A Sneak Peak and a Finish for Jo!

Well I'm pleased to report that I managed to get the baby gift I started yesterday all finished...... and bub hasn't even arrived yet! I can't show you the whole thing yet, you never know who might be sticky-beaking on here, but I will give you a sneak peak.

It's quite lairy compared to the things I usually make so now i'm panicking that she wont like it (but will feel obliged to use it)...... I often struggle to choose fabrics when making things for other people!

So now you just have to wait until I get that eagerly awaited phone call before I can show you the rest of it. :)

While I was busy making my baby gift, my sewing partner for the day managed to get this whole quilt quilted and bound. Isn't it pretty?..... I know her Miss 7 is going to love it!

Can you believe she didn't think this lovely quilt was up to standard for my blog???

The pattern is called "Squares and Hourglass" and was from an old issue of Better Homes and Gardens.... fabric from Spotlight.

Until next time....

I told you so!

I did mention that you'd be seeing a lot more of these but I decided to finish all three at once and get them out of the way so that I don't bore you with post after post of pencil rolls.  Miss 10 chose the pretty alphabet fabric from the Cosmo Cricket "Girl Friday" range. Master 7 chose the pirate fabric the "Timless Treasures Kids" range and for the denim one i've used some of the "Farmers Market" range by Sandi Henderson.

Well I think that does it for pencil rolls at the moment....... now I have to get started on a baby gift for one of my dear friends who was due to have her baby on Thursday (10 days ago)..... now if she can just keep her legs crossed until i'm done!

Until next time......

What a life!

I had the BEST day yesterday..........
My dear friend Nic over at Luv 'N' Hugs invited me to meet her in Dubbo for a day at the movies where I also got to meet the lovely Chookyblue. We saw the hilarious movie "It's Complicated" followed by coffee and a 100 mile an hour chat before I had to head back to pick up the children from school. I felt very spoilt taking time out to catch a movie in the middle of the day and enjoyed it so much that I decided to continue spoiling myself once I got home..... I ordered Chinese for dinner and then sat and watched another movie with Miss 10!

Today: I've continued to ignore the housework waiting for me, and managed to get a bit of sewing done..... I just love sitting and sewing on rainy days! Will take some photo's in the morning for show and tell as i've run out of daylight here now.

Tomorrow: I have another lovely friend Jo who is coming to play...... so should have even more sewing to show you tomorrow afternoon.

I suppose the fun does have to end sometime......... will schedule housework for Monday (unless I get a better offer that is).

And because I can't do a post without a picture: This is an embroidery I did some time ago...... still my favourite! My beautiful friend Trish had it framed for me for my birthday.

Until next time.....

Happy Stitching!

I think you could be seeing a lot of these!

I made another pencil roll last night...... a bit of a grown up version for someone special!

I'll post it off later this week........hope she likes it!

Until next time.......

A Hat for ..........?

I've been itching to get time to whip up some hats for the kids using this "Lazy Day Hat" pattern from "Make it Perfect" that I bought a couple of weeks ago from Fabric Closet on Etsy.

The hat I made today was originally for Miss 10 but it turned out a bit on the small size even though I made the Large which was meant for a 56cm head circumference..... Miss 10's head is 54cm.  Not sure what/if I did anything wrong but will make the X-Large next time. Miss 10 was very disappointed that it was too snug and Master 7 was even more horrified disappointed that he got to wear it while I took photos of it.... being a GIRLS hat and all! The Horror!

The hat is fully reversible which is great for matching with lots of outfits and I used two fabrics from the range "Lily Pond by Wendy Slotboom" which I also bought from "Fabric Closet".

See how delighted Master 7 is ..........LOL (such a mean Mummy I am)

I'm sure it will make a nice pressie for some little girl and this makes finish number 4 for OPAM 2010!

Until next time.........

Miss Emily turns 7 & Giveaway received!

Today we're attending a birthday party for Miss Emily who turned 7 on Thursday so I decided to make another pencil roll.

Since I wasn't 100% happy with how my last pencil roll turned out (even though Miss Katie loved it) I decided to use a different tutorial by Cassie from You Go Girl! instead. This tutorial was soooo easy to follow and combined with Cassie's No Snit binding tutorial resulted in a very neatly finished project.

I'm delighted with how it turned out and can see that i'll be making many more of them.

Thanks so much to Cassie for sharing your wonderful ideas!

The fabric I used was from the "Girl Friday" range by "Cosmo Cricket" which I purchased from Fabric Closet on Etsy

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On another exciting note: I was lucky enough to receive my parcel from Kimberly of Quilting with Kimberly yesterday....... A signed copy of her beautiful new book "Jelly Roll Quilts and More" and isn't it delicious! It's full of lovely projects and ideas and even includes some yummy looking recipes...... sorry my pics aren't great!

I have a jelly roll in the cupboard that would be perfect for this one:

Thanks so much for the giveaway Kimberly.... I love it!

Until next time....Happy Stitching!

Golden Syrup Dumplings

As promised..... here is the dumpling recipe we used on our recent camping trip. It's a family favourite of ours and I think the recipe was one my Sister (Kristy's Random Haunt) was taught at school:

Dumplings
1 cup S.R. Flour
30g marg (or 1 dollop in camping measurements)
1 Egg
2-3 tbsp milk

Rub butter into flour then mix in egg and milk with a knife.

Syrup
1.5 cups water

1.5 tbsp marg

0.5 cup sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp lemon (just leave out if you don't have it)

Cook syrup ingredients in a saucepan until sugar is disolved and butter melted.

Spoon dumpling mixture into baking dish (in 6 dollops) and pour over about half the syrup.

Bake at 180oC for about 15 minutes.

Pour over remaining syrup and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden.

Note: I usually make 1.5 times the syrup..... It's extra yummy that way!

ENJOY!

These pics are of an extra big batch..... I trippled the dumpling mix and used five times the syrup to fill two camp ovens and 16 bellies!

Until Next Time......