Patchwork Curtains

We have crazily long windows so buying readymade curtains is tricky, but when I priced up fabric for the full curtains it was starting to get expensive, so I picked up a couple of clearance curtains and made a patchwork panel to extend them from matching fabrics in my stash.

ta da, pretty curtains. Shame the pictures aren’t so great.

Tell Your Story – Day 1 – A New Season

      

Not quite an ANZAC

This might be the last time I can officially make my ‘Not Quite and Anzac’ Biscuits, so here they are for all to see.

ANZAC day is the Australian “Remembrance Sunday” remembering those who served their country during wars past, and honouring the work done by ‘our’ current servicemen and women.

On the 3rd of May Sam and I will attend our citizenship ceremony and become Australian Citizens. We will finally have the same citizenship status as our two daughters who were both born in Australia since we moved here almost 5 years ago.

The biscuits are based on a Marie Claire recipe but I don’t like desiccated coconut so I substituted ground almonds, and then added chocolate chips in to the mix just for fun. (Sometimes we add nuts as well, toasted walnuts work well, or maybe macadamias – Australian grown of course!.)

Flour 125g
Sugar 225g
Ground Almonds 90g
Oats 100g (I didn’t have enough oats so used some oatmeal as well)
Butter 125g
3tbs Golden Syrup
Bi-carb of Soda (1tsp dissolved in 2tbs warm water)
(Optional) 1 Cup of Choc chips, nuts, raisins etc, whatever combo takes your fancy.

Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl, for cooking with toddlers the pre-measuring it all into cups method works well!

She knows the drill Melt the butter and golden syrup in a small pan,Add the bi-carb/water mix to the butter, it will froth up dramatically like thisadd this to the dry mix and stir well. Spoon teaspoons of mixture onto a baking tray and bake in the oven. Now the book suggests 15 minutes on 180 but my oven is apparently all powerful and mighty and 8 minutes on 160 is just perfect.

This mixture makes about 2 dozen (or more) biscuits so if I’m being disciplined then I cook a dozen and then roll the rest of the mixture into a log, slice it and freeze the rest in a plastic container half a dozen at a time between greaseproof paper. That way I can have hot fresh cookies in 10 minutes straight from the freezer.

What is ANZAC Day?
ANZAC Day – 25 April – is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

Tell Your Story

I have completed my first page for the Tell Your Story online workshop.

I’ve never done anything like it before but really enjoyed it. I still have to do a ‘right now’ page before the workshop starts for real next week.

 

Future Project Colours

Slow progress on the caterpillar quilt

So I started working on Beth’s hungry caterpillar quilt a long time ago. I’ve worked on it in fits and starts doing some freestyle quilting on the butterfly and the caterpillar first which I loved

Then I attended Kellie’s class and started practicing swirls to fill in – see just below the caterpillar.

Then (a few months later) I started quilting around the dots in the panel borders like this – which I was really pleased with

And then a month or so later… I did this… aaaaarrrgh, spot the mistake time.

And I’ve finally got around to starting the unpicking, fingers crossed for more progress soon.

So I like the quilting, but I hate unpicking, oh well, such is life.

Storm at Sea

Pattern from this book

I bought a jelly roll of purple fabrics from last year’s AQC.

I went to a hand quilting class at Amitie so I have been hand quilting in the white stars which I really enjoyed.

Backing is a Kaffe Fasset print, binding is a plain purple homespun.

Uptown Girl

Another off the list, Beth’s Uptown Girl Jacket from Make it Perfect bought here.

Just perfect for a baby rock star. Cute owl finewale cord lined with white (what was I thinking) minky. Great pattern, easy to follow, just enough detailing to make it look good, but not fussy. It’s been cut out for about 6 weeks but only took 3 hours to put together, all it needs now is a button.

Had a great morning at the first 2 year old birthday party of the season, one more next week and then not long until Beth’s turn!

2010 Project List Updated

Thought it was time for an end of Q1 update to my 2010 list! Still trying to work through last years WIPs before starting anything new.

1. 4 Pieced and Sandwiched Quilts ready for Quilting.
- Picnic Quilt (Vintage FQ swap fabrics) DONE
- Aunt Bec's Nine Patch for Beth's Bed (Pinks and Greens) DONE
- Hungry Caterpillar for Beth Quilting still in progress… large patch of unpicking to do.
- Purple Quilt – Handquilted all the stars, handsewing binding to be done, maybe some more handquilting??.
2. New Quilts Planned
- Rainbow Quilts x 2 NO PROGRESS
- Baby Dear Jane – first block completed, journal pages printed
- Flannel Quilts for winter snuggling on the sofa x 2 (Anna Maria Horner Fabrics)NO PROGRESS
- 34 Quilts for Gifts (patterns chosen, fabrics for one chosen, nothing else so far)
- EB Newbie Quilters Round Robin to piece and complete (Fabrics all ready to go) NO PROGRESS
- Quilt for Hannah - couple of fabric options - thinking yellows, blues and pinks. NO PROGRESS
3. Other Sewing
- MIP Uptown Girl jacket for Beth – Cut out
- New walls for the cubby house NO PROGRESS
- Trousers for me NO PROGRESS
- NEW skirt for me from this book Pattern drawn up.
- Easter Bunting – DONE

A few finishes but not much sewing been going on in the last few months, but hoping it will pick up soon.

Aunt Bec’s 9 Patch

Pattern from Amitie, fabrics from my trip to Material Obsession in Sydney last year with Kayscha

Finally Finished and ready to go in Beth’s big girl room.

She seems to like it

The colours are just perfect

Some quilting detail

 

The Back, there were not many leftovers!