Joint project!

We've just returned from the most relaxing weekend with three other family's that we normally go camping with. This time we headed over to Mt Tenandra which is about 1 1/2 hours drive from where we are, and we stayed in the beautiful old homestead that is being gradually renovated. There was heaps of room and some of us took our sewing machines and got a bit of stitching done. Hopefully I can pinch some photos from my fellow "campers" to share with you later in the week....It's such a beautiful place. We even had a visit from the lovely "Chookyblue" who set to work with some "reverse sewing" to help out, among other things and my Miss 11 was pleased to meet "Fairygirl" who she has done a couple of swaps with this year too.

Jo and I made this little baby quilt for a friend that is due soon.....shhhhh!

The pattern is "Charm squares baby quilt" from Moda Bake Shop Sew Mama Sew and the fabric is "Love U" by Deb Strain for Moda.

Amended 05/08/12 - my apologies for the incorrect tutorial information

You can find instructions for the changes I made and the correct links here.

Until next time.......

Secret Stitching

With all my furniture being moved about and some plastering going on it's surprising that I've managed to get anything done this week....but I did manage some secret stitching that I haven't been able to share with you straight away.... you never know who might be snooping about my blog!

My dear friend Jo is having a birthday today..... and I know she just adores old-fashioned aprons so this is what I've made for her:

Modelled by my Miss 11

Reverse view

The fabric I used was from the Hunky Dory range by Chei Moi.

I knew exactly what sort of apron I wanted to make her, but do you think I could find a tutorial to suit.... after wasting two hours surfing the net (in which time I could have had the apron made) I decided to wing it and make my own. I did take some ideas from a childs apron tutorial I had and also the pocket came from a different tutorial again.... I'm really happy with the result!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!

Until next time....

Meet my Sis!

You really should take a minute to check out my very talented Sister's blog: Kristy's Random Haunt..... she's not talented in the sewing/quilting department, in fact, I think she would probably tell you she'd be struggling to sew on a button. Her amazing talent is with drawing..... and I have several of her creations framed in my home which I adore.... I would so love to be able to draw like she does!

I think I've shown you before but this is one of a

pair I have framed in my lounge room:

Anyway... I know she'd love to hear what you think of her creations and I think the couple of most recent ones on her blog are about A3 size and FOR SALE if anyone is interested!

Until next time.....

Learning new skills

Miss 11 has been wanting to learn how to crochet for some time and our beautiful neighbour was happy to teach her.... unfortunately though, with our neighbour being left-handed and Miss 11 right-handed it has proved to be somewhat difficult.  My Nan had taught me how to crochet rugs about 20 years ago.... you know the type where you do one type of stitch and continue round and round in cirlces until it's the size you want. I had never learnt any other stitches and I'd never followed a pattern.

Sooooo..... armed with this book:

and this tutorial from "Aesthetic Nest".... this is what I ended up with:

The sizing isn't great... as it doesn't seem deep enough to stay on baby's head but I didn't have the correct size crochet hook and I have no idea if the wool I used was suited to the project. I really just wanted to see if I could follow the pattern before buying any materials. The double flower turned out perfectly and was so easy to make.... the whole project wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought it would be and I can definately see myself making more of these as gifts. I can't wait to try another one now!

Until next time.......

Caramel Mud Muffins

After my success with the Chocolate Mud Muffins back here, I just had to make the Caramel ones from the same book "Women's weekly...Cupcakes by colour". Once again I was not disappointed... they turned out beautifully.

I attempted to make a caramel ganache to top them with (which I didn't have a recipe for) but it ending up being more of a caramel icing as it didn't thicken so I whipped it up with some added icing sugar instead...tasted great just not quite what I was after!

Caramel Mud Cakes

125g butter, chopped coarsely

100g White eating chocolate

2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup golden syrup

2/3 cup milk

1 cup plain flour

1/3 cup self-raising flour

1 egg

• 
  
  Preheat oven to 170oC/150oC fan-forced and line 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.
• 
  
  Stir the butter, chocolate, sugar, syrup and milk in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Transfer mixture to medium bowl; cool 15 minutes.
• 
  
  Whisk sifted flours into chocolate mixture, then egg.
• 
  
  Drop 1/4 cup of mixture into cases and bake about 30 minutes.
• 
  
  Stand cakes 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

I'll share my caramel ganache recipe once I perfect it!

Enjoy..........

Introducing....

Just a quick post today to introduce you to one of my dear friends who has recently re-joined us in "Blogland"......you may remember her from "Luv'N'Hugs" which seems to have disappeared due to operator error technical difficulty. Anyway, it would be great if you popped over to her new blog for a visit.... It's called "Creative Disorganization" and you can find her here.

Photo stolen from Creative Disorganization

Nic and I have been friends for many years and have spent a lot of hours crafting together. Unfortunately she no longer lives nearby and the internet has become one of our main forms of contact.....it looks like my nagging encouraging her to start continue her blog has finally paid off ! YAY ;)

Welcome back Nic...I know you're going to love blogland!

Until next time......

Baby Pillowcase

Just a quick one tonight to show you the pillowcase I made a couple of nights ago to go with the Charm square baby quilt I finished last week. I didn't use a pattern for this one.... just made it up as I went along....nice and easy! So they're now all bundled up and on their way to a new home.......can't wait for them to receive it!

Sorry about the indoor flash photo's, but the weather here hasn't been

good for outside photo's this week.

Given how bright the fabrics were... I decided to give the pillowcase a wash before sending it off.... and it came out beautifully.... the colours didn't even think of running *phew*.... gotta love good quality fabric! :)

I also stitched a personalised fabric label to go on the back of the quilt.

Until next time........