WILLOW VALLEY STORE

Christmas Cards....

This years Christmas Card theme is inspired by genuine vintage sheet music, old advertisements, sepia photos....

I grabbed these great A5 pads from Kaisercraft that have a nice edge and a fold - ready to be instant cards. You get 4 designs and 20 in a pack for under $5. So for $10 I can make 40 cards - (by then I will be tired of making them so I think thats a good number!)

Then you'll need stuff like this....decorative edge scissors (mine are real cheapies $2 each they work fine) , punch, crimper (very optional) glue stick is handy for adhering stars....but the best investment that is ESSENTIAL is the double sided tape. It allows your cards to sit flat when they are embellished. If you are gonna glue all your bits on with glue (even a thin layer ) your card will buckle. It is also MUCH less messy and means that little folk can help you ;-) I have found them to be repositionable too - if you are careful...

I have made 30 cards and my roll of tape looks about the same size as when I bought it - so it sure goes a long way - cost was about $3...looks like I will have plenty for next year.

vintage sheet music (cost zero - donated by friends/family earlier in the year) , few sheets of decorative paper 12"x12" that I have a stock of already - so all I did was add another 6 at $1 each for 12 x 12 they are good value.

Cut them up into squares, strips, rectangles, Christmas tree shapes, some I just rip into random shapes -  ready for layering.....

and create your one off designs....

I found the genuine vintage bits I had really complimented the new stuff well!

They might look smallish here like note cards - but they aren't really! The finished size is A6.

and some more....

don't forget to add some bits to the inside too....

I guess you could add glitter and brads and all that other scrapbooky stuff - but I am not into that...

This morning I spent almost 2 hours looking for 3 more cards that I KNEW I had made and couldn't find. Then remembered I had given them away already. I surprise myself with my stupidity sometimes...

I am loving these!!!!!!!!!!!

Julz made them for me for Christmas!!!! Dont you just LOVE THEM! The flowers are made from vintage music sheets and the stems are old knitting needles. Thanks Julz!!!

xo Cath

Facebook

I have resisted this for AGES - arguing I sure dont have the time....

I feel bad when friends want to 'like' me and invite me to see what they are up to - and I have to send an email explaining - dont take it personal - I dont do facebook. Its not you - its ME!

OK bowed to pressure. I am missing my SA buddies too much!!!!

Joined just tonight. Still working out how to 'do stuff' so bear with me. You will find me under Cathy Baynes.

xo Cath

By The Sea. Quilt. Homespun 2011. The Summertime Issue.

By The Sea is finished - and the pattern is available for you to enjoy too!

Its featured in this months Homespun - The Summertime Issue

I have had a few emails about this one over the last few months - as I've shared sneaky peaks for a while....so hurray - there you go I completed what I set out to do ;-)  at least on this occasion!

Being accepted into Homespun with this project earlier in the year was a sudden and unexpected turn of events - and I am so thrilled with actually seeing it now right there in the pages!!!!!! WOW!!!

As a family we love going to the country beaches. We are so lucky to have Brian's parents with a farm not far from some of Victoria's best coast line. Some of it famous - and some of it more of  a local secret.

I wanted to create a quilt that bought some of this "summer holiday at the beach" feeling home with me.

Sunny golden sands. Sunshine. Clear blues...deep and pale to represent varying water depths. Waves lapping. Shells to collect. Calming and relaxing.

A compass for a timeless sort of vintage touch.

I am pleased with the compass near the centre of the quilt because to me it represents  "go and explore the big wide world and then come home safe"

Some cotton ric rac for texture. Seahorses for character.

I just adore those seahorses! Brian - his MIL and I sat around the kitchen table at the farm and together we drew him based from a real life specimen that had been found washed up at the shore. Each of us added and erased pencil lines and chatted together over afternoon tea. I have a wonderful memory I have of that.

My waves are represented by a shape that I designed featuring alternating curves and peaks.

 

I also used this unique applique line for my Christmas trees in my quilt in Homespun July 2010 - so I am finding it very versatile (you will see more of that from me in 2012 and beyond too)

I really must give a massive public thanks to award winning Belinda Betts@ Eucalypt Ridge Quilting - who has done the most AMAZING job ever of turning my By THe Sea flimsy into a real quilt. She has beautifully enhanced and completed my beach theme with her outstanding custom quilting.

Without a word of exaggeration EVERY SINGLE STITCH IS PERFECT front and back.

My quilt should be back home with me soon and I will show you some close ups of Belinda's beautiful work.

Here in Oz where most of the population live near coastline its very Christmasy to spend your summer hols at the beach.

For me this year has taken some interesting turns.....some I didnt see coming - and some I made happen.   Lots of things have been harder for me this year.  I'm a very private person and so these will remain held close to my heart. I can't believe the year is nearly over. It really has sped by.

I can't wait to get back to the beach.

If you cant get to the coast.....

maybe stitching my By The Sea quilt can make you to feel as if you were ;-)

This is a fun and relaxing project with a good variety of skills to enjoy - piecing - applique - stitchery - embellishment - and optional colouring for 3d enhancement.

Love Cath xo

 

Wonder and Whimsy. Quilt Aid 2011.

In the latest Homepsun magazine  Vol 12 No 11 you will find a full page story about Quilt Aid 2011.

This is a charity project that I have been so blessed to be a part of this year.

Can you seen my cute grey bunny block in that top row?

I spent many times lying on my tum with camera in hand, when we had lots of cute bunnies in our backyard - trying to capture unique - but true to life - perfect bunny shapes!

 

Do you know how hard that is? They are sss000o busy!!

Finally a special moment - one of Louie's offspring - captured on film - then sketch pad - and now immortalized in fabric...

This palette was a brighter one than I am used to and I enjoyed the challenge. 

 All that happy bright cheerful fabric and those sweet blocks have a serious side.

Quilt Aid 2011 aims to raise funds and awareness for  The Fistula Foundation.

Here are some facts from The Fistula Foundation website that just make your heart ache!

• Fistula used to be present in the U.S. and Europe, but was largely eliminated in the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century with improved obstetric care in general and the use of c-sections in particular to relieve obstructed labor.

• The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 2 million women have untreated fistula and that approximately 100,000 women develop fistula each year.  Fistula is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

• For example, in Ethiopia, there are an estimated 100,000 women suffering with untreated fistula, and another 9,000 women who develop fistula each year.

• Less than 6 in 10 women in developing countries give birth with any trained professional, such as a midwife or a doctor.  When complications arise, as they do in approximately 15% of all births, there is no one available to treat the woman, leading to disabling injuries like fistula, and even death.

• The root causes of fistula are grinding poverty and the low status of women and girls.  In developing countries, the poverty and malnutrition in children contributes to the condition of stunting, where the girl skeleton, and therefore pelvis as well, do not fully mature.  This stunted condition can contribute to obstructed labor, and therefore fistula.

• But, fistula is both preventable and treatable.  For instance, the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital has treated over 30,000 women over 33 years.  Their cure rate is over 90%.  Fistula can be prevented if laboring women are provided with adequate emergency obstetric care when complications arise.

There are several ways that you can help.

* Make a donation to The Fistula Foundation. If you can, you can join the monthly Love-A-Sister sponsorship too!

*  Visit the Quilt Aid website. Designers and stores have generously given their time and skills to create blocks and finishing kits that you can purchase online. Proceeds go to the Fistula Foundation.

I have just been admiring the finishing kits that the participating stores in Australia, Europe and USA  have put together - they are really great! WOW!!

Quilt Aid USA 2011

Quilt Aid Australia 2011

Quilt Aid Europe 2011

xo Cath

 

Pina Lapina

Guess what?

Willow Valley Store designs are now available in Spain!

Check out this link to Ariadna @ Pina Lapina

(Patrones = Patterns)

A beautiful website and really lovely projects to inspire too!!!

Someone pinch me!

xo Cath

My Town. BOM Homespun

This months Homespun Vol 12 No 11  has the LAST block installment for MY TOWN.

We have been eagerly waiting for this one ALL YEAR....

Its by the Blackbird girls themselves - their block in their fabric - it was always going to be beautiful!! And it is! This is a peak....

I really loved working with the fabric range "Wild Rose" look at the colour palette - glorious! My fav is that blue one with the large floral design (top right corner) - but that ticking and x stitch are so inspiringly vintagey too....love them!

How are you going with your blocks?

My block was in the July issue Vol 7 No 11  and it was the church. I was and still am pretty excited about it!

 

I am thinking that if there was a particular block that you liked and you werent likely to get around to making the rest - make the one you can relate to the most - give it a border to frame it - and then surround it with filler blocks....these could be either 9 patch - half sq triangles - monkey wrench - puss in the corner - whatever you like  - and then another border or 2....PERFECT! This would look really effective especially if the central feature block is slightly offset in the bottom left corner.

As you may be aware this was a project for charity.

The completed quilt will be auctioned and the proceeds go to the Starlight Foundation - a fantastic cause! What an awesome privilege to be involved with.

xo Cath

Collectable Fairs - a great way to Christmas shop!

Are you more of an "antique market / unique / handmade / etsy/ vintage / op shopper-thrift /grew it in my garden"  kind of Christmas shopper like me?? Um come to think of it - its not just Christmas  - I prefer to shop like that all year.

If you are, then you probably have friends (and possibly family) that are the same...

so I have some good news (for us locals at least) ....

Check out these 2 opportunities

 Now I am thinking that a really good day out would be this fair at Mount Waverley in the morning - leisurely lunch at a local cafe - and then head just up the road to the Waverley Antique Bazaar in Artistoc Rd - which I have now been to twice - its FANTASTIC and getting better all of the time.            The prices are very good ;-)

If you are an easy commute to the peninsula - this looks worth checking out!

I have a little stash of treasures that I have been collecting over the last few months, from events such as these - what a relaxed and lovely way to find goodies for Christmas.

xo Cath

French Island

We've just got back from a little family holiday that included

somewhere overseas

and French

oooh la la!

um not what you are thinkin'!

Western Port Bay's very own French Island.

The contrast between the very well known, internationally recognized, Phillip Island and the "where is that?" French Island couldnt be more extreme.

To give you an idea...

Phillip Island is about 10,000 Hectares with 7000 permanent residents - the population expanding to over 50,000 in summer.  Over 3.5 million visitors every year.

Its well known and loved for the Grand Prix, the penguin parade and the fantastic surf beaches.

French Island is much larger - 17,000 hectares but has only 75 residents. About 6,000 people visit each year.

Its largely overlooked. And thats what makes it so intriguing.

There are no utility services. No gas , electricity or water. Residents need to be self sufficient for these themselves. They rely on rain water tanks, wind/solar power and diesel generators.

No police. No council. No petrol station. No medical services. No church. No road connection to the main land. No airport. No sealed roads. No speed limit (the corrogations +++ sure will keep your speed in check any way). The cars are mostly unregistered....and have a very hard life - salt and rough dirt roads!

There is just one shop

(a general store - its the grocery shop, pub,  PO and hardware store all in one) It has a piano , book corner and a cosy fireplace too.

French Island has a primary school with 11 students. A cricket pitch. A community hall. A tip. Two jetty's . A cemetry.

I really loved this HUGE jelly mould ?? improvised as a vase.

A camping ground and a small handful of places to stay.

The island had a prison farm and this operated between 1915 and 1975. It housed over 100 inmates serving the last term of their sentence.

 

We met the lovely Lois who is a 4th generation local...and had a tour of the Bayview Chicory Kiln built in 1897 (now tearooms and museum) 

 

2/3 of French Island is National Park - and the rest is privately owned.

It has been inhabited since around 1800 and boasts pristine native flora/fauna and fascinating history.

 So close to home and yet another world away. 

Jump on the passenger ferry at Cowes or Stoney Point - or put your car on the barge at Corinella (permit needed)

xo Cath

Urban Indigo 1/2 sq triangle quilt

Do you remember this range? Its from AGES ago.

I dont think it ever came to Australian retailers - I sure havent come across it here.

Urban Indigo is a Figtree Quilts fabric - and has always been one of my favs.

Recently I buddied my few precious charm squares (think you only got a skinny 18 stack - not the current generous 42!) with some newer Figtree fabrics and made this little quilt (still have to bind it) Binding is my favourite part. Love executing neat mitred corners.  ;-) True I Do!

Denim sky blues and apricot peachy buttery sunny goodness. Some how it reminds me of summer and childhood. I havent worked out the exact connection and why it does that.

Maybe I had a dress in a fabric like it - or patched jeans that I have forgotten about?

xo Cath

 

Civil War Dolly Quilt

Robyn's nest made one of these...and I really liked it - so I whipped one up too...

Here is the link for the free instructions @ Country Lane Quilts

I made a mod and set my dark triangles on the left as they looked more grounded to me.

Thanks Kathy!

xo Cath