My 'Bouquet' is finished...........

Jenny of Elefantz shared her beautiful 'Bouquet' as a BOM this year. 

As I have never done a wall hanging or pretty rose stitchery it was perfect for me to challenge myself with. 

I have been sitting with it for a few weeks now and joined in with Joys challenge (Finishing Stitches) to finish those UFO's and blocks.

I have shown the blocks previously in detail HERE

and the quilting HERE

I love the simple but eloquent words Jenny has included

The 'Bouquet' wall hanger provides lovely art for my spare bedroom.

Thanks Jenny for the inspiration

and thanks Joy for the motivation to get this finished

Now to the next one....... and to find a treasure for tommorrows Treasure Tuesday with Clare

Hugz

A couple of 'Firsts' and some 'progress'

This is my first ever win on a give-away, which also happens to be my first ever parcel from America!!

A set of Perfect Circles and a Fat Quarter of Fabric

Thanks to Cori from 'Creativity Amongst Chaos'.  If you haven't visited Cori before it is worth a trip - she has the cutest designs and works with lovely happy colours......  Pop in over HERE and tell her I say hi .....  I love the turquoise and orange in the fabric..... Thanks Cori.

And this was my first ever outing to the ballet....

A special friend bought tickets and took me out for a treat to the Nutcracker Suite performed by the Imperial Russian Ballet company.

A magical evening and a special treat

Such a lot of first ever happiness

but I did manage to make a little bit of progress

I have cut up my Jelly Roll  for the Quiltalong hosted by Fat Quarterly, so now I am  ready to start pieceing next week

and I have done some stitching on my Quilt as You Go UFO that I am determined to do for Finishing Stitches hosted by Joy's Quilts.  Joy does some lovely stitching and has some great stories - pop on over HERE and join us if you need some motivation to get those blocks and quilt projects finished!

In the meantime, I have some practicing to do....

Have a wonderful weekend

Hugz

Some Food, and a Stitching Start and Finish

There is something about fresh lavender .......

that is just so soothing........

another easy peasy yummy tummy recipe

Zucchini Bake

425 g zucchini unpeeled and coarsely grated OR  mixed vegetables - chopped, grated, or small (like peas and corn) I use whatever I have at the time!

1 large finely chopped onion

2 or 3 finely chopped rashers of bacon (optional) - OR mushrooms etc

1 cup grated cheese

1 cup self raising flour

½ cup oil

5 eggs lightly beaten

Salt and pepper

1 clove garlic

Chilli to taste (optional)

1. Combine ingredients and season with salt and pepper

2. Pour into well greased dish (16 x 26com)

3. Bake in moderate oven for 30 – 60 minutes until browned and set

4. Serve with salad and sweet chilli sauce

This week I did finish off a Daisy Do block

Jenny has these as a BOM
and I have accepted Joys challenge to finish blocks!

By the way Jenny has a birthday sale going on over HERE  I love her patterns

I recently joined up with
Fat Quarterly who are hosting a Quiltalong

I have had this pretty Jelly Roll lurking in my cupboard

It is Christmas fabric and I needed some motivation to get it done for this Christmas (which is now not so far away!)

On Monday we started the cutting

and next week we will be piecing!

You can use Fat Quarters or a Jelly Roll

I'd better go and finish off cutting up my strips

Hugz

Tuesday Treasure #7

Tuesday Treasure is a blogfun activity hosted by Clare and this week I am continuing with my 'tea' theme of yesterday.

This is a silver bowl which I inherited from my mum - there was two of them and my eldest brother has this one's older brother!

Mum always used these at Christmas and filled them with special chocolates and nuts.

I use this all the time - it is our sugar bowl and I love it very much.

I did do a bit of a 'silver-polish' yesterday so she is looking especially pretty

She matches well with the teapot.... and the pretty cups

(pity I don't take sugar in my tea!)

Hope you have a wonderful treasure filled Tuesday

Come join us HERE

Hugz

Anyone for tea?

I always enjoy taking time to sit down for a cuppa

once in a while the 'fancy' set comes out

Mum used to use this at bridge parties

it is so delicate and pretty one can't help feeling just a little bit very special when drinking out of these cups

my lovely silver teapot which I received as a 21st birthday present

part of the family silver

it's my only teapot so it does get used

(got a polish especially for the photo shoot! and she does come up beautifully)

or maybe a mug. 

One Christmas I was given an assortment of loose teas and this lovely little tea leaf holder - ideal for quickly making that special cuppa in a mug....

can you tell I like my tea in prettiness?

this mug was a gift too

loose tea

this is a lovely flowery fragrant one

especially pleasant on hot days

or a bag

Rooibos is a South African tea

an aquired taste and there is different flavours

it is caffeine free and safe to use during pregnancy

(in case there is anyone pregnant reading my blog???)

high in antioxidants

and low in tannin

it is said it relieves the feeling of nausea too

where to keep it - special containers or stay in the box...

this is my everyday tea caddy

I don't have any of that tea left....

but you really could make two great cups of tea with one bag....

..........................................

as for stitching

I have another border ready to put on this.....

sneak peak is all you get to see

it's for DD in England

but the colours are clear

Special thoughts for lots of people

Hurricane Earl over in the USA

Floods in Victoria, Australia

Earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand

Keep safe everyone

and have a wonderful week

Hugz

Fun at Other Blogs..

Who loves the flavour of lemon?  It is so fresh..

When I saw Robin's recipe for Lemon Cake I had to try it.....

I love easy peasy recipes and this is definitely one - easy to make and easy to eat....

It is a family recipe so thanks for sharing it with us Robin...

Go HERE if you'd like to try it too.....

I have a couple of new projects in the 'pipeline'.....

Fiona has started a beautiful new BOM called Flowers of Love.  This is her button which you may recognise on other blogs....

The first block is ready for downloading HERE

Oh - and there's a giveaway with the launch of this BOM too.....

I have a confession.....

I have never made a Jelly Roll quilt

(well until about 6 months ago I thought Jelly was something you ate and a Roll was the shape of the mould!)

or you can use Fat Quarters...

So I have signed up to a QuiltALong hosted by Fat Quarterly

You can go HERE to join in the fun...

Raspberry Rabbits is a lovely peaceful place to visit and Michelle has a beautiful BOM series which I am wanting to catch up on.....

You can find the patterns HERE on her website

This is all in addition to......

finishing off all those others in the cupboard/on the bed/on the dining table.....

Please escuse me, I'm off for a cup of tea and slice of lemon cake - you are welcome to come and join me....

Have a wonderful weekend....

Hugz

First Day of Spring

Watching the last of this years Winter Sun Sets ..........

(photo per kind favour of Hubz)

Strong scents of the new blooms of Jasmine

Wisteria bursting forth .....

An ocean of Lavender

lovely bunches of Ruby Bell ....

the contrast of dray branch, dark leaves and soft pink blossoms of the Prunus

Yesterday little dog was going nuts with barking so I went to investigate....

Just a slight movement on the gravel.....

So well camouflaged..........

Carefully watching my every move.........

Dug out a 'waiting to be done' project having been motivated by Jenny's Reinvention Challenge...

Cute little overalls............

Now a cute little bag................

Still experimenting with turning jumpers into felt..........

Phew - just in time for the August deadline..........

Have a lovely Spring (or whatever time of the year it is for you)

Hugz