Elm Grove Patchwork

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.

 

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!

Farewell 2017

Christmas has come early at Elm Grove, would you believe four different fabric ranges have arrived in the past week.

First to come in was Tuxedo Prints, a lovely shirting range designed by Kathy Hall. I chose six from the range.

Then came seven bolts of Madeline, (circa1880-1890) designed by Julie Hendrickson.

I was really excited to unbox the Mississippi Collection.

And when I thought all was delivered, in came Antebellum by Sara Morgan

They have all been entered onto the website, you will find them quickly by clicking on the highlighted names above.

And so brings a close to 2017. It has been a wonderful year in the shop and I am so grateful for all the support I have received. For those who call into the shop, phone through orders, browse my website and order on line, I truly appreciate your support. For you who read this blog and engage with my social media, I thank you too. Also a special thanks for those who visit the shop and share their latest work, like Pam here who has just completed the centre of The Caswell quilt (designed by Corliss Searcey)

and Chris who called in yesterday with her Star a Day blocks (designed by Karen Styles).

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and I hope that 2018 is full of fun stitching times. I am taking a short break to spend some time with my husband and kids and to enjoy a slower pace. Online orders will remain open and they will be posted as soon as possible, I just won't guarantee same day processing everyday.  See you all next year.

Lenora x.

Prairie Basics, Prairie Shirtings and beautiful quilts

This week I have welcomed two new ranges to the shelves,  Pam Buda's Prairie Basics and Prairie Shirtings. They are beautiful reproduction prints, with small scale patterns perfect for appliqué and small patch piecing.

Prairie Basics: Vibrant Purples

Prairie Basics: Deep Reds and Dusty Pinks

Prairie Basics: Inky Blacks and Blues

Prairie Basics: Deep Greens

Prairie Basics: Warm Browns

Prairie Shirtings

Prairie Shirtings

Prairie Shirtings

Prairie Shirtings

I have spent the day cutting fat eighths and fat quarters, and tonights job is to start folding. Both ranges are listed on the website, you will find them by clicking on Prairie Basics and Prairie Shirtings.

I always love seeing what quilters are working on, and I love seeing the completed quilts. I feel very privileged to be able to watch the progress of quilts as they are being made. Today I had a visit from Marie who brought along two completed quilts....well just the binding to go onto one of them. Both quilts are designed by Di Ford-Hall and feature in Primarily Quilts 2.

Marie's Giggleswick Mill Sampler Quilt

Marie's Sutton Grange Quilt

closer detail

And this is Marie's latest project, Auntie Tess designed by Corliss Searcey.

Marie's latest work, Auntie Tess

Over the weekend I saw Coral who has been working away at the Caswell Quilt, another pattern by Corliss Searcey. Coral has completed all the blocks and now just has the borders to go.

Coral's Caswell Quilt

Thanks Marie and Coral for allowing me to share your beautiful work.

Happy Stitching, Lenora.

Show and Tell

If you are living here in Southern Victoria, I hope you are keeping warm and dry. It is vile weather with high winds, hail storms and drenching rain. Although it is probably nothing compared to what our friends in Houston have experienced.

With the start of a new month, so too comes the our monthly appliqué day. A few members were unable to make it this month due to travel and sickness, but the show and tell certainly did not let us down.

Sharyn presented this beautiful hand pieced quilt called 'Maie', which she has made completely from her scrap basket. Not the best photography on my part with the sun showing through, but it does show how neat Sharyn's hand piecing is.  

Handpieced 'Maie' by Sharyn

Next Mary showed her recently completed Little Boys Britches. Again my apologies for the shine through which is giving a blurry effect. After making lots of quilts for her grandchildren, Mary has enjoyed working on a quilt for herself. She has used the Little Boys Britches Starter Kit, which I have put together.

Little Boys Britches by Mary

Antoinette delighted us with her beautiful Clamshell quilt, a workshop she started with Irene Blanck. It has recently returned from the quilters and just needs the binding sewn down. I must confess, I have been looking at the recently arrived 'Timeless' range and the previous 'Reflections' range both by Jo Morton and I have been thinking how nice they would look mixed up in a clamshell quilt.....

Clamshells by Antoinette

And finally, Carolyn (who has the great ability to set goals and stay on track) brought along her beautiful Auntie Green quilt. It is thrilling to watch the progress of this quilt. 

Auntie Green by Carolyn

At the start of the year a number of our members set a challenge of what they would like completed by the end of the year. Most people are on track, although I think that maybe over the the past two months some of us may be lagging a little. With four months of the year left, it is not too late to make amends. We have recommitted and look forward to productive days ahead.

Ps. My son's football team won again on Saturday. They are now through to the grand final! My fingers are doubly crossed. The shop will be opening at the slighter later time of 1.30pm this Saturday. I may or may not have a voice left, but I will be open. 

Reproduction Fabric Club

Do you love reproduction fabric? Would you love to receive a little parcel every second month with twelve fat 1/8ths of the newest fabric available? If so, this club may interest you.

Commencing this month in June, and mailing every second month (August, October, December....) you will receive a mail out of twelve  fat 1/8ths of the newest reproduction fabrics available. If you would like extra meterage of any of these fabrics, you will be entitled to receive a 10% discount on the fabric in your mail out. The cost of the club is $44.00 per mail-out and this includes postage to any Australian address. Memberships can be cancelled at any time, but please provide at least 2 weeks notice. Please note, mail outs may not be identical.

The first mail out will be take place next week, so if you would like to sign up it is still not too late to receive the first edition. To sign up you can go on-line by clicking here, or by phoning (0427 819105) during shop hours. 

Last week I had a visit from Antoinette, a member of our Monday appliqué group. Antoinette has been working diligently on a clam shell quilt, which was started in a workshop with Irene Blanck. The quilt top is now finished and looking amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us Antoinette.

Clamshells by Antoinette

Hope you have a great weekend, happy stitching. 

 

I'm blaming Global Warming

Do you think that if the Earth is warming up, there is a chance it is moving quicker? I don't know about you, but I am sure the hours in each day are certainly passing faster than ever before.

Last time I dropped in, I was excited about the pending Friendship Frolic. Well it has been and gone, but was truly a lovely week. It was wonderful to see so many ladies having a great time out, enjoying some great discounts, lucky draws and importantly enjoying the company of their friends. It was heartwarming for Linda and myself that so many people travelled so far to join us.

One of the highlights of the week was meeting Tess, who brought along her magnificent 'Farmers Wife' quilt.

It is always a joy to see a farmers wife.

Over the course of the week I ran a competition to guess the number of buttons in the jar.

The lucky winner was Shirley Bassett, who guessed the correct number of 897. I must thank my daughter Sharna who patiently counted very single button.

After the Frolic concluded Linda and I met and we drew the lucky passport. Congratulations to Wendy Leersen who now has $150.00 to spend at each shop. We have decided to run the Frolic as an annual event, so if you missed out this year be sure to join us next year.

On the weekend of July 4th -5th I was delighted to host Michelle Yeo for a weekend workshop. Michelle, who is an expert at foundation piecing,  kindly offered the choice of three quilts; Ballaraat Beauties, Georgetown Circles and the magnificent quilt Fairhaven.

The majority of ladies embarked on the Ballaraat Beauties quilt, learning the technicalities of Foundation Piecing. It was a bit daunting at first, and I did notice people sewing very slowly on their machines. The ladies left Saturday afternoon feeling a little overwhelmed and I sure a little brain tired. However happy smiling faces reappeared early Sunday morning and by Sunday afternoon the machines were quickly churning out completed blocks some of which included inset Y-seams. Amazingly I managed to grab a few photo's.

Carylin's Fairhaven

 Monica's Fairhaven

Marlene's Fairhaven

Michelle's Georgetown Circles,

and here are some blocks from the ladies who are making Ballaraat Beauties .

Many thanks to Michelle for joining us for the weekend. It was fantastic being able to draw on such a wealth of knowledge.

 

Following on from Michelle, Monday was the Nullawarre Appliqué Group's meeting day. Once again we had a great turn up and some lovely show and tell.

You may remember this work in progress from last October.

 

Well Sharon has kept up the great work, add some stunning borders.

This is not a great photo, but it does show you the enormity of the project, and is a credit to Sharon who has managed to complete the top in under 12 months. Now for the hand quilting.

 Lynette is on the home run with Jane's Garden a quilt pattern designed by Di Ford Hall.

 

Anni shared her recently completed Bronte's Garden designed by Robyn Falloon.

and Kay has completed this stunning quilt top which I am failing to remember the name of. 

It has certainly been a fun filled few weeks.

Lenora.

Applique Group Show and Tell

Monday was the October meeting of the Nullawarre Applique group. We had a lovely day stitching and talking. I was able to give a quick demonstration on the back basting applique technique that I learnt from Brenda Papadakis, and we had a lovely show and tell session.

Lynette's freshly completed A Merry Christmas Garden by Gail Pan (BOM Run by Gum Valley Patchwork)

Jocelyn is working on Carolyn Kognig's pattern Charleston Rhapsody.

 

Lyn has now completed hand quilting Eva Grace (Pattern by Irene Blanck)

And also brought along some of her older quilts to share with the group.

 

Floral Hopscotch (pattern by Irene Blanck)

 

Two Lillies (based on a pattern by Robyn Falloon)

 

and Gypsie Jazz (designed by Robyn Falloon).

 

Sharon kindly brought along some of her past projects,

Tea and Scones (pattern also by Robyn Falloon)

and this is Sharon's present project, a half inch hexagon quilt. Sharon is making this quilt with fabric she has left over from another past project....... her Dear Jane Quilt.

 

Sharon made this Dear Jane totally by hand,  hand pieced and hand quilted. It was quite a privilege to be able to study it so closely. The work is amazing! 

It sure is inspiring to see such lovely quilts in the flesh. Thanks ladies for being part of the group and thanks for sharing your beautiful quilts and knowlede and allowing me to share on this blog.

 

Show and Tell: The Farmers Wife

One of the best things about working in a quilt shop, is hearing the front door open. You never quite know what it is going to bring. Today it was a visit from Heather and some of her friends. Heather has been diligently working on The Farmers Wife quilt. She started making the blocks in August, and today she came to purchase some fabric for the border. 

Take a look at some of her beautiful (all hand-pieced) blocks.

And here is the completed top.

Heather, it is amazing and thanks so much for letting me share it. It is so inspiring to see what can be achieved with a little commitment and perseverance. 

 

So what is on your to-do-list?

What have you committed to achieve this year?

Hmmm, my brain is thinking.......(this might be going somewhere.........or it might be heat stress).....but I have an idea........

Would you be interested in publicly committing to complete a project, any project you have on your to-do-list by the end of this year? Each month you could send me a picture of your progress, and I will post it here. What do you think? It could be fun, and it could mean that a project you have dreamt about is no longer a dream. And you could rid yourself of that guilt you feel each time you rediscover that bundle of fabric you have placed aside for that special project. 

OK, leave it with me. But if this sounds like fun leave me a comment or shoot me through an email. I will work out some finer details...there wont be many, and I'll post about it in a day or two. If you have any ideas of what we can call the 'group' let me know. Now don't be shy, the more the merrier.

Lenora x.

Show and Tell: Vintage Crosses

A few weeks back, Marie called into the store and purchased the pattern Vintage Crosses by Sharon Keightley. She returned yesterday to show me her completed quilt top. 

It is beautiful Marie, thanks for agreeing to share it!