Gum Valley Patchwork

Christmas is coming

With less than two months remaining until Christmas, it's not too late to make and gift something handmade........whether it be to a friend or yourself! I am currently working hard to put together some new kits to make this job easier for you all. Today I have 2 new kit releases to share, both are Christmas themed.......one table runner and one table centre.

The 'Christmas Time' Table Centre uses the festive Naughty or Nice Christmas fabric collection by Basic Grey. It's a remake of one of my favourite patterns.....I love how it shows off beautiful large prints so well. Kits are $29 each and are listed on my website HERE.

The second of today's new kits is the '12th Day' Table Centre, which uses fabric from Anni Downs collection called 'On the 12th Day'. This really is a quick project to make up as I have pre-cut the kits for you!

Kits are available for $26 each, and are on the website HERE, or instore. Both kits include everything that you need to complete the projects.......all fabric, borders, binding, backing, Parlan and pattern.

Linda    :)

Floral Cascade

I have had this quilt top finished for quite a while, and it was hanging as just a flimsy in the shop for a number of weeks. I finally got around to sending it off to be machine quilted, and it is now back and the binding is completely finished.

I have used the pretty flannel fabric from 'A Peaceful Garden' in this quilt and the lovely border print frames the quilt nicely.

The kits for the 'Floral Cascade' Quilt are available on the website HERE (or in shop) for $110 each.

I also have some of the bolted fabric left from the collection by Mary Jane Carey of Holly Hill Quilt Designs, and they are available for $26 per metre. Check them out HERE.

I'm on a mission to restock my dwindling small project kits, so it's back to the sewing machine for me!

Linda    :)

Songbirds in Spring

'Songbirds in Spring' is my new quilt made from the pretty new 'Woodland Songbirds' by Poppie Cotton.

The simple design of the quilt really shows off the beautiful fabrics, and I especially love the quilting design that Wendy selected.....check out those cute mushrooms!

The quilt is hanging in the 'Poppie Cotton' corner of the shop, along with all of the bolted fabric, pre-cuts and projects from the 'Woodland Songbirds' collection.

The kits for the Songbirds in Spring quilt are available now, both online HERE or in the shop for $120 each.

Linda    :)

A week of Christmas

It has been a busy, and extended, start to my week. Yes it is Friday, but it's the first chance that I have had to stop by and post about the 7 days of the Great Australian Craft Show 7. This is the last online craft show for the year, and is a Christmas Spectacular special. All things gift making and gift giving, as we head quickly towards what will be a very different Christmas this year.

I have been making videos showcasing what is available in the shop, and I also made my very first video tutorial. It's all about using lace zips in projects so if you would like to check it out it is over on my Facebook page. The show runs through until 4pm on Sunday afternoon, and everyone that places an online order will receive a Christmas gift in their package.........this also applies to anyone shopping in store!

Please note that the shop will be open today.......Friday 23rd October, 11am to 4pm. There is a public holiday here in Victoria for the AFL Grand Final parade, which isn't happening this year.......the most ridiculous thing ever!

Linda    :)

Whatchya Got Wednesday

It's been a while since I have done a Whatchya Got Wednesday post........I am actually meant to be out mowing the lawns this afternoon, but one of the blades on the mower is loose so I will have to wait until Russell gets home to tighten it up for me. To fill in a little time I popped in to do a blog post. 

In this WGW post I wanted to let you know that once I have sold out of kits in the shop, the sample often makes it's way onto my website. These samples include bags, table runners, pouches, journal covers, baby quilts, and larger quilts.

I cannot possibly keep everything that I make, and it's nice to see them head off to new homes. It's always a good idea to pop in every now and again and check out what has made it's way to the Shop Samples for Sale category. I have just listed another 13 shop samples for sale, including a number of quilts.

Well the rain has started to fall....again....but I have my fingers crossed that it won't last too long so I can get out and finish the lawns. Otherwise it will be long enough to cut, rake and bale!

Linda   :) 

An extra level of crazy

Last week our Crazy Sister Club met and worked on the third project in the One Crazy Sister Club II.........'In full bloom'.

As I am not using the same fabrics as my Crazy Sisters.....just using pieces leftover from my other projects.....I decided against using the light fabric and opted for all darker fabrics (Plan A). Hence the first problem.......I needed 16 fabric squares and it appears that I cannot count, as half way through the piecing process I realised that I had only cut 15! This technique isn't as simple as "oh well I will just cut another square and add it in" ....... instead it turned into "I will just have to make my quilt 3 blocks x 5 blocks" (Plan B). We all had a good laugh and continued on.

It was then time to join my pieces together.......and instead of reading the pattern......yes I know I know!.....I wrongly assumed how to piece them together. The result was that the centres of my blocks looked like this.......

I said that they looked like crap........Russell came in and said "that looks like shit".......everyone laughed......again! So it was on to Plan C. I needed to cover over the centres, so I decided to applique circles over the top. Well at least that worked out okay.....lol!

The blocks were then trimmed, corner squares sewn, borders, quilting and binding done. It is now hanging up on the wall and it doesn't look too bad at all. 

Some mistakes send us on a different path, but often the outcome isn't too bad........Russell said it doesn't look like shit anymore.....so that's good!

Linda   :)

Woodland Songbirds

A lovely delivery on Monday was this gorgeous new collection from Poppie Cotton called 'Woodland Songbirds'.

The collection includes 21 prints in mint, peach, charcoal, grey, teal and white. I also have pre-cuts available.....2.5" strip rolls; 5" and 10" squares. Each contain 42 fabric pieces, 2 of each of the 21 prints from the collection.

As with most of the new fabric collections that arrive in the shop, I cut off some strips........a piece of each to use to design some new projects. The first is a remake of my Dresden Flower Felted Pouch, this time using the dark grey pre-made felted pouch.

These pouches are great for keeping a few of your sewing essentials safe, but they are also the perfect size to use as a purse....and they fit a phone!

The kits are available HERE for just $14 each.

The second project is my new 'Songbird Snap Bag'. I really love the bird and mushroom print, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to incorporate some peach lace into the mix.

The kits for the bag are all packed and listed HERE on my website for $18 each.

I am also part the way through making a new quilt using my 'leftover' fabric pieces, but I will save that reveal for another day.

Linda   :)

Redwork Quilt

Redwork Gatherings has been featuring quite regularly in my blog posts of late, so before I change directions and move on to some different fabric, I thought that I would show you my latest project using this range of fabrics. I started out by selecting and trimming some of the designs from the Redwork Gatherings panel, and then incorporated it with fourteen different prints from the range. When I posted this photo on Instagram I think that a lot of people thought that I had stitched the designs..........oops!.......

although if you wanted to you could certainly stitch over the top of the printing.

I stitched the blocks together and popped on a border. I decided to tie my quilt with some Cosmo thread.....just for something different, but of course it could be hand or machine quilted.

It is now finished and hanging up in the shop.....but not until after I was able to take a photo out in the lovely sunshine yesterday afternoon.

The kits are available HERE for $65 each, which includes the panel, fabric for the squares, border and binding, and the pattern. The quilt measures 125cm x 125cm.

Linda   :)