Needlecase.....

A friend of mine (no blog) has a birthday and I have made her a little needlecase using a Michelle Ridgeway alphabet stitchery....

.. I made it a fairly simple book shape with a pad of lovely wool and a little pocket on the inside... and tied with a ribbon....

My needleturn block is finished.... those little petals were a challenge as they are little...

... so this week I moved onto block two for the wallhanging (Helen Stubbings design) ...

The quote is one with less writing than on the pattern and the little flower was included with the pattern set as a bonus so this block is quite different to the original....

... and these half inch hexagons all got sewn down last night....

I've done a few other things... secret things... so you can't see them... not just yet anyhows....

Righto, Gotto Go...... more secret things to stitch....

Summer storm.... at last ..

A couple more lonely blocks have been made into placemats

... and heaps of scraps have been joined together to make these blocks.... I'm still going.... this is going to be a large scrap quilt....

At last yesterday we saw a real build up of summer storms....

not heaps of rain but enough to lay the dust down and add a bit of water to the tank (20mls) ....

something satisfying by a littering of jacaranda flowers on my 'wannabealawn'

I need a new Christmas stocking for little Astrid... so I will be playing with this today.... 

... so pleased to have found the perfect panel to make up for a quick fix so I can post it to the UK before Christmas ...

FNWF and other things....

I was pretty exhausted after waiting for little baby to arrive on Friday ..... 

Astrid Sophie is her name.... ( I think she was doing a little smile especially for me!)

... and she and her mum are home now.... all is good...

... we had a lovely sunset whilst we toasted her arrival...

... and in the evening for FNWF (thanks Dory aka Cheryl aka Chez for having us)  I finished off the last stitches on this Michelle Ridgeway alphabet letter for a friend with an upcoming birthday ....

... and sewed a button on this Christmas postcard which is going to Brazil....

The next morning I checked my hoya plant....and its lovely honey drops...

... this plant just fascinates me... and this little spider was enjoying the honey I think....

... and we enjoyed the galah's over for breakfast....

... young widget came to stay... he also enjoyed his breakfast! ....

... today I wanted to change my rotary blade.... (all that trimming of HST's)....

... I had never noticed the warning signs before.... anyone use goggles when they are cutting?????

our hobby seems to be getting more and more dangerous..... 

Righto, Gotto Go.... a bit of danger risk taking to do.... hmmmmm

Very happy .....

Hubz and I met our new granddaughter last evening.... just one hour old.... how sweet she is.... and wide awake for having gone through all that struggling to get out and meet us!

This is Maddy's little sister and they live in the UK and so again I am incredibly grateful for modern technology....

This is the cot quilt I will be sending over for her (label still to be made) 

(I have shown it before... it has been waiting for a special princess to own it!)

I traced designs from the fabric range onto the top of the quilt and hand stitched these....

...and appliqued the words on the bottom... just soft quilting so it is snuggly and soft

.. the backing is some lovely vintage hollyhobby girl sheeting that I found...

Maddy wanted a sister more than anything.... see how utterly delighted she is....

.... another princess.... and I still tear up with joy....

Righto, Gotto Go.....

It's a finish.....

Presenting my lovely blue bird quilt

Quite different to any I have done before 

I've never done so much white before ...

... and I've never done blocks on point before...

It's a wallhanging so the stiffness with the heavy quilting works well...

This design is by my friend Christine, sadly she does not have the pattern available as it was done some years back and the originals disappeared with a crashed computer.... I was lucky enough to get a photocopied set from her and some personal instruction... Thanks Christine... I love this quilt... 

At quilting group today I continued with my needleturn project... as it was Melbourne Cup day we had a TV and some sweeps on the go .... I had no idea how it all works and no idea what horse I was backing.... but my horse came in first so I won money

since I paid in $3 it's a pretty good return!

Righto, Gotto Go... better hide my winnings incase Hubz wants to share ....

Charming Stars and a Recipe....

My four blocks for November

.... now we are 12 ......

these are coming together so prettily.... thanks to Terry for the idea and hosting us....

We had friends around recently and I wanted to make our meal a little bit festive ... so I made my version of Sherry Trifle.... easy peasy yummy scrummy (of course)

Buy a packet of those sponge finger biscuites... apply a thin coat of jam (apricot is my favourite) and place in a dish....

thoroughly soak with sherry .....

then place in your serving dish and layer some pieces of tinned peach over the top

then cover this all with custard... I like thick custard so it sits firm (my mum used to make her own and that was ultra delicious but mine always curdles ... and anyway you can buy very nice custard... full of preservatives etc)

... repeat... I do this a day before as it seems to make the flavours just nice...  by the way you should check the sherry is good....

Before serving I like a layer of whisked cream with a sprinkle of crushed maltezers and toasted almond slivers... (cherries etc... whatever blows your hair back)

There you have it.... a packet of biscuits, a tin of peach slices, a box of custard, a jar of cream, and as much sherry as you like.... (PS... I have made this child friendly using orange juice - it's nice too.. but not as nice)

My needleturn project is developing.... we have some petals now.... 

..... and the bluebirds quilt is having it's binding sewn down.... I love it 

Righto, Gotto Go... leftover trifle to eat, binding to finish, scraps to sew.....