Little quilt....

I wanted to do try doing a disappearing 4 patch with some small patches

... it turned into a little quilt

about 6" square and has gone to a friend who is doing up her pink sewing room...

... and I am putting a bit more energy into getting my alphabet bears sewn...

L is for Love, and Lavender

This is the cake I made earlier this month for Hubz to take to work .... 

(I found the picture in my files!)

fun, easy and I believe it tasted good too ... basic chocolate cake inside

Righto, Gotta Go... I am doing a few secret things at the moment .... hmmmmmmmm

Blocks and Mothers and Daughters and Memories ....

Over the year Googy Girl hosted a 9 patch swap and a bunch of us made a bunch of 9 patches in reproduction prints... and then Googy Girl shared them all out and sent us loads of them

I love how they arrived wrapped up so pretty with a special card

I counted 113 blocks... so can get a big quilt out of it... I think I might make two different ones 

Thank you so much to all the lovely ladies who contributed to these and especially Googy Girl who coordinated it all and sorted the blocks out.... they are magnificent...

This is a cute pattern by Leanne May (Candlelight Creations)....

 I adapted the original words which were "When I was little you always held my hand" since I was giving this to my daughter for her and her daughter....

I love the little detail of stitching on the light border and on the tags....

I sent this pretty little one to my daughter in UK... she has a daugher who when she saw this said "Can it go in my room?"... so my guess it has gone to the right home....

Whilst I was making mothers and daughter related things I got to thinking about my mom, who was a really good cook, not fancy meals but always tasty.... Sunday lunches were roasts and at night something light... like waffles, or pancakes, or yorkshire puddings, or sardines on toast.....

.. or french toast...

It is so long since I have had this easy and tasty light meal.... with some fresh raspberries and wedges of orange and a sprinkle of cinnamon ... (of course you can use the traditional lashings of maple syrup and a blob of icecream!)

I used THIS recipe (but only used a Tbsp of sugar) .... so yummy so I think this will be back on the regular menu.... and it was lovely pulling out some of those memories too.

Righto, Gotto Go ..... I want to look up some ideas for 9 patch quilts - I am sure I will need to make a shopping list too!

A new 'pick up and go' project ...

I love to have a stitching project which is all organised with all the patterns, threads and tracings all together so that when I go off I can pick it up and go and everything I need is there.... 

my last one was the needle cases

I have long admired a lovely little stitchery a friend of mine did... it is an older pattern (came out before my frenetic stitching addiction started)  but just so pretty ..... 

from Crab Apple Hill - it is called Tea Party and is by Meg Hawkey (2004)

This is the first stitchery I have finished.... 

each pattern has a name... this one is "Karen"

I went off to stitch with the girls and forgot .... needles....... marking pen (for those little bits I forgot to trace) and scissors... so it looks like I have a bit more gathering of notions for my 'pick up and go' ...  luckily my friends were a bit more organised....

each pattern has a tea party recipe.... this one is Autumn Apple Cake - I'm not sure I can share the recipe off the pattern (copyright) but there are a number of similar ones on-line .... easy peasy to make.... lovely and moist... soft in the middle and crunchy on the outside....

I was given some left over bits of fabric that had been 'crinkled' with a special shrinking plastic product

a new product needs a new experience

this is a first for me .... a zip in a bag 

the pretty crinkly look made by the fabric hides the dodgy first time zip effort

I used a combination of on-line tutorials.... here (I like the bits to go on the edges of the zip) and here (I like the handle) ....

..... we did test out the cake... used it as a dessert last night.....

would you like a slice?

If you have done Tea Party I would love to see it

I collected 'blues' for my birthday fat quarter swap this year and I will use them.... just not too sure how yet and would love some ideas

Righto... Gotto Go... a 'pick up and go' sewing set to sort out... 

Taste Tester......

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be roaming in town with my 2 and a half year old grandson.....  

of course town with Nana includes going to the food court to choose whatever he would like....

In the way only children can surprise one he asked for Sushi and so I got some for us to share...  I love it too though I only recently felt outrageous enough to try it...

Now little widget comes to stay reasonably frequently.... he has a limited number of things he likes to eat... he loves my soup... but making soup always is a bit boring (for me) so I thought I would add Sushi to my skills base....

Cooked up sushi rice and add some sushi vinegar - nori (seaweed) to roll it all up in

(I used a damp dishcloth but I think I'll invest in a cute little bamboo mat)

Made a lot of mess rolling - I used tinned salmon with cucumber, avocado and mayonnaise 

Passed... he ate it all... not sure if that had anything to do with "there's icecream for children with clean plates!"

do you sushi?

Righto... gotto go... food to prepare... 

I think I'll have sushi...

Hubz won't eat it so he can have sausage and mash