. I have also placed an order for a limited number of these Swell Christmas Quilt Kits by Urban Chicks for Moda.........arriving in May......which seems like forever away!

I think that this will see me very busy for quite a few months!

All will be loaded on to my website as they arrive in the shop.

Linda     :)