Sunday Beauty

Don't tell anyone....but I actually took these photos on Saturday (AEST)....shhhhhh!!

We were out front saying "hooroo" to Ted.  Hubby went over to show off his rose bush and found a ladybug sitting on one of the leaves.  "They are bad for roses, aren't they?" he exclaimed.  I responded and said "absolutely not, put it back!" and then went to fetch my camera. (as you do!)

{Isn't it lovely!}

The garden is looking very drab at the moment.  Only a few drops of rain in well over a month but I did find some new growth which I found both suprising and very beautiful. I have no idea what either these plants are called.  The red looks like a native, flowering tree.

The white is a flowering shrub with clusters of these small flowers.

{each little flower is about the size of my thumb nail}

I hope you found some beauty in your week. xoxox

It's all coming together

I have now finished block 12 of Teddy Bear Tea Party from Teddlywinks.

I have a couple of little bits to finish like a flower centre and of course teddy noses. I have laid it out on the coffee table and now have to decide what colour to use for the sashing.


Not the best photo but I think it is going to look just a bit cute!!

I also finished block 4 of  the Edwardian House today...Yay for me! At this rate I could get it finished by Christmas!

Now to find something else to sew for the evening.



XXXX


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sew together

I feel so self indulgent today because I have been out almost all day. I do love spending time sewing with ladies who have the same interest. I met Marlilyn, Lorraine and Chris at Sally's classes and we now get together once a month to sew and chat and laugh. Still no news when our dear Sally will be returning.

Marilyn is also working on a Millamac creation. The most gorgeous elephant cushion. I am going to get around to doing this one aswell. See here or here for the pattern.

Lorraine was trying to figure out this japanese braiding device but decided she needed absolute quiet to work it out and continuted working on her Millamac wall hanging. I am annoyed that I forgot to take a picture of it because she has put so much work into it and it is terrific.

Chris brought her sewing machine and was working on a quilt for a young boy.  The colours are just so bright and vibrant.

I did a little bit of sewing on my Farmyard Frolics

and a little bit on Teddy Bear Tea Party

And of course, all this hardwork always goes hand in hand with good food. We feasted on the cherry blondie and this brioche pullapart which Lorraine dressed beautifully with fresh fruit.

Later on we made sandwiches with these fillings.

 So what if I was a little self indulgent, I had a great day spent with like minded crafters.

One more photo before I sign off....Marilyn has this fabulous bromeliad specimen in her garden.  I just had to take a photo of it growing up the palm tree.

Hope you had a little time for yourself today,
 XXX

Shhhh!....it's a secret....

I didn't just bake yesterday, I also finished making this little something to send to someone. It is supposed to be a surprise so I can only show off a little bit of it.

 I had so much fun making it and can't wait to show you the rest of it.

 Off to my sewing group now...have a lovely stitching day everyone!
XXX

Cherry Blondie

Baking is not my forte. Miss M is the successful baker around here. She has one recipe that she knows by heart and tonight I am attempting to re-create it for my sewing group tomorrow.

Cherry Blondie is a favourite for the whole family and it rarely lasts very long at all.  I found this recipe on taste.com.au and it is very similar to Miss M's.

Ingredients

• 100g butter, chopped
• 180g white chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
• 415g can stoneless black cherries in syrup, drained
• Icing sugar mixture, to dust

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease an 18cm x 28cm (base) rectangular slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang on all sides. Melt butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
2. Add sugar, eggs and flours to pan. Stir to combine. Spread into prepared pan (mixture will be thick and may appear split). Press cherries into mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until edges are firm and top golden. Cool in pan. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.
   
   
   

I did make one change to the recipe because I melted the chocolate and butter in the microwave. Last time I tried it on the stove top, it was a disaster. I hope I do the recipe justice and it is enjoyed as much as we enjoy Miss M's. 

I am going to link in with Melody's Tuesday Treasure just because this is not just mine but a family treasure.

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BEWARE: Excessive Quilt Photos

I love September and in to October because it is the time of year that local quilt shows abound and all culminate at the big event....the Brisbane Quilt Show.....*drool and swoon*

Today I ventured over to Samford for their annual group Quilt Show.  Inititially, I was a little disappointed as there seemed to be a lot less on display and no quilt challange to be in awe of.  Still, I found lots to photograph for you.  Maybe you better grab a cuppa!

This is one block of a whole quilt made out of Cathedral Windows.  Hand pieced and spectacular.

A rather large quilt made out of hexi's - hand pieced and hand quilted.

This quilt was made from a Dianne Johnston design. It is needleturned which was a first for the quiltmaker. She did a beautiful job and I gave this quilt my viewers choice vote.

There were lots of lovely bright and cheery quilts which I loved.

This one was a small quilt made up of 3" blocks and the border was appliqued with gorgeous tulips...ahhhh, tulips! one of my big loves.

Here is a close-up of the quilting which made the quilt pop even more.

I thought this add-a-line quilt looked fun to make.  It is sold as a BOM (or should that be ROM?)from The Quilters Corner.
I especially loved the houses and the birds on a wire.

Had enough yet.....? I am going to take pity on you and put the rest in a collage.

I didn't walk past the sales tables with my wallet unscathed and picked up some lovely London themed fabrics and another pack of fat 1/4s.  They were really expensive, but that is why I slave away at a computer 3 days a week! I also found a couple of moda charm packs at a reasonable price and a cute panel of sewing haberdashery items.

All in all, it was a lovely morning out and I met up with some people I know from here and there. It always amazes me that Samford is only a 20 minute drive from my house but it has such a lovely rural feel to it.  I took this photo of the Samford Valley from the road home. The village is nestled in there somewhere.

 Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!
 

Stitch by Stitch

I have not been here for a few days partly because I have been so busy stitching and partly because I had a call back to the Breastscreen clinic to investigate an abnormality. Although I tried to stay positive, I was not up to blogging until I got the results. And the results were good.....just a cyst which didn't even need draining.

I had so many lovely comments about my "minute by minute" post and I achieved such a personal success by finishing almost all the stitching that I had prepared last Saturday that I have tried it again today.

block 11 of Teddy Bear Tea Party

block 4 of Edwardian House (yet to do block 3)

I finished the stitching on blocks 8 and 9 of "My Garden" (sorry, no pictures)

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Hubby has been watching the AFL all day today so I didn't feel at all guilty in setting my timer for 4 by 1 hour sessions. Have a look at what I got done.

Block 12 for "Teddy Bear Tea Party" is ready for stitching and the applique shapes for the remaining "My Garden" stitchery are cut out.

Transferred the design of Block three four (it's confusing!) of "Edwardian House" - sorry, no picture.

Gathered some pretty pink fabrics together to make something out of the latest copy of "Homespun" for a gift swap and have all the pieces ready to sew.

Tidied up my project box for "Farmyard Frolics and finished preparing the replacement block for sewing.

I am so happy with how this block has turned out and hope Sally doesn't feel offended that I didn't use her original block. (This is one of her patterns as well)

And believe it or not, there is more! I sewed 3 rows of "Rusty's Quilt".....only two rows left before the next step of sewing rows together.

Wth plans to start another two stitchery BOM's this month, I am happy with my time management so far.  So please excuse me now as I am itching to do some stitching!

ps - I am heading to the Samford Village quilt show tomorrow so if you happen to be going too, it would be nice to have a cuppa and say hi.

Till next time!



 I am llinking this post into WIP Wednesday, head on over and see what other crafters have been up to.

minute by minute

A few weeks ago, Madam Samm from Sew We Quilt posted about planning your time with a timer. You can go here to read her post.  Really this is not a new concept for me, I have just become lazy and forgot to do so.  Today, I decided to get back into it with the hopes of getting the most out of my day.

I set the timer on my phone for 3 one hour segments throughout the afternoon to see how much I achieved while the hour was ticking down.

Since I finished block 10 of my Teddy Bear Tea Party, I prepared block 11.

here is a sneak peek of the fabrics I used.
 

I auditioned fabrics for block 12 and cut out the shapes ready to be placed on the background.

Then I started on My Garden.  With only two more blocks to stitch, I decided to get them both ready for stitching.

In my last hour, I auditioned fabrics for Block 5 of Farmyard Frolics.  I have changed the original block and used another of Sally's patterns to put in the quilt. I prepared all the applique  pieces to be placed on the background and then my last hour was up!

 At the end of August, (can't believe we are already halfway through this year) this is a rundown of my projects:

BOMs
Teddy Bear Tea Party by Teddlywinks - I have just finished Block 10 of 12
My Garden by Lynette Anderson - I am on block 7 of 9
Farmyard Frolics by Millamac - I am on Block 7 of 8 (but I need to go back and finish some blocks off)
Merry Merry Snowmen by Bunny Hill Designs - I am on Block 1 of 9?
The Edwardian House by Robyn Allen Waters - I am on Block 3 of 12
Long Time ago in Bethlehem by Homespun - 0 blocks of 4 (downloaded)

WIPs

Rusty's Quilt - Queen size quilt - in process of sewing rows together
…’twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s downunder…. - wallhanging - still appliqueing design.

I hope you had a productive Saturday too!