Gum Valley Patchwork

2017......the year that whizzed by!

Every year, at this time, I sit down and take a look back through my blog at the year that was. I reminisce....looking back at the stories and the photos......thinking that it only felt like a couple of months ago that I was writing the same 'look back' blog post for 2016. 

January usually starts off slow, but we had the Southern Right Quilt Show in Warrnambool to kick off the new year. It's a great show with lots of quilts on display. The show is held every two years, with the next one in January 2019.

After watching all of the fun for 12 months, I decided to join in with Michelle's Card Class. I have really enjoyed the new hobby......a different creative outlet for me.

February is 'Show' month for me.....not Quilt Shows but our local Heytesbury Agricultural Show. My mind is focused on having everything ready for judging day and Show day. Sometimes our Show falls in February and sometimes it is in March (it's always the Saturday before the long weekend)......this year it was in early March. The week after the Show, I turned 10! Not me of course, but the Shop. It had been 10 years since I first opened the doors to Gum Valley Patchwork, although I had been teaching since 1996.....21 years ago! And then, just a week after the birthday party, my annual Stitching by the Sea Retreat in Port Campbell was held. It was once again a lovely weekend. It's popularity has grown and the 2018 Retreat was booked out in about 10 minutes of opening the registrations!

April is always AQC month. A huge amount of pre-show preparation work goes into doing a big show like this. I am extremely grateful that I have Russell and Hannah that help me out at these big shows.

Prior to AQC, I attended my first ever Craft Alive event in Ballarat. It was here that I launched my new 'designed and made by me' Block of the Month Quilt - 'Christmas Delights'.

Lots of ladies have signed up for the quilt with some even finishing it to hang at Christmas! I still have some places left so if you are interested pop over here to read more.

May was filled with gardening, Stitch Werribee Show, and a new granddaughter, Madeline Peta, who was born on the morning that we flew out for a 4 week overseas holiday! On arriving home on the 18th June and visiting Madeline for the first time, it was straight back into work with the Friendship Frolic. Lenora and I run this annual event jointly between our two shops and we love it.

I also blogged about our holiday adventures......firstly Dubai

and then in Ireland.....

For the third year now we packed the ute and headed west to Adelaide to the Sewing, Stitching and Handcraft Show in July. As always it was great catching up with the lovely ladies from South Australia......and I will be back again in 2018 with some new kits and fabric to tempt you all! July was also the 'erect my hothouse' month.......it took about 5 days, a bit of 'cow yard' language and some very sore fingers (oh those nuts!).....but the result is fantastic. I have grown all of our vegetable and flower seedlings in it this season, and I have more plans for 2018.

August is Winter in our part of Australia. It is the month when we usually get the most rain, the most wind and the yuckiest of weather. This year I did spend quite a few days in the garden (when I wasn't by the sewing machine) but most of my August blogging was taken up with posts of the last leg of our holidays....June in England. The gardens were beautiful......and still inspire me to do better in my own.

There are only three words that I think of when anyone mentions September........Stitch in Spring! It was my seventh Stitch in Spring, the fifth at Port Campbell, and going by the feedback, definitely not the last. The 2018 Stitch in Spring will be held on the 22nd & 23rd September , with registrations opening at 9am on Monday 12th March.

October......which only seemed like last week.....was an eclectic mix of posts (and feelings) ranging from a shop rearrange that took me 3 days to do.....

My brother and his cycling friends visit for scones, jam and cream while on their way from Colac to Warrnambool via Port Campbell.......

and a visit from the Timboon Garden Club, and their presentation of this beautiful plaque for me to put in my 'Mum's garden'.

October also marked the 12 month anniversary of Mum's passing.

November disappeared before we knew it. I took the shop to the Ballarat Quilt Show, and had a lovely weekend with the ladies and Lenora (who was there with her shop). After three years of waiting I got my new mailbox........and I love it!

We also had our inaugural Goode Family Christmas get together in Melbourne. It was a day filled with fun, food and best of all family..........even if it is full of females!

And that brings me all the way back to December.......this month.......Christmas Sale time in the shop, a little break over Christmas, and straight back into stitching projects for the coming year. I hope that you have enjoyed my little trip down Memory Blog Lane, and that you continue to enjoy reading my blog as I continue to enjoy writing it. In April 2018, it will be 10 years since I started my blog.......oh my goodness how did that happen so quickly!

Wishing everyone a safe and happy new year. Thank you for your support and friendship over the past 12 months and here's to a great 2018!

Linda    :)

Aggies pants

Anyone who has been to the shop will know that I have a lot of Agapanthus in my garden. Initially I wasn't that keen on them as the only variety that I had seen/had growing at the farm were the large plants with the tall flowers. They always seemed to provide lovely hiding places for snails, which I hated, and frogs, which I loved.........I was so torn! Then about 11 years ago a dear friend arrived with 3 large plastic garbage bags of miniature Agapanthus that she had dug up from her newly purchased home. She asked if I would like them and I took them from her......quite happily! My garden is quite large and I needed a lot.....and I mean lot......of plants to fill the paddock new garden up with. Over the years I have divided and re-planted several times, and now most of my garden beds are surrounded by either the dwarf blue

or the dwarf white Agapanthus that Joan gifted me all those years ago.

I estimate that there are now probably 300 + plants from those original three bags of plants!

Many many years ago I bought a variety called Strawberry Ice and it has struggled at times to produce the pink flushed blooms......but not this year. I trimmed hacked the Standard Lilly Pillies back in Autumn and since then the plants have really gone ahead. One clump has about 20 flower spikes and the other about 10. I have plans to relocate them in Autumn to a better part of the garden.....I just don't know where yet!

While I do love the blue Agapanthus that I have, I do not really like their form. Their leaves are more weeping and the flower heads bend, unlike the white ones which have erect leaves and straight stems. I have been on the look out for a variety that has the best of both........erect leaves, straight flower stems with blue flowers. I found these 3 plants at Pearson's Nursery in Allansford just before Christmas and although they weren't what I was after, I did love the very dark flowers.......so three plants came home with me.......I have a small place in the garden picked out for them.

 on And then on Tuesday I found them! Russell dropped me off at Bunnings in Narre Warren, and while he went to Total Tools, I browsed.......imagine my delight when I found 'Baby Pete' in the garden section! I loaded the trolley with the 10 plants that they had........yes I took them all. Then on the way home I suggested that maybe Geelong Bunnings might have some more......a quick stop and eight more plants joined the ten that I had bought earlier in the day. Oh and of course we had to have Bunnings sausages for lunch! Decided to try my luck at Colac Bunnings.....but their garden department is only small so I had to be content with my 18 plants.

Most of these will be able to be divided into at least two plants.......some possibly three, and although they won't get all the way around my large garden bed, I am sure that in a couple of years I will have enough plants to dig, divide and replant........unless I do another Bunnings crawl......Road Trip!.......lol!

Linda    :)

A little different this year

Sometimes Christmas traditions need to be flexible and change to accommodate the changing dynamics in families. When I was young we would pack up and head to my maternal  Grandparents house in Cobden for Christmas lunch. Dad's family lived too far away, so we never spent time with them at Christmas. When the work load.....and dragging a family of six.....got too much, Mum offered to take over and lunch moved to our home in Timboon. Our grandparents would travel down, and in later years Mum would pick them up. As the years rolled on, grand kids arrived, and the tradition of lunch with Mum and Dad in Timboon, and the evening meal with Russell's family in Simpson continued. We were very lucky in having both our families close by.....especially when it meant coming home to milk in the afternoon. I still remember the first year I offered to have Christmas lunch at the farm, Mum never hesitated in accepting the offer......I knew that she was ready for a change. For years we alternated the venue for Christmas lunch between family members, and last year was our first one without Mum. It felt strange and somehow I knew that Christmas Day was never going to be like how it used to be. It was time to move on. So this year we traveled to Melbourne to spend Christmas with 'our' family. Not being on the farm anymore or tied to cows meant that we are more flexible......and it also meant that Emma didn't have to pack up two little ones with Santa presents and travel down to Simpson.....something that she was very grateful for. Emma and Ryan live in Narre Warren and on Christmas Eve we ventured just north of the Monash Freeway to look at the Hugo Court Christmas lights........along with thousands of other people!

The streets were blocked off with traffic management officers in place........and there was even an Ice-cream Van and a Donut Van if you got hungry! We all had fun looking at the fantastic displays.......some front yards were blanketed in 'snow'........looked like they used wadding! Georgia had a ball and didn't know where to look!

Our Christmas lunch tradition has always been cold meats and salads, and now we have a new twist.......a BBQ. It was a lovely relaxing time, and our afternoon was spent blowing up the new pool for Georgia......well I just kept an eye on the proceedings.......I have trouble blowing up a balloon let alone a pool........plus they looked like they had it under control!

I love how Georgia and Madeline have a backyard to play in........complete with chook pen, 2 apple trees, lemon tree, vegetable garden, passionfruit vine, mud kitchen and a water play area that was built by torch light Christmas Eve.

It was a great Christmas and we were so happy to spend it with our family. We watched 'Christmas Vacation' for the umpteen dozen time and headed for bed. The only down side was the neighbour's dog barking for about an hour and a half........only interrupted by Russell setting of the security alarm when he went downstairs to go and strangle the mutt! On a positive the kids were that tired that it didn't wake them up!

So a new tradition in our White family has commenced. I do hope that we will be around for many years, and maybe even to witness the next stage.

I am back in the Shop tomorrow and our Farmer's Wife Stitch along group is on.........I'd better go and tidy up the classroom!

Linda    :)

Merry Christmas

You know that Christmas is almost here when you only have one more to open up.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a happy & safe holiday time. It can be a time of mixed emotions so please take care, not only of yourself but those around you.

Linda    :) 

Violet Craft seam roller

I have just received a delivery of these fantastic seam rollers from Violet Craft.

I have watched Anne at our Farmers Wife Stitch-along days use one to press her seams open as she hand pieces her blocks together. When I saw them last month at AQM I jumped at the chance to order them for the shop. They would make a great last minute gift for someone this Christmas.....but only if you can pop into the shop either today or tomorrow as any internet orders will not reach their destinations before the big day.  They are listed online for those wanting to treat themselves.

Linda   :)

A day in the city

Every business has a work Christmas breakup don't they? A special celebration to thank staff for helping your business be great. On Wednesday Gum Valley Patchwork held their annual Christmas break-up. Unfortunately 50% of my 'employees' couldn't attend........Russell wasn't that keen to travel to Melbourne and spend the day with Jodie and I.......really don't know why! It was a scorcher of a day with the mercury due to hit 37 degrees in the city, and although we did plenty of walking we manged to keep to the shady side of the streets and take short cuts through air conditioned shopping establishments. The first stop was the Myer Christmas windows. I was disappointed with last year's windows but this year was much better. I had already sussed them out in November when I was in Melbourne for AQM, so I let Jodie have a wander along with the upteen dozen mums, dads, kids and prams. We were then back on the tram and off to our next destination.........I had kept it a secret from Jodie........apart from Russell, I had only told my hairdresser the day before at my 9am appointment. I'm so glad that I told Kaz that it was a secret, as guess who had the 10.30am appointment on the same day........yes Jodie........phew! The special treat was afternoon tea at The Windsor. We did feel very special.......and Russell would have felt very out of place as the the only other men there were the waiters!

We drank bubbly, ate delicious food and Jodie enjoyed a pot of tea. There were a couple of firsts.......first time that we had been in The Windsor and the first time that we had eaten gold leaf! There were even hexagons........especially for me.......well that's what we decided!

We then went back down into the centre of Melbourne..........did some shopping......can't reveal where as little and big ears might be reading this!......visited Ambiance Gifts.......a fantastic Christmas shop at the top end of Elizabeth Street. I am not allowed to take Jodie to Melbourne with visiting there......Jodie is a Christmas tragic.......and I always buy something too. This time I purchased Myrtle the Elephant to add to my Patience Brewster collection.

We made our way back to Southern Cross for an ice-cream and to catch the train back to Lara.....or so we thought. I swear that it had on the board that the train stopped in Lara, but when we saw the platform and carpark whizz by at 100 miles an hour, I realised that it was an express train to North Geelong.........shite! So off we get, around we go and a 40 minute wait for another train going back the other way. There had been train delays all afternoon due to the heat, so I think that the train we caught was actually an earlier one that left later. We managed to get home......with a detour to Wendy at Clever Ducks Quilting to pick up my 3 new quilts.......and also to the wonderful Christmas lights in Simpson.......they are amazing! Jodie had never seen them so it was a great finish to a wonderful day. So there you have it........my Gum Valley Patchwork Christmas Breakup Party. So thank you Jodie for being there for me when I need someone to run the shop. It is great knowing that when I go away it is in safe hands. You are a great friend and I hope that you enjoyed your day. Now to start planning for next year!

Linda     :)

Jardin de Versailles

I have had a lovely unexpected delivery of the new 'Jardin de Versailles' pre-cuts to the shop. I wasn't expecting them until February, so when the box arrived it felt like Christmas had come early at Gum Valley Patchwork.

They have been loaded onto the website and I will have them out in the shop in time for opening on Thursday. What a great present they would make for that stitching friend! The bolts will be arriving in April.

Linda     :)

Busy December

December is here, and as always, it is flying by. Christmas preparations are well underway with only a few more presents to get. I have also been spending a bit of time at the sewing machine lately......hence the lack of blogging......making 3 new quilt samples for the shop. The first was using the 'Mermaid Days' fabric range by Cori Dantini. I have had this fabric in the shop for several months and never quite got around to making up the pattern. It went together quickly but unfortunately the free pattern from the company needed altering. I have written new instructions......just have to type and print!

For a few weeks now I have been eyeing off the new 'Sycamore' fabric that arrived in October. I had a bloke's quilt on my mind so I came up with this easy pattern that I call 'Sycamore Bricks'......yeah real original I know.....lol! There are no interconnecting seams in the whole quilt which makes it a breeze to put together.

The third and possibly final quilt for 2017 is a small one made from a variety of the flannel fabrics that I currently have in stock. You might remember that I made quilts for Mum's great nieces and nephew last year and I really loved the blue cross pattern that I used. It was a great choice as I was using lots of different colours. 

 

They will soon be with Wendy at Clever Ducks Quilting and then back to me for binding and finishing off. I will have kits available for all of them......but probably not until after Christmas........I still have those presents to buy and wrap......oh and those cards to make, write and post!

Linda   :)