Gum Valley Patchwork

Canada here we come

The next part of our holiday involved heading north and across the border to Canada.......Vancouver to be precise. Our first day involved washing......again......and then a walk around to check out the surrounds, oh and to buy a Canadian sim card because our US sims wouldn't work of course.....dooh! For the next 12 days in Canada, we would be joining a Cosmos Tour and making our way around the south west corner of the country  with 42 other tourists. Most were Aussies, with a few from New Zealand, the UK, and one couple from India and another from the US. Our first day was a bus tour of Vancouver visiting a few of the staple tourist destinations including Stanley Park. 

Lions Gate Bridge from one angle.......

and another.....

I found myself taking quite a few photos of some of the plants.......these looked like miniature lilliums, but I'm really not sure what they were.

Hannah and I (along with a few others from the tour) took up an optional afternoon tour, which included visiting the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Tree Top Walk. We thought that it was a busy day, but our guide said that it was fairly quiet. There was a bit of rocking as we walked across, with quite a few taking it very slowly.

 

Hannah and I put a lot of steps on our Fitbits, courtesy of the Tree Top Walk

and the Cliff Top Walk.

An "I'll take your photo if you take ours".......just to prove we were there!

We then took a Gondola up to Grouse Mountain.

The weather was beautiful, and there was still plenty of snow on the ground.

We got to see Grinder and Coola, the two orphaned Grizzly Bears who live at the top of the mountain. On all of our trips to the National Parks in the US, we have never seen a bear in the wild. We really haven't had much luck, and we're hoping that these weren't going to be the only ones that we would see on our trip.

On returning back to our motel, we decided to head to the Lookout Harbour Centre Tower. On our walk, yes we tried to walk everywhere we could, we passed this banana station which was getting set up for the Vancouver Marathon, which was being run the following morning. I have never seen so many bananas in my life, although some of them did look a little on the green side.

The view from the tower was great, but we decided to head down and have dinner before sunset.

The pub we chose just happened to have the same name as the one that Russell and I eat at quite often when we are in Adelaide (as it's just around the corner from the motel). My photo is rather dodgy, as I was trying not to look like a total twat taking a photo of a door of the pub.....lol!

After some deliberation and recommendations from the waitress, Hannah ordered something called a Slumdog......a hotdog wrapped in garlic naan bread deep fried with something and something else. She was devastated when the waitress returned to say that they had sold out, and she had to settle for Poutinerie instead. I was happy with my Chicken Pie.....lol!

On Sunday morning we said goodbye to Vancouver, climbed aboard our coach, and made our way out of the city before the marathon runners hit the road.

Our next stop was Kelowna.

Linda    :)

Whatchya Got Wednesday

Thanks for the positive response to my first 'Whatchya Got Wednesday' last week. It seems that I am not alone when it comes to loving Fusible Parlan.

As many of you know, I source and stock quite a few bag making accessories in the shop. I will cover quite a few of these in future WGW posts, but today I thought that I would talk about magnetic closures.

What are they? : As the name suggests they are small magnetic clasps that generally consist of a male and female parts. Don't be deceived by their size (14mm), they are quite strong little magnets.

Designs? : There are 3 designs that I stock. I have the 'push through the fabric to hold in place' snaps; the sew-on style (as in the photo above) and the sew-in style (shown below)

Uses? : The 'push through' clasps must be inserted in the construction phase of your project as the attachment 'bars' need to be hidden within the fabric etc. The sew-on clasps are my favourite, as these can be added after the sewing process is completed. Say you have made a bag and realise that it needs a magnetic clasp to hold it closed, you can just sew it on. The sew-in clasps need to inserted in between layers as they won't be seen in the finished project.

Availability? :

The 'push through' magnetic clasps are available in silver or antique brass for $2.50 each.

The sew-on magnetic clasps are available in silver, antique brass and gold for $2.50 each

The sew-in magnetic clasps are available for $2.50 each

Handy to have in your stash for just-in-case.....available in the shop or online!

Linda   :)

When you can't make up your mind

I had a fun time this morning when Rhys called in to show me all of the new fabrics on offer from the companies that he reps for. Three hours later.......five fabric ranges along with a few other bits and Rhys was packed up and on his way to his next stop. I just have to play the waiting game, but first I will give you just a little bit of an idea of what I fell in love with and just had to have!

The first is Gail Pan's new 'All about the Bees' collection. I have a new Block of the Month in mind for this, so I have made sure that I ordered plenty of the panels. Unfortunately I have to wait until February/March of next year......I know....it's just not fair!

The next is from another Aussie designer.....Anni Downs from Hatched & Patched has a new range 'Tealicious'......20 prints for the tea lovers. You won't have to wait as long for this one to arrive..... only until January 2020.....lol!

And I couldn't go past this gorgeous flannel range called 'Furr-ever Friends' by Shelly Comiskey. There are 11 prints, and I have also ordered 3 plains to blend in....black, grey and mocha. Again these won't arrive until January 2020, but that will give me time to make something snuggly in time for next Winter.

So if you can't wait until next year for those fabrics to arrive, I have also ordered the very pretty new 'Painted Meadow' by Robin Pickens for Moda Fabrics.

Nice and bright and ready for Spring with an October delivery date....those Cone flowers and fat bumblebees certainly make me smile. Along with the prints, I will also have the Layer Cakes, Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs.

I did order this one a week ago as I was worried that I may miss the cut off date......it's 'Wanderings' by Poppie Cotton. I met the designing duo behind this label at Quilt Market and will blog about it all soon (ish), but in the meantime here is just a small sneak at the blue colourway in their new collection.

There was also some more flannel......Christmas prints and a panel; Grunge.....oh I do love this Moda basic and if I had the room I would buy the lot!....and Rhys could retire!; and some of the new Cut, Sew & Create panels by Stacy Iest Hsu. I love making Stacy's panels, but maybe not quite as much as Georgia and Madeline love playing with the finished products!

So there you have it, how I spent my morning. But before they all arrive in the shop, I do have about 5 other collections due........the first has arrived........'Plum Garden' by Tilda. It's here and waiting for July 1st release date.......it's going to be at Adelaide next week.....along with the 3 new projects that I have made ........so check it out if you are coming along.....of and I will blog about it next week!

Linda    :)

Whatchya Got Wednesdays

This idea has been floating around in my head for a few months now, and each time I think about starting it, it's not a Wednesday......lol! Well today it is,  so here we go with my first 'Whatchya Got Wednesday'...............every Wednesday (hopefully) I post about something that I have in the Shop. It might be a product, notion, thread or fabric, but the idea is to show you all something that you might not know that I stock, or maybe you have forgotten that I have it. To kick it off I am going to start with one of my favourite products........Fusible Parlan. Over the years I have sold/used dozens of rolls, and I am so scared to be caught without it that I usually always have one full 50m roll kept in stock........and sometimes two!

So what is Fusible Parlan?: It is a light weight fusible wadding which is 100% Polyester with polyamide adhesive, and is white in colour.

Uses? : I use this in all of my table runners, small bags, wall hangings, journal covers, pouches, pencil cases, etc etc. If you have ever purchased one of my small kits you will always receive the Fusible Parlan included in the package. It is easy to quilt and can also be used as a stabiliser for the back of your work.

How wide is it? : It is 100cm wide......oh how I wish that it was wider.......lol!

Cost? : My retail price is $7 per metre. (I have seen it in a major fabric store for $12.99 per metre)

Available? : As I mentioned earlier, I always have a good supply in stock as I use it in most of my kits. It is available in the shop in pre-cut 50cm, 1m or 2m packs to grab and go, or any amount you like off the roll. It is also available on line HERE.

I hope that you enjoyed my first 'Whatchya Got Wednesday'.......hopefully I will remember for next week!

Linda   :)

Back in the USSA

Back to holiday blogging....

On arriving back in Miami, we had several hours to fill in before our flight to Nashville left. With the memories of sitting around waiting in airport terminals still just a little too fresh in our minds, we decided to opt for a tour of the Everglades instead. And as a bonus the tour would not only look after our luggage for the day but also drop us off at the airport.....a definite win win situation.

Our visit included a tour of the breeding area and I lined up for a cuddle of this small and 'cute' alligator.

We then climbed on to an air boat and headed out to see if we could spot something a little larger.

We weren't that hopeful as they tend to be nocturnal and it was the breeding season, but then lying in the shallow water was this fellow.

Hannah took a photo of me and the gator.......and a photo bombing crow.......lol!

We even tried some Gator Tail bites, which tasted like a cross between eel and chicken. Weren't bad but not on my list to eat again.

It wasn't long before we were at the airport on on our way to Nashville. After making a b-line for the laundry at the Motel, (washing your clothes by hand in the shower really doesn't cut it) we headed out to check out some sights close by. These murals caught my eye.

 

While this boot caught Hannah's

and while the deal of buying one pair and getting 2 pair free sounded really good, we knew that they just weren't going to fit in our suitcases.

I mentioned in my 'Cruise' post that Hannah and I have a couple of traditions that we like to continue when we go to the US. The first being a Baseball game, and the second attending a Zoo. So after a quick Google and booking an Uber,  it was off to the Nashville Zoo......an early visit before the weather got too hot.

It was a lovely Zoo with lots of shady pathways.

And a favourite of mine is always the reptile enclosure......this guy certainly had the art of chillaxing down pat!

And as the weather warmed up, this afternoon treat of a frozen strawberry lemonade was delicious. Why can't we get this in Australia!!!

That evening we couldn't resist going to another Baseball game......this time it was the Nashville Sounds vs Omaha Storm Chasers......and once again our 'home' team won......woohoo!

I ate Hush Puppies for the very first time.....and Booster the Rooster got to meet Hannah......lol!

Our last full day in Nashville was spent walking (or for Hannah riding) around. She had so much fun on these hire electric scooters.....I spent 4 seconds on one before I knew that it wasn't for me!

As much as I hate country music, you have to go to a bar on Broadway when visiting Nashville.....and Honky Tonk Central seemed perfect! Although I was lucky not to get kicked out after refusing to show my id. I didn't realise that they ask everyone, I thought that the waitress was just being silly.

Instead of flying from Nashville to Memphis, we decided to take the Greyhound bus. It sounded very American and we thought that it would be fun, however, low cost travel options attract travelers with low budgets. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that in general, the bus station in Nashville was certainly an eye opening experience for both Hannah and I. When half of the passengers are carrying their luggage (and possibly all that they own) in plastic shopping bags, it certainly gives you a different perspective of life for some people. And after reading some of the reviews for Greyhound, it is a wonder that we even made it to Memphis at all! 

But we arrived safe, along with our luggage. The weather was great.....and ideal for walking around the city.

We visited Sun Studios as one does in Memphis, although Hannah's gps directions had us walking through maybe not quite the best part of town......past the Jail and Bail Bonds office.

 

We then went out to Graceland. Although Hannah had already been 5 years ago, it was my first trip to the home of Elvis. It was quite amazing.

An 'old' guy offered to take everyone's photos for them.........

.....and then we had to ask someone else to take another one.....lol!

We finished our afternoon in Beale Street

before heading to Gus's World Famous Chicken for dinner.

So there you have it.......my summary of our 6 days in the Southern part of the USA. It was then time to repack our bags, ready to catch another 2 flights, this time our destination was Vancouver in Canada.

Linda     :)

Finally the sweet potato harvest update

A few of you might remember me blogging back in December about my first ever attempt to grow Sweet Potatoes. In October, I planted one small Sweet Potato plant that I had purchased from Bunnings for $3.50.

I watered it and with the warmth of being in the hot house it soon grew....

and grew.....into the next bed......

and grew......

After reading numerous Google articles, I decided to stop watering it, in preparation for harvesting the tubers. I returned from holidays, to find that it was still growing, despite having no water for at least 9 weeks! I decided that it was time to dig them up so that I could get the beds ready for some other vegetables. We carefully dug them up, using our hands so as to not damage the skins. Oh my some of them were so hard to get out.......but her and here was our harvest.

There were even more small ones that didn't make the photo. So after a fortnight of curing them in boxes in our lounge room, I will pack them away and hopefully they will keep. As it's our first crop, I'm really not sure how long they will keep for, hopefully a couple of months. Along with our carrots in the vegetable garden and our pumpkin harvest (still a few more to gather up), we won't be buying any orange vegetables for quite a few months.

At least the hot house is now looking a little less like a tropical wilderness!

Linda   :)

The Cruise

It's hard to believe that I have been home for 2.5 weeks from my holiday with Hannah. I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to post about any of the fun that we got up to while we were away, but it takes quite a while to do (*). If you hate looking at other peoples holiday snaps then you had better leave now, as this blog post (and the others which will follow) are jammed full of photos. This is part 1 of our holiday recap.....The Cruise. Yes Hannah and I went on our first ever cruise together....but first we had to get from Melbourne to Miami. With a 5 hour delay in Houston, it turned out that we had spent about 36 hours straight, either in airports or on planes and uber, arriving at our motel room (and to a queen room instead of a twin room) at 4am in the morning. Our first day in Miami was spent walking around and visiting South Beach.

Hannah and I have a couple of traditions when we travel to the US (our third trip), and one is to go to a Baseball Game. The Miami Marlins were playing at home to the Washington Nationals, and we were lucky enough to go on their fan appreciation night and scored a Miami Marlins t-shirt each! We always enjoy going and always barrack for the home team.........and 'we' won which made it even better.

The next morning we headed off to the Port of Miami where four cruise ships were getting ready to depart. Our 7 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise was with Royal Caribbean on their ship, Allure of the Seas. Carrying 8,565 passengers and crew, 360m long with 16 decks totaling 25 hectares......yep it was a big ship!

We set sail, past South Beach where we had been the day before.

We had 2.5 days at sea before we were due for our first shore day. We filled in the time on our sea days taking advantage of all of the free shows, ice skating performances, game shows, trivia sessions and of course the $2 Mimosas....lol! We were quite looking forward to our first stop at St Maarten. The morning was filled walking the streets...... 

and the afternoon on a catamaran cruise out to Maho Beach.

This is where the planes fly right over the beach as the airport runway is just metres from the sand.

We saw about 4 planes land......

and in between times I did a spot of sunbaking........lol!

At first we were disappointed that we weren't able to get onto the beach to get up close and personal with the action. But after witnessing this jet take off and half the people losing their hats and belongings we decided that being on the catamaran sipping drinks was a much safer option.  We even saw one guy get blown off his feet and ended up almost in the water........sand blowing everywhere......bahahahaha!

After a full day in the sun, it was nice to get back to the air conditioned comfort of the ship. We joined in the fun at a 70's disco night on the promenade. It was so much fun.....brought back memories of 70's discos in the Timboon Hall......lol!

We had the 'Village People' show up......and they filmed the whole show for their on board tv channel.

Hannah and I even managed to get on tv.....lol!

Our next port of call was San Juan in Puerto Rico. As a US governed country, our US sim cards were working again so we were able to catch up with family and friends.

Our elected tour included a visit to the El Yunque rain forest,

before it was back on board to set sail again.

Our last on shore day was at Labadee, part of an island in Haiti that Royal Caribbean own and use as a resort style stop for their cruise ships. While Hannah chose zip lining as her optional excursion, I found a lounge in a shady spot and watched the rest of the passengers pass by. 

After lunch it was my turn at a bit of fun. Totally out of my comfort zone I decided to have a go at parasailing........yep......parasailing!

 

It was so much fun!

More fun that night with an adults only game show.

Our team captains.........yes it's Hannah. Oh my she was so competitive and I don't think that I have laughed so much in ages.

It was a scavenger hunt with a difference, collecting all of the items from our team members (passengers), and racing them up to the host. Six belts joined together; 5 mens shirts; even the four ladies bras wasn't too bad, until the next challenge, when the two team captains had to do a complete swap of clothes. And of course Hannah's bra was one of the four from the previous challenge! To see the guy captain trying to put on Hannah's mini skirt and tank top was hilarious! Our team ended up taking out a Bronze medal for the night.......lol!

We spent the last full day relaxing around the ship. We didn't go swimming....sorry too many pool germs for me to handle! But enjoyed the crew vs passengers pool volleyball game.

A carousel ride on the Boardwalk before going to the full Mamma Mia production in the theatre.

By the time we woke up the next morning we were back in Miami, docked and ready for the next part of our holiday.

So a lot of people have asked me whether I enjoyed my first cruising experience. Yes I did. Everything was great, and the food was excellent. We were very careful and didn't get sick. The seas were calm and the seasickness tablets never came out of the bag. And I think that the length of our cruise was just right.

Would I go on another cruise?..........yes I would.

Linda   :)

* So how long did it take me to compose this post? ..........2.5 hours :)

Quiltopia 2019

So this happened on Tuesday.........I decided to book a stand and take the shop on the road again. This time we head north to the Quiltopia event in Sydney in October.

It will be my first time attending a show in Sydney and I am just a tad excited! If you are in New South Wales and have missed having a dedicated quilting event in Sydney, then maybe add this one to your calendar and come along and check it all out.

Linda     :)

Willowbrook Market Garden

I am a list maker and have been for years. At the moment I have a list of blog posts that I need to write that is as long as my arm......well about 14 that I can think of at the moment. There is a mix of shop, garden, classes, holiday and just stuff that I would like to tell you about and it is is going to be hard to work out which to blog about first. So every day for the next few weeks I am going to try and get some of these posts written.

Today's post is about the new fabric and Block of the Month by talented Aussie designer Natalie Bird from The Birdhouse. Her newest fabric collection arrived in the shop about a week or so before I got home from the US. It is called 'Willowbrook Market Garden' and is digitally printed. What makes this fabric range different is the split printing process, this means that on one bolt of fabric there are two colourways of the same design. This image gives you an idea of what I mean.

Natalie has also designed a fun panel with 21 different printed designs on it, some of which I used in the Willowbrook Table Runner that I showed you yesterday.

But wait there's even more great news......all of these designs have been pre-printed on to beautiful Essex Linen, ready to just stitch up using your favourite embroidery threads. These are available in three colourways......blue, putty and champagne.......and are listed online HERE.

If you follow Natalie on social media you may have seen that she has a new Block of the Month out which uses all of her beautiful fabrics in it. It is called 'Willowbrook Market Garden' Block of the Month, and I am now taking names for anyone who is interested in signing up for it. 

It is a 10 month program, with the cost being $30 per month.

This price includes all of the fabric for quilt top, borders and binding, Cosmo stranded threads, EPP paper shapes, and the pattern. The backing fabric is not included in this price and postage is extra. You can check out the details online HERE. I do have limited spaces available and it will start mid June. Please contact me if you would like to sign up, or alternatively you can sign up online by purchasing one BOM.

I will not be making up a sample as the fabrics kitted in the BOM will be the same as Natalie has used (apart from a couple of small plain fabrics that I will match).

Linda    :)

Home from the Mount

Yes I am back home from the Craft Alive event in Mount Gambier and I had a really good time away. It was a great show, and although the weather was less than desirable, the local crafting community came out to support those vendors who attended. My stand was all set up by about 4.30pm on the Thursday afternoon and was looking lovely with a good selection of kits, fabric and goodies from the shop. I pride myself in making sure that I always have new and different items on my stand every year.

There were a few new 'hot off the machine' projects too......including the 'Elfin Adventures' Table Centre.....

a new Christmas Bucket......

and the 'Willowbrook' Table Runner using Natalie Bird's new 'Willowbrook Market Garden' fabric collection.

After being away from home and my sewing machine for so long, I decided to pack my machine and some supplies and take them with me while I was away. My room at the Best Western Southgate Motel had recently been refurbished and was lovely and big. So on Thursday night I set up my sewing space in room 106.

I had a target of stitching (and finishing) something every night. Thursday night was this new version of my popular Mini Charm Table Centre, using the new 'Nova' fabric by Basic Grey for Moda fabrics. I had it sewn and finished before the end of The Front Bar!

And because I love the Nova fabric so much, Friday's project was the 'Nova Stars' Table Runner........again, all finished by lights out time.

I'm pretty sure that the cleaning lady was checking out what I had made the night before, when she came in to make the bed every morning.....lol! Saturday night it was time to use the bundle of new Tilda Plum Garden fabric that Fiona had sent me prior to it's arrival on the 1st July. A little bit of hand stitching through the day allowed me to finish off this new pouch during the evening. While I was making it news came through from Russell that his Mum had had a fall and was off in the ambulance to the hospital. At 95, it is always a worry about breaking fragile bones, but after the all clear she was moved back to the nursing home in Cobden. Russell really likes this one, so I decided to call it Pearl's Zippered Pouch.

The kits won't be available until after the 1st July, but I have the pattern all typed, printed and ready for the fabric!

After last year's white knuckle drive home from Mount Gambier.....along kangaroo, koala and emu infested roads.....I decided it was best for me to stay the Sunday night and make the trip home in the less stressful daylight hours. My Sunday night stitching was interrupted by some TV watching and I was only able to get half of a new Journal cover stitched up. There is only about 30 minutes of stitching left to do, but that will have to wait until Thursday, when I set up my sewing machine in the classroom. I also have a couple more ideas for some pretty projects, so keep an eye out for them in the coming weeks. 

Linda    :)

PS. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my stand at Mt Gambier. I have rebooked to return next year and am sure that I will have lots of new and  exciting projects for you.