Elm Grove Patchwork

Ups and Downs

2020 is becoming a year of ups and downs. On the up, the shop has reopened. It is so hard to believe it has already been one month. It has been lovely seeing everyone again and so nice to see the progress that people have made on their projects. I am selling lots of backing fabric, so I know people have been busy. Here is Anne, a member of our monthly appliqué group.

She has finished 'Okehampton' designed by Karen Styles of Somerset Patchwork. Congratulations Anne, it is lovely.

On a down, I have been very unproductive on the sewing front. Calving season on the farm and kids home schooling have thrown me out of my usual routine. I have also been in huge mess at the shop. My work area has been totally overtaken with boxes and tubs of stock that I had prepared for events that have now been cancelled.   

An overwhelming up, has been the big changes we have made in response to the cluttered shop. Last weekend we undertook the job of moving my long arm machine to home. The thought of the job was daunting, so many power leads and cords, but all went smoothly without a hitch. 

The extra room at the shop has been wonderful. I now have room for storage shelves and two tables for folding and sorting fabric and no longer have to stand to eat lunch. I can feel the creative energy starting to flow again which is something I have really missed.

On a down, word came through late last week that the Australasian Quilt Convention for 2020 has officially been cancelled. I am disappointed, as convention is a great week where I get to catch up with lots of Melbourne and interstate customers who cannot make the trip down to the shop.  I must admit I could not see how the event could run in August, with some state borders still closed and international travel suspended for non Australian residents. It will now be 15th - 18th April 2021. After a years hiatus I am sure it will be a great event. 

It is now just five weeks until The Friendship Frolic. If you are a new follower, the Friendship Frolic is an event run in conjunction with  Gum Valley Patchwork.  The aim of the day is to gather your quilting friends and take a road trip to both of our shops, stopping for lunch in the township of Timboon, either with something you have packed or purchased from one of the eateries in town. We offer prizes, discounts and competitions. It really is a fun day, and a great excuse to get together with your friends. The dates this year are Wednesday 22nd - Sunday 26th July. I am meeting with Linda this week to discuss the finer details, stay tuned for further information.

On the fabric front I have had some lovely bolts of Madame Fleur arrive. These are miniature toiles, the little vignettes will look lovely surrounded with hexagons borders.

 

I am also getting very excited about the impending arrival of the Jane Austin collection, but I think that deserves a whole blog entry on its own.

Back soon, Lenora.

Opening the doors and back to work

After seven weeks of closed doors I am reopening again this week, back to normal hours. While my hours are normal, unfortunately that is where it will stop with new measures now in place for the foreseeable future. 

 

I now ask the following:

Please use the hand sanitiser upon entering and leaving the shop.

Please observe the limit of 6 people in the shop at one time. If greater than 6 please wait patiently outside until someone exits.

Please be respectful of social distancing as you move around the shop. 

Please only enter the shop if you are shopping. Husbands, partners and friends please wait in the car.

Please do not come shopping if you are unwell, even if you think it is only a cold. Curb side pickup remains an option on my website and phone orders with pick up are always welcome.

 

Please do not be offended with these new measures, they are in place to keep us all safe.

 

I am excited to be reopening, it will be great to see people again and hear what everyone has been working on. I've been spending time getting displays re organised and quilts hung. 

Just some more bundles to tie up and I'm ready to go.

 

In my last post I mentioned about a Block Of the Month program for Maggie Maguire's Garden. I have spent hours working through the fussy cutting fabrics I have left and what I have in stock to coordinate for each individual hexagon flower. I am feeling very daunted with the task ahead. So many of the fabrics in the quilt have been used up in the starter packs I released with the quilt pattern last year. 

Working with a lot of new fabrics, will essentially be making a whole new quilt, and a huge investment in time to present a program I am happy with. I have also been talking to my distributors and some companies are expecting delays with the arrival of new ranges, due to shipping restrictions with Covid19. This could cause problems for the potential program.

Moving forward, I have decided the best option is to offer regular fabric packs. I will have these available soon, they will be listed on the website under Quilt Starter Packs.

Lenora x.

Just checking in.

I hope you are well and I hope this period of isolation we are in at the moment is not too hard for you. Hopefully some of the restrictions will be lifted soon. I have my fingers crossed.

I waved goodbye to another April and the busy days it brings with calving. The pressure has certainly eased off over the past few days and most of the calves are now on to once a day feeding.

The shop revamp has slowed down. I thought I would have everything back in place, but it still remains a huge mess while painting is taking place. It is looking much fresher, and brighter and well worth the inconvenience. I am hoping to open the doors again next week.

 

Homelife has changed somewhat. Three kids are doing home schooling/University. I am tip-toeing around the house trying not to make too much noise, conscious that Zoom and Skype meetings are in place. One daughter, who lacks the patience to sit and sew is using my sewing room for her work station. I am hoping she catches the sewing bug while she is locked in there. It will be nice when they can go back to school and catch up with all their friends, they are missing normal life.

I snapped this photo last weekend while moving cows on a horribly wet, cold and windy morning. It reminded me that gloomy days can still have a little sparkle if you look for it.

 

After lots of requests and a few nudges, I have agreed to run Maggie Maguires Garden as a Block of the Month program. I will have the details finalised in the next few days. Stay posted.

Looking forward to easier days and more sewing time ahead.

Stay well!

Agatha's Garden by Kathy Hall

A small delivery to the shop today. Agatha's Garden designed by Kathy Hall. I ordered eight bolts from this range. 

I can see great fussy cutting possibilities with these,

and I couldn't resist the lovely little butterflies on this floral.

They are entered on the website, you will find them here.

I'm also plugging away at cutting and folding more starter packs for Maggie Maguires Garden quilt.

There will be two packs, one with fabrics from the original starter packs and one with all new fabrics. They will be available soon.

I don't have anything to show you on the sewing front. It is calving time on the farm again, so long busy days. We are nearing the first three weeks, which is always the busiest. I'm looking forward to easier days ahead. 

It is predominately Friesian heifer (female) calves that I rear, but each year I rear some Friesian/Angus bull calves. They contribute to a travel fund I have set up. 

Here are two of the boys, don't you love their sweet heart heads.

With the shop closed, I am taking advantage of the time to get some repair works done.

New windows have been installed and some stumps replaced. Now just the painting and it will be done. I won't show you the terrible stack of fabric and shelving that has been pushed into one room. 

Happy Stitching.

Vale Di Ford-Hall

On Friday I received the terribly sad news that Di Ford Hall had passed away. Such a sad day for all us quilt makers. She is going to be missed incredibly. To her husband Brian, her family and close friends I offer my deepest condolences. 

Since hearing the news I have had a lot of time to think and reflect on Di. I could write volumes on how she changed peoples lives and volumes again on how she influenced me. To some people we just make quilts, but once you become a quilt maker, you understand how much more there is to the process. Di helped to bring so many of us all together with her patterns, her fabric, her books and for those lucky people, her classes.

I will always remember Di for her use of fabric. To me she will always be the Queen of Fussy Cutting.

 

With death I have learnt to flip deep grief into gratitude. I am so grateful Di came into our lives and her legacy will always live on. Rest peacefully dear Di, you will never be forgotten.

Just The Binding To Sew

Life is certainly strange living in this new world of Covid-19. Who would have thought we would be faced with anything like this. Shops closed, office workers working from home and even the petrol prices dropping. I hope you are all safe along with your loved ones. It certainly is a nasty virus, I sure hope it doesn't find my loved ones or myself.

The basket quilt is nearly done. Just the binding to sew on.

I have used the lovely blue Ashridge Dutch Heritage fabric to border the blocks. I was going to use a Baptist Fan pattern for the quilting, but at the last minute I changed my mind. I saw this pattern used on another quilt on Instagram. When I looked up the details of the pattern, I discovered a smaller version of the pattern was called Onion Skin.

My husband often bursts into singing a song called Onion Skin by Boom Crash Opera from the 80's.....

Oh, oh, onion skin
Walking around with
Your heart caved in
When you start to roll
Your skin flies off
And the teardrops flow

It is a crazy song, but it is funny hearing my husband singing it. I've had so much fun with this quilt I could not resist using the onion skin pattern for the quilting.  Quilt making has to be fun, and I have enjoyed this quilt.

I nearly have the pattern completed. I like to illustrate most steps in my patterns, but it takes a long time for me to do this. I won't tell you how long it took me to draw that basket and it's still not perfect.

 

I have to decided on a name, something I find rather hard at times. So far it has just been called The Basket Quilt. Hopefully I can come up with something more unique.

On the farm our cows are just starting to calve. There has been a rush to get seed sown, fertiliser spread and fencing jobs finished before the full onslaught.  

With all work and no play, we rewarded ourselves with a take away tea. Socially isolated, in the paddock while we admired the new fence.

Stay well and happy stitching.

Nancy's Needle 1850-1880 and Shearing Day

It was a happy day yesterday with the arrival of  Nancy's Needle 1850-1880, the newest fabric released from Betsy Chutchian of Moda Fabrics. Forty lovely bolts of florals and small prints, perfect for lots of small pieced blocks.

I have them listed on the website here.

It was also a happy day for three special men in my life;  Arthur, George and Harold. It was finally sheering day.

This year the shearing was a public affair, done at school in front of my son's Agricultural class. The shearer even demonstrating hand clipping on Harold. Its amazing how much their wool has lightened off over the years, here they are in 2012. It's not just us who grey as we age.

With the postponement of AQC, I am now under huge pressure to spin the wool and knit beanies for the three human men in my life. I did agree to the condition that I could have the sheep if I kept the men in beanies, and as yet my husband is yet to receive one. 

Happy stitching!

Changing Times

Our world is changing so quickly with this dreaded COVID-19 virus.  I hope you are all well and for those who have been forced into self isolation I hope you have wonderful projects to work on and a stash of fabric to keep you going.

My shop is open as usual. I am disinfecting surfaces and have alcohol wipes (hand sanitiser will replace these when available). I am requesting all people sanitise their hands upon entering the shop, and the eftpos terminal is being sanitised as well. Hopefully such measures will help in preventing the spread of the virus.

If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you would have read that the Australasian Quilt Convention in April has been postponed until August 20-23, later this year. It is disappointing, but on the bright side, it gives me more time to have new projects to share with you. The Colac Quilt show, which was to run from 27-30th March has also been postponed, no alternative date has yet has been given.

Over the past weeks I have been busy making up lots of bundles of fabric, stashing them away for the quilt shows. I have now put these out on the shelves and have listed them on my website, you will find them for sale in the fabric section, under the heading Bundles and Pre-cuts. 

I've been busy writing the pattern for my latest project, the basket quilt and also tinkering away with some new small projects. Sorry no photos I can share with you yet. So here are some photos of what the ladies in appliqué group are working on.

Celebrating Mary Brown Quilt by Robyn

 

Antique Wedding Sampler by Jenny

 

Reverse appliqué by Marianne

 

Wool appliqué by Judy

 

The border triangles for The Antique Wedding Sampler by Evelyn

 

Coral's beautiful work. (sorry forgot the project name)

 

English Paper Piecing by Cathy

 

And some more Maggie Maguire's Garden hexagon flowers.

For now,

Stay calm and stitch on!

A Little Jaunt to Sydney

With the farm and teenage kids entering their final years of schooling, it is hard for us to get away for a holiday. Last weekend, being a long weekend presented a window of opportunity so we grabbed the chance and flew to Sydney for four nights. 

We had a wonderful break, a total break for me as my laptop computer was accidentally left at home.

We played tourists for four days, soaking in the lovely scenery.

We caught a ferry over to Manly, enjoying the yachts on the way, obviously a Saturday regatta.

Watched the surfers at Manly beach.

Watched over the city from the Sydney Tower Eye.

Visited Bondi Beach.

Saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Explored around the Sydney Opera House.

Ate out every night.

And marvelled at the endless cruise ships that docked in Sydney Harbour. We were lucky to be at Circular Quay when this cruise ship, The Queen Elizabeth was departing.

Going,

going,
gone.

It was a lovely break. Now back to work.

Hexagon Flowers for Maggie Maguire's Garden

It been a wonderful thrill to see and hear of so many people now making Maggie Maguire's Garden, with a second round BOM being offered with Homestead Hearth in the US, who are also offering it as a bright modern option as well. 

Maggie Maguire's Garden Quilt

 

Making the hexagon flowers can get a little challenging as you work deeper into the quilt. At our monthly appliqué group yesterday I caught up with Di who is well into the journey. She has made some gorgeous hexagon flowers which she has allowed me to share with you.

Aren't they stunning! Thanks Di for allowing me to share them.

I hope this has given some inspiration if you are struggling with ideas. You can see that stripes and border fabrics bring a lovely balance into the quilt. If you only have small pieces of fabric, try alternating fabrics in the outer round, it can give stunning results.

Happy stitching!

Lots of New Fabrics

Just before the calendar flips over to March I must show you some of the great new fabrics which have arrived over the past two weeks.

First to arrive was Lancaster by Jo Morton. Lovely interesting prints in shades of rust, brown, cream and black.

Then came a four bolts of French Armoire.  I  just love the soft peachy pink and teal blues.

French Armoire by L' Atelier Perdu

 

Then 6 bolts from Hill Country Heritage designed by Paula Barnes.

Hill Country Heritage

 

 

Three bolts with great wavy patterns from Richmond, designed by Nancy Gere. These will make great hexagon flowers.

 

Richmond by Nancy Gere

 

New Circa Shirtings by Pam Buda

Then finally came the full collection of Full Circle, designed by Sarah Maxwell for Marcus Fabrics.

A total of 23 prints in lovely vibrant colours of pink, red, green, blue, grey, purple, yellow and cream.

They are all now listed on the website, you can click on the highlighted text and it will take you straight to the site. I have been busy cutting fat 1/8ths and fat 1/4's and making up small bundles to have at AQC which is now only 6 weeks away. 

I will be taking a short break over the long weekend we have here in Victoria next weekend. Therefore the shop will be closed on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th March. I apologise for any inconvenience. I am looking forward to putting my feet up and enjoying some well overdue time with my husband.  I have promised him this year there will be no hexagons packed in my bags. 

Hope your enjoying your weekend,

Lenora x.

 

Felt Boards

I continue to make basket blocks. I've only a handful left to make before I lay them all out and muse over which blocks I will put where in the final layout. I really love that stage.

To make my blocks I like to prepare 5-6 at a time and piece them together with chain piecing. When I cut each block, I lay the pieces out on a felt board.

Do you use felt boards?  My friend Barb introduced me to these some time ago and I find them wonderful. They are simply made with a sheet of Templastic, and a rectangle of felt. The felt I purchase is from a general craft store, it's rather stiff and about 1/8th inch thick. Using double sided tape, the felt is stuck onto the Templastic. The felt I use is slightly smaller than the sheet of Templastic so there is a little trimming to be done. My boards finish roughly 16 x 12 inches.

Back view of felt board

 

What do I like about the boards? The fabric pieces cling to the felt and are less likely to move about compared to just placing the block pieces on a table top and the board is easy to move from table to machine, or machine to iron. What I like best though, is that having the smooth Templastic bottom, you can stack multiple boards together and the fabric pieces will not move out of place. Multiple blocks can be prepared in advance.

Boards stack together without dislodging fabric pieces

 

If you're travelling from home to a sewing day, you can secure multiple layers together with bulldog clips and the pieces will stay together without moving. They have certainly helped me become a lot more time efficient with my piecing. 

And just another little hint, if you make these, you will need one of those cheap sticky fabric rollers that remove fluff and loose threads, the boards do hold little fabric fibres and threads. I have one sitting on my sewing bench and after each block I roll it over the board to keep it thread and lint free. 

Hope you're finding time for sewing, back to baskets for me.

Lenora.

Ella Maria Deacon Block 11 in Le Beau Papillon

A selection of Le Beau Papillon, the newest fabric designed by French General for Moda Fabrics, arrived into the shop this week. Like all French General fabrics, it is gorgeous and it blends beautifully with past ranges. Look at the sweet little butterflies on the border prints.

 

I couldn't wait to use the lovely busy pink print, and chose it for my next block in the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt. Wanting to revisit my Back Basting appliqué, I chose block 11, a solid flower appliqué.

I was first introduced to Back Basting Appliqué in September 2014, in a workshop with Brenda Papadakis. I've never forgotten Brenda's thoughts on appliqué. "You need an arsenal of techniques in your pocket, because different blocks lend themselves to different techniques". I've found this to be very true.

If you haven't heard of Back Basting Appliqué, its a technique where you draw the appliqué design onto the back of your background fabric. You then baste your appliqué fabric onto the front side of the background, basting along the drawn lines of the design.

 

Back view

 

Front View.

 

If you look closely you will see the basting stitches. The basting stitches are stitched with a large size needle, and thick thread such as quilting thread. This is to make a nice solid hole in appliqué and background fabric as this is what you will follow to stitch the design. I only had cream quilting thread available, sorry the stitches are hard to see.

After the fabric has been basted, it is then appliquéd in place. It works best if the basting stitches can stay in place for a day or so, to set the little holes formed by the needle and thread. To appliqué, you carefully cut away the excess appliqué fabric leaving just a small 1/8th inch seam allowance. Removing a couple of the basting stitches at a time, you turn the raw edge under as you stitch in place, following the little dots left from the removed stitches. 

What I like about this method is there are no lines drawn on any fabric which will be visible when the block is completed. Also, once the design is baste, it becomes very portable and fuss free if you are travelling or attending a sewing day, and with no glue or appliqué paper, the completed block is really soft. On the other side, the little holes can be rather hard to see if you have chosen a looser thread count fabric and the preparation may be a little longer than if using a method such as appliqué paper. 

 

Half way along.

 

Here is  Block 11 Completed. The deep concave curves at the base of the petals are meant to be a little tighter. I find it really difficult with some fabrics to achieve the perfect result, and because I make my quilts to use, I would rather open up the curve a fraction more to ensure it stays in place in years to come. It can be a difficult decision at times, choose a fabric which will stitch well or choose a fabric because you love the colour and pattern. I usually always choose colour and pattern, because really who else is going to know that those curves should be a little tighter.

I'm really enjoying revisiting some of these techniques I have not practiced for some time, and enjoying the little challenge of one block a week. 

I hope you're finding time for stitching too.

Super Bloom By Laundry Basket Quilts

Super Bloom the latest fabric designed by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts has arrived. If you love the style of Di Ford-Hall, don't miss out on these.

The leaves in this print are gorgeous. They are so useful for Broderie Perse.  See how Di has used such prints in her Antique Wedding sampler quilt. (Pattern is in Di's  Primarily Quilts book published with Quiltmania.)

Di's Antique Wedding Sampler Revisited Quilt

Again, Di's Antique Wedding Sampler Quilt Revisited. Beautiful machine quilting is by Helen Hayes.

 

The range also has a lovely border print that will make a beautiful sashing.

It reminds me of the sashing fabric Di used in her  'Jane Austeen Quilt' also a pattern in the Primarily Quilts book.

Di's Jane Austeen Quilt

I have these listed on the website, you can view them here, along with some other prints in the range.

Happy Stitching.

Our Applique Meetings Have Resumed

Yesterday was our first Appliqué meeting for the year. After breaking up early December and not meeting in January, it was lovely to be back at the hall, catching up with everyone and seeing lovely projects in work.

Show and tell is always a highlight of the day. Dellas has just completed this bright, cheery quilt with fabrics from Lori Holt.

Lyn has complete a sweet Maggie Grace's Garden (pattern by Di Ford)

Frances has been making this gorgeous baby quilt for a new grandchild who is due this week. With just the binding to go Frances has made it in time.

And Carolyn has completed 'Magic Eye' (pattern by Emma Newman). Carolyn decided she would hand quilt this one, have never hand quilted before. It is magnificent. 

Being a member of appliqué group, means committing to a challenge each year....I am quite a bossy group leader.  There are always moans of resistance when the challenge is mention, but everyone is brave and makes a commitment. Usually we have check-ins along the way, and as people complete their challenges they are ticked off the list. This year I have decided to change it a little. Yesterday each member was presented with a card onto which they had to write their challenge. This was placed in an envelope and sealed. At our December meeting we will open the envelopes and hopefully there is a completed project to match the challenge. It should be a fun meeting.

It has also been back to school for my kids. This the year I am down to two. 

I asked them to replicate the photo I took 10 years ago, back in 2010. Oh what a difference ten years can make. Back then I decided when the kids got haircuts, I packed their lunch boxes and they wore what I laid out. Now I have very little say, but I certainly don't miss making those 5 lunches boxes up each day.

Keep on stitching. x 

Ella Maria Deacon Quilt Block 15

I've continued on with foundation piecing and this week completed Block 15 of the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt.

This is the original block,

You can see I have changed it a little. I wanted to use one of my favourite fabrics, a teal I have been saving for a long time. 

I really love this fabric, in fact I love it too much. I always audition it, but never use it. Recent life events have taught me that we should use and enjoy things while we can. So while I was feeling all empowered with changing my ways I cut straight into it. And once I started I decided I should keep going and cut the centre from it as well. I am so pleased I did. I think it makes a lovely star.

On with challenging myself, I decided to fussy cut the brown squares. It is quite fiddly to fussy cut with foundation piecing. I was concentrating too much with getting the placement right, and not looking at the bigger picture of how they would look when the block was sewn together. While they looked great in the rows, they don't look so great when sewn into the block. Will I redo them? Well not for now, I am hoping I can live with it.

I think I'm ready for an easier block next week.

Happy stitching, Lenora x.

Ella Maria Deacon Quilt

Do you set New Years Resolutions? I usually do, but with my teenage kids giving me endless reminders of how much my resolutions fail, I decided this year not to. However without verbalising to anyone, I decided this was going to be a much more productive year and that I was going to sharpen up my skills on some techniques like foundation piecing and back basting appliqué and also start developing my skills with custom quilting.

While catching up on some blogs I follow, I came across a link to a lovely sampler quilt called the Ella Maria Deacon Quilt.  The quilt is housed at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Gay from Sentimental Stitches has recreated the pattern for it. You can read about it here on Sentimental Stitches blog and read more about the quilt here at the Art Institute of Chicago website.

(Image  from The Art Institute Of Chicago Website)

Each month Gay is releasing four block patterns. There is a small charge to purchase the patterns during the month of release. This charge goes up after the next months patterns are released. The patterns are downloaded over the internet in PDF format. There are 85 blocks of which some are repeated in the quilt, and the program runs over 21 months. It commenced in September (2019), so I am a little late getting on board, but I have decided it will be a lovely project for me. 

My aim is to make one block each week, and to use techniques that I have become a little rusty with. 

The original quilt maker used a plain cream background, but I have decided to use this shirting print. 

I've made up a folder to keep all the patterns safe,

and I've made my first block using foundation piecing. It's been a good while since I have foundation pieced. I won't lie, it took a while to get my head back into the technique, but I got there. I have decided my next block will be another foundation pieced block, just to consolidate the skill.

I plan on keeping up to date with this project, but with Quilt Convention sneaking up I know I will struggle. I figure it doesn't really matter, with lots of blocks available it will still be a lovely quilt even if I decide to finish it with less than the 85 blocks. Thanks Gay for putting together such a great program, with such easy to follow directions.

And while speaking of blogs, I have had a little update to my sidebar listing. A lot of bloggers have become inactive so I have removed them and added some new ones to follow.  If you have time, check them out, there is always lots of inspiration. I have been trying to work out how I can make my blog readable in different languages, but it seems Typepad blogs are unable to access  google translate. I apologise for the frustration of having to copy and paste to a translation site. If you know of any solutions please let me know.

Happy Stitching, Lenora x.

Making Basket Blocks

Funny how our tastes change. When I made my first quilt, which was a sampler, I omitted the basket block because I saw nothing appealing about a basket. I was in my early twenties. Now as I am in my later forties, I'm starting to develop a thing for them........I guess I am getting old.

So my new project has baskets. I'm trying to see how many I can make without repeating fabrics.

They are quick and fun, and I can cut them out while watching the Australian Open Tennis. 🎾......last night I sat up until 1.00am, it was such a great game, with Roger Federer winning the fifth set tie breaker.  It was not so good when the alarm went off at 5.30am and I had to go and milk the cows. 

Hope you are enjoying some sewing time too.

Yikes, only 13 Weeks till AQC

Well I have really scared myself today. The Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) is exactly 13 weeks away.   It starts on Thursday 16th April 2020, the week straight after Easter and the first week kids are back at school for term two. It really is a great show, definitely the best quilting show in Australia for the year. If you haven't been before, it is worth making the trip to Melbourne. There is still time to plan some leave from work, organise flights and accomodation, which actually will be cheaper as it is not school holidays. Go on, do it! I am sure you won't be disappointed.

I have been working on a new project with lots of fussy cut stars.

but with Dad's passing, I'm finding it hard to sit and hand sew. I always end up thinking of dad and I can't sew with tears in my eyes. I've decided  to let it sit for a while, hopefully not too long.

So I have started a new machine pieced project, one that requires accurate piecing and lots of focused attention. I am enjoying it.

It's nice to be back creating again.

My Perfect Sewing Tote

I will admit to being a tiny bit obsessed with storage containers. My girls roll their eyes each time I depart the supermarket with another storage tub and they now refuse to accompany me to Office Works. I just like having things in containers. I know it's strange, it's just how it works for me. The other thing that works for me, is preparing my nights work during the daytime. By the time I sit down at night, which is usually around 9pm, my brain is too tired to make decisions on colour or pattern choice. I dither around, procrastinate way too long, and end up achieving nothing. 

So I work a lot between the shop and home. Stealing time when I can at the shop to choose colours and cut out, then I take it home to stitch up that night. It is surprising how much 'stuff' I need to tote about. Small scissors, marking pens, glue pens, templates, threads etc. Finding the perfect container, that fits nicely in my work basket has been a challenge. But I have found it. It is the Yazzii Petite Organiser XL. Let me show you.

What I love most is the size. It is 13.25 inches long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches in height. It holds everything that I need, and it fits so easily into my rectangular work basket. It also has its own handle so I can easily hold it if my basket is full.

At the bottom I keep some pieces of templastic, a small sandpaper board.... to stop the sandpaper rubbing I cut down an appliqué mat and glued it to the back of the board, so it serves a dual purpose. I also keep a small fussy cutting mirror.

The organiser comes with four clear plastic fronted pouches, and I have added extra Yazzii rectangular pouches. I have one pouch for my favourite Aurifil threads, another for my pens, another for essentials like needles, pins, thimbles etc. I use other pouches to store the work I prepare.

The pouches all stack neatly up. There is even a top pocket to store extra items like scissors and measuring tapes.

The Petite Organiser XL is made with a central divider and the four plastic pockets sewn in. 

With an unpicker (seam ripper), I carefully removed the two horizontal stitching lines, which freed the four plastic pockets. I then removed the small vertical line which released the central divider. I had to remove it from the front of the bag as well. Removing the divider enabled the room to add the rectangular pouches.

Here's what mine looks like after the alterations.

I'm really thrilled to finally have exactly what I need. A compact tote that holds everything I need, that doesn't fall out of my basket. I have them available for sale on-line, you will find them under Notions or by clicking here.

Happy Sewing!

A New Year Begins

I've sat down to write this post, telling how excited I am to start a new year, after having such a horrible 2019. With broken fingers, broken legs and smashed up ankles in the house. Three months of closing my patchwork business to make room for full time farming, and then the final heartbreak of my Dad's sudden death on December 14th, his funeral taking place on my birthday Christmas Eve, it was a terrible year. But as I stop and reflect,  some good things did happen. Maggie Maguire's Garden was released which opened up some lovely friendships with shops in America, France and the United Kingdom, and also some lovely personal friendships with people who have started working on Maggie. My children have had success with sporting awards, my daughter received an amazing result in her VCE studies and has been accepted to study a double Law/Commerce degree this year, and I think our region was the only part of Australia that received decent rainfall over winter and spring. I am thankful for the good things, but I am looking forward to starting a fresh new year with 2020.

As I just mentioned, by dear Dad passed away suddenly on December 14th. He was 79, but so fit and healthy. It has been a terrible blow to us all. He just went to sleep and never woke up. I have lots of teary moments thinking about him. He was so supportive of everything his children done and he has had a huge influence on the person I am. He was so generous with his time and talents, always ready to help out, he even helped me fold fabric prior to AQC each year. Thank you all so much for the lovely messages I have received on my Facebook and Instagram pages, it has been a great comfort to read all your comments. I am really missing him, but I can hear his voice.......... "You'd better get on with it", so that is what I will do.

 

The shop is open again, and some new Dutch Heritage Fabrics have arrived. 

Barnsley Border

Marlowe Border

Midsummer border

Dutch Heritage Mini's

Dutch Heritage Ashridge

They are all listed on the website, just click on the link above.

I wish you all a happy new year, which is hard to do knowing that our country is ablaze with terrible bush fires. If you are in these fire areas, please stay safe. 

Lenora x.

 

 

 

 

Wild Flower Woods

Just on closing on Friday evening my delivery man arrived with a small box of fabric. It was a selection of the new Wild Flower Woods, designed by Evonne Cook of Washington Street Studio. Circa 1870-85. 

Here's what arrived.

I love the border stripes, especially the pretty scallop element. There are lots of possibilities with fussy cutting, either hexagons or for a small feature border.  I sat down and played with making a Maggie Maguire hexagon.

Cream stripe facing in

Cream stripe facing out.

I didn't have quite enough fabric to show it with a whole round of the floral, but you can see the effect. I like the restful state of the first two compared to having all the flowers but it is a personal preference. Sometimes the centres can get a bit challenging in these flowers, repeating an outside element can tie it together nicely. 

Hope your having a great weekend.

Lenora x.

A USA supplier for Maggie Maguire's Garden pattern

I have some lovely news. The ladies who own Homestead Hearth, a beautiful quilt shop in Missouri, USA,  are going to be stocking Maggie Maguire's Garden pattern in their shop, and they have also decided to run it as a block of the month program. If you are living in the USA, please check out their website here, there are details of the program they are offering, and the chance to register your interest.

There has also been a facebook group commence for Maggie Maguire. I am very thankful to Donna who lives in NSW for starting this group. It is called Maggie Maguire's Garden by Lenora Jenkins. It is a closed group, but if you are interested in making the quilt or have begun, please just ask to join. It is fabulous to see people sharing the beautiful hexagon flowers they are making, and so inspiring for those not so familiar with fussy cut hexagons. 

I've had a lot of fun in the shop over the past few weeks. The special event we held on Grand Final eve was a great success. Lots of ladies visited the shop and a lovely group stayed on to sew in the hall. Once again I got so caught up in the occasion I did not think to take any photo's. So sorry. It will certainly be on again next year, so please mark the date, I expect it to be 25th September 2020.

Save the Date: Friday 27th September

What are you doing on Friday 27th September?  It has been gazetted as a public holiday for all Victorians.....so we can watch the Grand Final Parade in Melbourne. Living here in rural Victoria, the party is a distance away, so I have decided to hold my own party.

The shop will open from 10.00am - 4.00pm. There will be lots of specials on offer with discounted fabric. There will also be lucky shopper prizes and a competition or two.

On top of that, I have hired the Nullawarre Hall. The hall is only a short stroll from the shop and you will be able to sit and sew with tea and coffee available all day. Come for an hour or stay for the day. For those living in Melbourne why not escape to our lovely Great Ocean Road for a weekend retreat.

Feeling a little bit enticed? My hometown of Terang (A pleasant 30 minute drive from Nullawarre) is holding a Colour Festival. The colour festival will include not only a quilt show, but also a flower show, Kites and music.  Why not gather your friends and make a whole day of it?

So mark the date in your diary, I'd love you to be part of our fun.

These lovely photos you have been looking at are the newest range from Karen Styles for Marcus Fabrics called County Clare. They are inspired by English and Irish quilts of the 17th and 18th centuries.

 

Ever Wondered How Linen is Made?

Gosh I love of linen. I love wearing it and I love working with it. I stumbled upon these two great videos today and thought you might like to view them too.  The first video shows the traditional methods where a typical household would produce linen by hand. The second shows modern day manufacturing.

 

It makes you wonder who had the idea of pulling out a plant, drying it, soaking it, then drying it again, then thrashing it to produce a fibre which could be spun into a thread. Whoever they were, I love them for it.

I'm Back And Have News Of A Bus Trip

My last post on April 12th was from AQC in Melbourne. I had just released my newest pattern Maggie Maguire's Garden, and although I had a terrible head cold, I was having a wonderful time with my three daughters all coming to help out on the stand.

I certainly had no idea there was a curve ball just waiting to be thrown. Eleven days later my husband suffered a terrible injury on the farm, breaking his leg and severely dislocating his ankle tearing all tendons away from his right ankle bone. The timing could not of been worse, just at the start of our busy calving season on the farm.

I have always been beside Rick on the farm, but he has always been the one in charge. I milk the cows, but I've never needed to know who they all are and what their history is. But it all changed. I needed to know that cow 1493 had that heifer calf with the white blaze down its face, and cow 1263 had her second case of mastitis, and that antibiotic did not solve the last case so I had better treat her with another antibiotic. With 400 cows to calve down, it was such a busy time,  I really had no choice but to close the shop and concentrate on the farm.

Today is exactly three months since the injury. Rick is getting back to full capacity at work, although his leg gives him some bother, and I have reopened the shop. Im still catching up on lots of work, so many fabrics arrived while I was closed and my stocks of fat quarters, fat eighths and bundles need replenishing after AQC. It is lovely to be back, and I am looking forward to picking up my needle and thread again soon.

So what is the news of a bus trip?

Well, our dear friend Di Ford-Hall, is currently undertaking treatment for Leukaemia. Di has been a great supporter of my shop, and has made a number of trips to Nullawarre to teach.

 

A major fundraising event for the Leukaemia Foundation has been organised, as a way to say 'Thank you' for what they have done for Di and All patients with Leukaemia, Myeloma's and related blood disorders.

The event is being held on Saturday 5th October. The day will include a display of the 24 quilts in the new book Labors of Love - Glorious Quilts Re-visited by the Secret Sewing Sisters (Di's sewing group), Jen Kingwell will be a guest speaker, there will be a silent auction, demonstrations and raffles as well as a lovely afternoon tea. Here is the flyer.

To support this great event, I have decided to hire a coach for the day. The coach will leave Warrnambool at 6.00am, pick up in Terang, Camperdown and Colac. The cost is $120.00 which covers the bus, entry into the event and an evening meal at the Waurn Ponds Hotel. With drop offs back along the way, we aim to arrive back in Warrnambool around 10.00 - 10.30pm.

I have heard the support for this event is amazing and I am expecting that the limited tickets will sell very fast. If you would like to secure your place on the coach, you can purchase your seat here, or call me on 0427 819105  or send an email. I need to purchase tickets which go on sale on August 1st. After they sell out, no more will be available, so please do not hesitate if you are interested in coming along. It would be great to have you with us.

Its great to back again.

Lenora.

 

Maggie Maguire's Garden

In November last year I revisited some hexagon flowers that had languished in the back of my cupboard for just over a year. I was working to replicate an antique quilt, that was mostly browns, blues and golds. I think it was the restriction of colour that was causing my dislike of the project, so I decided to abandon the idea and work on something else restrictive. 

With the goal of the Australasian Quilt Convention in sights, I set myself the challenge of having a quilt finished by March 2019. November, December and January were quite productive, but our annual harvest on the farm, Christmas and the summer school holidays did slow my work rate. By February panic set it. There was so much to do; if only I had worked harder earlier. By this stage the fussy cutting was getting challenging, I felt I had used all my best fabrics, but some new arrivals into the shop spurred me on.

With some late nights, and early mornings, sewing in the car, at the hairdressers and the school bus stop, I managed to complete the quilt top on the train, just before my meeting with Helen Hayes who had kindly agreed to machine quilt it for me.

With some more late nights writing the pattern, then printing and packaging them, I was delighted to finally release Maggie Maguire's Garden at AQC yesterday.

There are a total of 168 hexagon flowers,  4232 individual hexagons. Despite the exhaustion of the last month, it really has been a lovely project to work on. Lots of 'Oh Wow' moments when fussy cutting has produced a lovely flower, and lots of family discussion about what flower was the nicest. 

If your coming along to AQC, pop by my stall #73 and take a look, I'd love to see you. 

Southern Right Creative Festival 2019

This time last week I was in Warrnambool setting up my stall for the opening of the 2019 Southern Right Creative Festival. Previously known as the Southern Right (a breed of whales that migrate to Warrnambool each year) Quilt show.

The committee put on a fabulous show every second year, with lots of traders and lots of wonderful, diverse quilts. There were over 200 quilts on display.  Here are some I have permission to show you.

Arlington Square by Carolyn Adams

A quilted Village by Carolyn Adams

Polka Dot Pinwheels by Lynette Pike

Liquorice Allsorts by Janine Carson

Trees of Four Seasons by Coral Donovan

and again I must show you  Auntie Green also by Carolyn Adams.

I had my stall set up beside Linda, and although we didn't have much time to talk, I was gifted with a lovely punnet of Strawberries each morning which saw me through the day. The three days went really quickly, so quickly I never seemed to have time to take a photo of my stall :(

The next festival will be in January 2021, mark it in your diary as it is well worth making the journey for and all monies raised go to supporting local charities.

2018 Challenges

As part of my monthly appliqué group I have been running an annual challenge. At the start of the year each member is asked if they would like to participate in the challenge. The aim is to commit to a project that you would like to see finished by the end of the year. I was delighted to have almost every member of our group commit to the challenge in 2018....... even if it was through coercion.

Every few months we have a quick trip around the room to check on progress, and I do allow members a chance to re-negotiate their challenge about half way through the year.

Our final meeting for the year is always a highlight. Each member brings along a plate of food to share, and we have a pooled lunch together. There is always an abundance of food, drink and treats. After lunch we have our show and tell, with many of the challenge quilts being shown in their completed state. This year we had a magnificent display, with some ladies sitting up late the night before to complete the challenge. 

Let me show you some of the work, although I do apologise for the poor quality photos.

Here is Lynette's Hand Pieced Star Quilt. Lynette started this quilt in a hand piecing class with Annette Blake and was determined to finish it this year. 

Di also started this quilt in a class, Ballaarat Beauties with Michelle Yeo. So nice to see the top completed.

Marianne committed to finishing this lovely bright quilt. A few late nights leading up to our meeting saw the top completed.

Jenny toiled away at The Mary Brown Quilt, designed by Corliss Searcey of Threadbear, exceeding her goal of completed blocks. Im sure it will be finished now in 2019.

Our dear member Marlene, presented her lovely Caswell Quilt, again designed by Corliss Searcey. Beautifully quilted and bound, it is truly delightful.

Heather had a wonderfully productive year (actually she always does), this is her Pendle Hill quilt, designed by Di Ford-Hall. It is an extra large quilt and Im sure Heather has sewn it completely by hand. The photo does not do justice to its beauty. 

With Pendle Hill finished, Heather moved on to completing Mary Queen of Bedford, another design by Di Ford-Hall. Just the outer border to go.

Hazel worked away at this quilt, a design by Willyne Hammerstein. Again the photo does not do justice to the beautiful intricate work that has been done. The colour choices are superb.

Janine finished her version of Okehampton a design by Karen Styles of Somerset Patchwork.

And we all held our breathe as Jocelyn unfurled a complete top of La Passion designed by Grit from Germany and found at Grits Life blog. The quilt has 17,250 half inch hexagons.  If you have been following this blog you may remember me showing Jocelyn's progress here back in July. Amazingly, Jocelyn completed other works in amongst this quilt. 
 It was a most successful year, and I can't wait to do it all again.

Wishing you all the happiest of New Years. I hope your year is filled with sunshine, joy and happy days with endless sewing time.   Lenora.

 

Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you have a day filled with love and happiness, and I hope it continues throughout the new year.

A big thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout the year, from visiting the shop, to on-line orders and purchasing from me at various stalls. I truly appreciate your business.

Love and best wishes, Lenora.

Time To Kick Back

Its been a while between visits, but you will be please to hear it is for a good reason. I am working away at a new quilt which I aim to release at the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne next April. The design features hexagons (lots of hexagons), and so far they are all fussy cut. You may of seen some I quickly posted on my Facebook and Instagram pages. I am on the down hill slope, only forty more to make and then the fun part of putting it all together. Here are a couple of my latest.

I have also continued on with the resuscitation of my garden. If I may be a little bit bold, I will say it is the best it has ever looked.

I thought I had lost this poor Buddleia. A good weeding, a hard pruning, some fertiliser and tender loving care over the past four months and this near deceased Buddleia now looks like this.

I know these Buddleia's are black listed in some parts of the world, but there are very few shrubs I can establish with our harsh coastal winds. I have planted them all along my Northern fence and they are doing really well.

I took the drastic step of removing almost all the plants in my backyard, even a ten year old Albertine Rose that was just about to flower, and sprayed the entire area with Round Up not once but twice. My family thought I had gone completely mad and Im sure they were a little bit cross with the moonscape they were forced to live with.

It is now back to lawn and the ornamental pears I have planted are starting to take off. It is very much a work in progress, but its already an improvement.

The roses have put on a great display too.

It has been a huge task but one I have really enjoyed and will keep on enjoying.

I have now closed the shop for a short break over Christmas and New Year. My only plans are to kick back, relax and sew hexagons. I will be back on Friday 4th January. Internet orders are still open and will be posted as normal.

Cheers.

New Fabric Has Arrived

Lots of new fabrics have arrived over the past weeks.

First to arrive was Nicholson Street. I was really excited to receive this range as it is designed by my friends Lisa and Lou from the  Max and Louise Pattern Co. These great Aussie girls live in Victoria and have been designing patterns for a number of years. This is their first fabric range, an offering of great shirting prints.

I love the different colours in these shirtings. It is not easy to find shirtings with green, purple, gold and pink, so they are definitely worth adding to the stash, just to give that little bit of variety and interest in your scrappy quilts.

Lisa and Lou already have their next range of fabric designed, but it will be early next year before we will see it in cloth.

Hot on the heals of Nicholson Street was the arrival of Spice it Up, designed by Jo Morton. In Jo's adored style, this range has lovely small prints and small border stripes. The prints are perfect for small miniature quilts which Jo is so famous for, and also well suited for appliqué.

I have the complete range of 40 bolts.

Last to arrive has been Sussex, designed by Nancy Gere. Very timely given the Prince and Princess of Sussex are actually in Melbourne today. This fabric range features some lovely pinks, soft greys and raspberry.

All fabrics are listed on the website, just click on the highlighted names and you will be taken directly to them.

We had a wonderful appliqué gathering at the start of this month. Our special guests where Corliss and Megan from Theadbear.

It was lovely to see all their quilts and hear the inspiration behind each design. Both ladies have almost opposite ways of designing, but both produce such stunning quilts. It was a really enjoyable and inspiring day.

Happy Stitching!

September Show and Tell

I'm extremely lucky to have the company of such a motivated and productive group of ladies who attend my monthly appliqué group. Last month Carolyn shared with us her beautiful Auntie Green Quilt, designed by  Carolyn Konig. Carolyn has been participating in the BOM program.

It has been a delight watching this quilt slowly evolve, it will be treasured for many decades to come.

We have another productive member, Monica. Circumstances have kept Monica away from our group for a little while, but she arrived back this month with some great quilts to show.

Fairhaven designed by Michelle Yeo

and 'Discovery' a Quiltmania BOM designed by Petra Prins.

Barb has just finished quilting and binding Ballarat Beauties designed by Michelle Yeo.

Jocelyn is continuing on with her La Passion quilt designed by Grit.  

She has sewn over 17,000 hexagons so far.

Next is a completed top made by Di. This is Di's version of the Emma Mary Quilt designed by Judy Newman.

And finally Antoinette has made this beautiful quilt designed by Robyn Falloon.

Sometimes there is too much inspiration for the time we have available.

Again just a reminder that I will be closed tomorrow Saturday 8th September.

Happy Stitching!

Spring Fever

I have been rather anti social of late, sorry if you have been visiting with no updates. I have been totally focused on resuscitating my poor neglected roses. 

Twelve years ago we built a new house on our farm. Being the keen gardener, I scoffed at my husband when he offered me a bag of left over Rye grass in the shed. No, I was having proper lawn. So I purchased a big box of lawn mix, and broadcast the whole new area that was to be my garden.  It has turned out to be one of the worst mistake of my life. While the seed mix had only 10% Couch, I now have vast areas of my garden that are 100%, Couch, in all its thick strangling glory.

My garden has been very neglected. In fact a number of my roses never saw the secateurs last year, and definitely not a granule of fertiliser. Over summer I really missed the beautiful, healthy blooms and rather than getting that little buzz of enjoyment as I walk out the front door, It is been a feeling of underachievement and failure, not to mention embarrassment.

So with a sniff of Spring in the air, I set about gaining control of the Couch. One rose at a time, I weeded, I pruned and I fertilised.

I learnt of a big pile of free mulch, so I conned the kids into helping me. We managed 12 bags before the squabbling got too much for me to handle.

(Rye grass bags.... how ironic)

I have been spending at least an hour every day, and on my days off lots more. 

With Mr 14 now fully competant at driving the tractor, he has been a wonderful help loading up the weeds with the front end loader. With his help we moved the blue stone blocks from my previous garden over to the new garden, and created a nice edging which I hope will help in keeping the Couch grass at bay.

We are up to our 45th bag of mulch and it is starting to look a treat. I set my self the ambitious task of getting down to the arch way, and I am nearly there. 

The end is in sight and now spring is definitely here. It will be lovely when the roses burst into full leaf and later flower. I will really enjoy the lovely blooms and their sweet smells this year.

 

And in other news, our local football/netball team Nirranda are playing off in grand final matches this coming weekend. It is wonderful to have both senior football sides and A Grade and A reserve netball in the grand final. So the shop will be closed this Saturday while I yell and scream my support for them. Thanks for your understanding.

Windermere plus an outing this Saturday

Its nice to be back with you. Its been mostly work and no play for me. July is the crazy busy month on our farm, always a struggle to get through it, but the worst is now behind, so happy sewing days are ahead.

The beautiful Windermere range arrived in July. Di Ford-Hall's fabric just keeps getting better.

I have now sold out of the lovely teal stripe. I have placed another order, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive.

I have succumbed to temptation, and started stitching blocks of the Sarah Wistar Quilt, designed by Megan Carroll. 

They are lovely blocks. Very portable and very achievable. The hardest part has been deciding which fabrics I am going to use. 

 

This Saturday 18th August, I have been invited to trade at a gathering of The Applique Guild of Australia being held in Warrnambool. Here are the details.

 

Appliqué-In

hosted by The Applique Guild Australia Inc.

Saturday 18th August 2018

10.00am - 3.00pm

Gateway Church Hall

186 Raglan Parade

(Enter via Simpson St)

Warrnambool, Vic 3280

Guest speaker: Heather Shepherd

BYO Lunch and Mug and a small plate to share for morning tea

Bring your appliqué, sit and sew and enjoy time with friends

 

It promises to be a wonderful, inspiring day. I will be trading along with Linda from Gum Valley Patchwork. 

Everyone is welcome to attend, you do not need to be a member of the guild. 

The shop at Nullawarre will be closed for this day.

Happy stitching, Lenora.

July Applique Gathering

Yesterday was the first Monday of the month, and also our monthly appliqué meeting. It is always inspiring to see the lovely show and tell, and just to wander around the room checking out what everyone is working on.

I enter the day with great intentions of taking photos, but often I get so caught up that I forget to, or worst still, I forget to post them. Yesterday I remembered. Lets take a look.

Hazel's beautiful Ballet Avec Kaffe Fassett quilt, designed by Willyne Hammerstein. Just the border to add

 

Here's a closer shot. The quilt is entirely hand pieced.

 

Miss Matty's Parlour by Marriane. Hand pieced and hand quilted. Delightful work.

 

Jocelyn is working away at this beautiful hexagon quilt. Over 9000 hexagons have already been sewn and only another 7000 odd to go. Its been lovely watching this quilt grow.

 

Coral is on the home stretch with this beauty designed by Kim McLean

 

Lyn is also working on a hexagon masterpiece

 

Annie is making Irene Blanck's 'Confetti Quilt". 

 

Kay was making pentagon flowers for her Pendle Hill quilt

Anne is hand piecing her 'Maie' quilt designed by Periwinkle Patchwork.

 

and Helen is working on the Charlotte Quilt from Wattlebird designs.

I'll try and remember to keep taking photos.

Happy stitching, Lenora.

 

Sarah French No5

Fourteen bolts of the lovely new reproduction range called Sarah French No5 have arrived. They are beautiful true reproductions designed by Nancy Kirk for Washington Street Studio.

They offer great fussy cutting options for hexagons, clams and tumblers and I can see some great six and eight point stars using the different stripes. I have entered them onto the website, here is the direct link.

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair 2018

I am home and recovering from a huge week at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. I travelled up with my eldest daughter Amy, who kindly took a week off work to help out on my stall. We left on Monday morning, the sun was shining brightly at (however high a plane flies), but with such thick cloud it was not so sunny underneath.

It seemed we were no longer in the air and the hostess was offering us soft drink and Pringles, Im not sure how it all worked but apparently we had earned a $10 voucher. By the time we had eaten the Pringles and drank the drink, this was the sight we were greeted with.

After settling into our room we ventured out to find the Exhibition Building and to check if the pallet of goods had arrived. All was good, except two trestle tables were missing from the stall.

Works out I had not read my contract properly, and no tables were provided. What an adventure the next twenty hours would be. I ended up catching trains and buses (both in the wrong direction to start with and in pouring rain with no coat or umbrella) to Bunnings at Alexandria and then waiting for 1.5 hours for a taxi. While waiting impatiently I watched the filming of a television segment for 'The Lounge Room' ...if you see a lady hiding behind two trestle tables at the front door that will be me. And while I was doing all this, Amy was climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge also in pouring rain. When the thunder and lighting came, she quickly had to descend to a bunker room. Luckily the storm passed and they were able to re climb and reach the summit, so apart from a slight drenching all was not too bad. 

The stall came together really quickly, and was looking great with The Sarah Wistar Quilt, Auntie Tess and Old Courthouse all on show ready for opening day. Forgive these very dark photos's the lighting was not great.

I had a fabulous week. I got to meet lots and lots of my mail order customers, fellow bloggers and members of Facebook groups I am in. And it was lovely to have a visit from Linda on Friday. Amy took up Linda's offer of afternoon release and caught a train and bus to Bondi for the afternoon

It was wonderful to finally meet Chookyblue, we have been blogging buddies for many years. Chooky invited me to join her for drinks after the show and I got to meet her lovely friends too, including Sandy from Shiralee Stitches and Janice who has a lovely blog Jannimary which I will now follow too.

 A lovely lady called Judith called by my stall. She was working on The Dutch Heritage Fabric stall. After a few minutes of talking, I work out that it was Judith from Juud's Quilts, another blog I have also followed for many years. It was a very funny moment when the penny dropped. One minute a complete stranger, the next second a well known friend.

The days past way too quickly. Each night I would walk down this pier at Darling Harbour to get back to my room. It was a pity I was so tired and my feet so sore, I did not stop and enjoy the moment.

When the fair ended on Sunday evening it was time to pack up. The pallet a lot lighter for the return journey, even with my two new trestle tables.

We had an afternoon flight on Monday, so we took the chance to do a little sight seeing in the morning. We decided to catch a ferry over to Manly Beach

We returned back to Circular Quay, and went to explore The Rocks area. There was a massive cruise ship in dock, we soon discovered that it was boarding day. Hundreds and hundreds of excited people where milling around, with more arriving each minute, just like bees to the honey pot. It was lovely to sit and watch the people arriving, all excited and in great spirits. It was a great atmosphere.

We made our way back to the airport and boarded our plane. Once again the Pringles and drinks were on offer, Im still baffled how that worked out, but again when the Pringles were eaten and drinks drank the plane was starting the descent. We were home in time for a late tea.

It really was a fabulous week, thanks NSW for making us feel so welcome.

Sydney bound

I am on official notice. There will be no more cutting, folding, bundling and boxing fabric from any of my family until next year. And our ten seat table is to be returned to a ten seat table with none of "Mum's Stuff" occupying the last three seats.

It has been a busy few weeks, with the last long weekend especially busy. Starter packs have been made for the Auntie Tess Quilt and also the Sarah Wistar Quilt, with Sarah Wistar now having a Deluxe pack of 20 fat 1/8ths and 20 fat 1/16th's. More colour cubes have been made and fabric rolls rolled and a great supply of pre-cuts folded. 

On Tuesday morning we set off for the couriers in Melbourne, once again towing the trailer. My 13 yr old son gladly volunteered to take the day off school (if his teachers are reading this he was sick) to help navigate and lift the heavy boxes. He did a superb job. 

I was concerned we might not fit all the stock onto one pallet, but with some careful jiggling we managed to get it all on and just at the height limit of 2m. I felt quite relieved when the pallet was wrapped and contents secured. By now I think the pallet should be in Sydney. So all is in place for hopefully a fabulous time. 

I am now having a few easy days cleaning up the two bomb sites that have emerged at both the shop and home, before I head off next week. 

The shop will be closed next week from Wednesday 20th - Wednesday 27th June, reopening on Thursday 28th June. On-line orders will remain open, but they will not be processed until my return.

Happy Stitching, Lenora.

New Dutch Heritage Fabric

I am delighted to have four bolts of the newest Dutch Heritage Fabric, designed by Petra Prins and Nel Kooiman. These vibrantly coloured prints are great for fussy cutting and Broderie Perse. They are listed on the website, here is a link to take you straight there.

I can't wait to have a few spare hours to sit and play with these beauties, I am sure there will be some stunning hexagons waiting to emerge from these prints.

I am now on the serious count down to the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair. Only two weeks to go! Yikes, I'd better get back to it.

Sequoia by Edyta Sitar

Its lovely to have some new fabric arrive, especially when it's the bright, fresh colours of Edyta Sitars latest offering, Sequoia. These lovely small scale prints are perfect for appliqué, giving your project that little pop of colour to add interest and highlight. The colours I have chose range from teal, green, pink, red with a touch of dark brown and a fawn yellow.

Teals (the back ones are darker in real life - see a better photo below)

Greens

Pinks and Red

Brown, Fawn and Multi's

Light Prints

and a gorgeous print with lovely birds

Grouped together

They are listed for sale on the website, here is a quick link if you would like to see them.

It is now less than three weeks until the Sydney Craft and Quilt show and the alarm bells are just starting to ring. Best I get back to the cutting, folding and bundling.

Happy stitching, Lenora.

Are you coming to meet Leah?

A few weeks back I announced that Leah Zieber; American quilt historian and author was visiting Australia and had agreed to spend a day with us. Here is the link to the blog post, just in case you missed it. 

It promises to be a great day. I feel very privileged to have someone of Leah's expertise visiting and offering to share her knowledge with us. If you have been thinking of attending, could you please book your place either through the website here, or by calling me on 0427 819105. I need to hear from you by Thursday 1st June. 

If you are on my email mailing list, you would of received an email from me last week, asking you to reconfirm your desire to receive emails. This was in response to the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Laws that came into effect on May 25th. These laws are specifically for people in the European Union, but just to cover myself and be 100% compliant,  I thought it was timely to ask people were they really ok with receiving emails from me. I have slackened with my email newsletter, but the great response I had with re-signups has been truly enlightening. I will recommence the newsletters on a more frequent basis. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please respond to the email I sent, or click on this link, to subscribe. 

Back soon with some lovely new fabric arrivals.

 

One more sleep until the Frolic begins

With one more sleep to go, its time I released details of the in-store specials you will find at Elm Grove Patchwork during the Friendship Frolic. 

All of the Japanese Yarn Dye will be reduced to $22.00/m. (This fabric usually sells for $28.00-32.00/m).

All 1930's fabric will be reduced to $16.00/m

Along with these specials, I am offering a 20% discount on all bolted fabric. So if you bring a bolt to the counter and I cut from the bolt, you will receive a 20% discount yes even on the already reduced 1930's and Japanese Yarn Dye. A minimum cut of 20cm will apply.

All Patchwork with Busy Fingers paper pieces will be reduced to $4.00 per packet.

Selected patterns will be reduced by 50%

And along with Linda I too will be offering all my current discounted fabric (those items just inside the door) at the not to be missed price of $5.00/m with a minimum cut of 1/m (no further discounts will be offered on these fabrics).

Remember if you spend $20.00 at each store you will enter the draw for the combined $300.00 voucher, the second prize of a $150.00 machine quilting voucher donated by Barb Devine of Devine Quilting and also qualify for the frolickers special gift. Remember there are a limited number of gifts, so don't delay your visit, once they are gone, they are all gone. I will also have a guess the number of buttons in the jar competition, and another competition I will run in conjunction with Linda. It really is going to be a great week.

Linda has released details of what you will find at Gum Valley Patchwork, check it out on her blog post here.

I really hope you are able to make it to the Friendship Frolic. The specials are in store only, not available over the phone or via the website.

Please remember, following the Frolic I will be closing for a short spell, reopening on Wednesday 30th May.

Will you be frolicking?

Its on again, the annual Friendship Frolic, and it starts next week!

What is the Friendship Frolic I hear some asking. The Friendship Frolic started in 2015, and is an annual event held in conjunction with Linda at Gum Valley Patchwork. One day while Linda and I were chatting, we decided we needed an event to celebrate the friendships that exist between quilters.

The idea of the day is to gather your quilting friends. You will visit one of our shops then travel to the other shop, stopping at the halfway point in the township of Timboon for lunch; either a picnic you have packed or purchase from one of the eateries in town. Afterwards, visit the second shop. By spending $20.00 at each shop you will be entitled to enter the draw for a combined $300.00 voucher ($150.00 from each shop) with a second prize of a $150.00 machine quilting voucher donated by Barb Devine. There are also lots of other prizes on offer, discounts and competitions. It really is a fun day, and a great excuse to get together with your friends.

Last year the first 100 people to submit their passports received these great mugs

It all kicks of this coming Wednesday May 16th and ends Sunday May 20th. Both our shops open for the whole five days, and we will trade from 10.30am - 4.00pm each day. Yes, I open for a full day on Saturday. We have lots of special things planned, I do hope you can join us.

After the frolic I will be closing the shop for a short break. I will be closed from Wednesday 23rd May - Saturday 26th May, reopening on Wednesday 30th May. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may pose. 

Another day with Leah Zieber

I'm really thrilled to announce that American Quilt Historian Leah Zieber is making her way back to Australia. I am extra thrilled to announce that Leah has agreed to return to our lovely south-west region for another day sharing her Antique Quilt knowledge.

Leah last visited in October 2016. We had a fabulous day with Leah showing a massive collection of antique quilts from her collection. It was so wonderful to see so  many quilts up close and hear the historical information behind the quilts. I know this visit will be just as wonderful.

Leah presenting one of her antique quilts

Here are the details;

The day will be held at the Lady Bay resort in Warrnambool, making it extremely accessible for anyone who lives further afield who wishes to join us. Warrnambool is serviced with four daily trains running to and from Melbourne, and the Lady Bay resort offers lovely accommodation right on the beachfront of Warrnambool.

The first part of the day will be Leah's presentation which will take us up to lunch time. Following lunch there will be the opportunity to sit and sew, talk with Leah and her companion Linda Collins and enjoy some retail therapy from Leah and myself. For people participating in the Libby Morgan sew-along it will be a lovely opportunity to view each others 'Libby's". I feel so very honoured to host a quilt maker, quilt historian and author of Leah's calibre.

To book a place please call me on 0427819105 (during shop hours if possible) or you can book a seat on my website clicking on this link or under the top heading Classes/Events. I do hope you can join us.

A glimpse into my farming life

Three weeks ago I was in Melbourne trading at the Royal Exhibition Building for AQC. When I arrived home late on Sunday night, the family greeted me with the chorus of  'five cows have calved'. Another calving season was upon me.

This morning while running about getting my jobs done before I opened the shop, I thought I would take some photos and share a little of what I do this time of year. It might also explain why I may of been a little late replying to some emails.

One of my jobs is to rear the calves. It is quite a frustrating, time consuming job that comes with plenty of bruises. 

Fresh arrivals waiting to be fed

 

Away and drinking great.

 

 

Much easier as they progress onto the big  feeder.

 

 

Harley, always on hand

 

 

These are the milkers waiting to be let over the road

 

 

And the 'Springer' (maternity) paddock, the most watched space on our farm for the next few months.

As I said, just a some quick snapshots. Im up to 73 calves so far. The calving should start to slow down in the next two weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on top of everything soon. If you are part of the Repro Fabric Club, you will be pleased to know your packages are in the mail, so sorry for the delay.

I'd better hit the hay, before it is time to do it all again tomorrow.

 

AQC 2018

A week on from AQC and I think I am finally starting to turn the corner back to feeling some kind of normal again. It was a fabulous week meeting lots of new people, reacquainting with old friends and finally being able to put faces to names that support me with on-line orders.

For the past two months I have been busy getting ready for AQC. Lots of fabric was cut, folded, rolled and bundled in preparation.

Sarah Wistar starter packs

Colour Cubes, a family effort lead by my daughter Sharna

And nearly 1000 fabric rolls, rolled by my Mum and Dad with some help from my sister.

This year I decided I would travel to Melbourne a day earlier. It is always my plan to be left home bright and early on the Wednesday morning prior to the show starting Thursday, but in the past five years it has never happened, and I am still at the exhibition centre at 7pm setting up my stall in semi darkness. While it was my plan to be left home by 12pm, once again it was much later, but I kept telling myself I was still ahead on other years.

I don't mind driving in Melbourne, but when I am towing the trailer I do get a little bit nervous. I arrived in Melbourne right on 6pm, the traffic was not too bad considering it was still peak time, but the sun was shining in my rear vision mirror and also on the over head signs. Linda had rang while I was travelling along, telling me just to stay in the third lane once I left the Westgate Bridge. All was going well until I caught a last minute glimpse of the overhead sign, telling me I was definitely in the wrong lane, and with dusty mirrors and sun glare it was impossible to tell if I could safely cross to where I was meant to be, so off to St Kilda I was heading. An SOS call to Linda was placed,  "Just get off that road as soon as you can", which I did, and after a quick visit on Google maps me and the trailer where bumping along right through the CBD streets and into the Exhibition Building carpark.

I emptied both the car and the trailer,

then returned the next morning to start setting up.

By 3.00pm it was all done.

It was a great honour to be able to release Megan Carroll's newest pattern the Sarah Wistar Quilt.

Sarah Wistar Quilt pattern

and to also display the beautiful Auntie Tess quilt designed by Corliss Searcey of Threadbear which has been beautifully quilted by Helen Hayes.

Auntie Tess Pattern

It was also a highlight to have both Megan and Corliss work on my stall on Friday, with many of Threadbear's past customers enjoying a catch up.

The four day convention past way too quickly, and now that I am back home I am slowly finding my feet again. I am starting to work my way through my book of enquiries and I hope to have the repo fabric club posted early next week. Thanks again to everyone who dropped by and said hello, I really do appreciate your kindness.

With AQC done and dusted, my fairytale existence is crashing to an almighty end. 20 freshly born calves await me in the calf shed tomorrow morning and I have to be at the football ground at 9.00am!

Have a great weekend, Lenora x.

 

Sarah Wistar Quilt c1842 by Megan Carroll

This time next week the doors will nearly be opening for Australasian Quilt Convention 2018. I am really excited about this years event. Not only do I have a new stall, I am releasing a brand new quilt designed by Megan Carroll. 

The quilt is called the Sarah Wistar Quilt c1842 and in Megan's signature style, it features a collection of beautiful hand pieced blocks. Here is a little sneak peak.

The beautiful blocks offer lots of opportunity for fussy cutting and the chance to feature some of those favourite fabrics you will have in your stash.

There are also lovely broderie perse blocks to showcase beautiful florals.

The finished blocks are joined in columns with long sashing strips between the columns. I love the portability of these types of quilts. With some prior preparation, they can be worked on at sewing days, appointments or the idle time we sometimes find ourselves with. 

The finished quilt top will be on display at my new stand, number 73. 

There it is marked in red, just straight up from the entry with a little turn to the left. I will have the pattern for sale, and also two different starter packs to help you get underway with your new quilt. 

Easter is coming upon us. The shop will be closed tomorrow, Good Friday then opened again on Saturday 30th March from 1 - 4 pm. The shop will remain closed while I am at AQC and will reopen on Thursday 12th April. 

I best get back to more cutting, folding and bundling.

Ps. Do you follow me on Facebook and Instagram? You don't have to be a member, you can just click on the icons which are on my website and it will take you to my pages. At busy times like this I find it hard to sit down and write a nice blog post, but I can manage a quick post on Instagram/Facebook. So if you have not heard from me, please click on the other sites and you might catch me there. 

A big welcome to designer Megan Carroll

As we progress along our quilt making journey we find pattern designers who we have an affinity with. Usually we fall in love with their style of quilts, their fabric choices and the content of information they include in their patterns. For a number of years I have admired the Australian pattern designer Megan Carroll, and I have a number of her patterns stashed away to make when time is more of my friend.

I have recently been in contact with Megan, and she has agreed to supply her patterns to the shop. It was a big pinch me moment when I took delivery of her beautiful quilts, Worthing Downs and Miss Matty's Parlour to hang in the shop.

 

Miss Matty's Parlour

Miss Matty's Parlour is a beautiful quilt, made entirely with hand piecing. It can be made with English Paper Piecing if that is your preference, but you will need to cut your own papers. The quilt consists of some large singular hexagons and other quite intricately pieced hexagons. It is a great quilt to showcase your fussy cutting abilities and your stashed fabrics, and like all hexagon projects, very portable.

 

 

 

Worthing Downs

 

Worhting Downs features a lovely centre appliqué design which is surrounded by a collection of small pieced blocks with some broidery perse. Again a very portable project, and a great quilt to showcase those beautiful fabrics that have been collected.

 

Using wavy prints to add extra dimension

 

 

 

Fussy cut centre fabric and border print border

 

It has been a real pleasure walking past these quilts each day and pausing to admire the beautiful fabrics Megan has collected over her time of quilt making. I am also admiring the beautiful quilting by Susan Campbell. I'm in the process of making up some starter fabric packs, they will be available very soon.

And just to offer a little tease, Megan has a brand new quilt which is almost complete. All going to plan, you will see it at AQC in a few short weeks.

Well back to cutting and folding for me, have a great weekend.

Lenora, x.

A Quick Visit.

Im writing this post tonight from the Botanical Gardens in Warrnambool, while my daughter is learning dances for her upcoming Debutante Ball. It really sums up the crazy time I am having of late.

Some lovely fabrics have arrived over the past fortnight. I chose ten bolts from the Farmhouse Red range designed by Minick and Simpson for Moda Fabrics.

 

 

Farmhouse Red

 

Secondly six bolts of Needle and Thread Gatherings, again a Moda fabric range this time designed by Primitive Gatherings.

Needle and Thread Gatherings

When I first opened the shop I could not buy shirting fabrics anywhere, luckily it has completely turned around, they are coming through thick and fast.

It is now only six weeks until AQC, (Australasian Quilt Convention), definitely the pointy end of preparations. I've started the cutting, folding and bundling fest, and lists of what I need to do are stacking up. Im praying for six weeks of smooth sailing with a tail wind. 

Sorry to leave so quickly, training time is nearly up. 

Happy Stitching, Lenora.