How cool is this, Dear Jane?

If you have a Flickr account, you might like to have a play with PictoBrowser. It turned my Dear Jane set into a cool slideshow instantly. Click on the PictoBrowser button at the lower right hand corner of my slideshow if you'd like to try it. Otherwise, these are my Dear Jane blocks to date.

Chookyblue comes to town

The ever cheerful & enthusiastic Chookyblue popped in for a visit last week. Being the terrible influence that she is, she had talked me into visiting Hatched & Patched before I could blink! Here is just a sample of the temptation which greeted us at Anni Downs' beautiful shop:

Luscious 'Ava Rose' fabrics by Tanya Whelan greeted us at the front door ...

... followed closely by a new, 'quick & easy quilt' design by Anni made up in Ava Rose fabrics. This pattern quickly made it to my bag of purchases.

There were beautiful samples from Anni's newest book, 'The World as it Should Be' ...

... including the delightful 'A Peaceful Life' quilt, ideal for farm boys, old or young.

This book managed to jump into my bag too!

And there was general gorgeousness every which way: The 'Mill Flower Quilt' ...

... needlepunch from 'Simple Pleasures' ...

and stitcheries, also from 'Simple Pleasures' ...

... sweet 'Making Tea' wallhanging ...

... 'My Heart My Home' quilt ...

... and cute little felt Christmas baubles.

There was also a beautiful version of Natalie Lymer's 'Truly Scrumptious' quilt.

But this is the quilt that stopped me in my tracks on this visit:

An astonishing foundation-pieced beauty by Chris Jurd. I stood staring & admiring this quilt for ages. Very impressive! Thanks Chooky for a great day. My bank account is so much the poorer thanks to you!

Favourite recipes for surviving a hot, hot, hot Aussie summer #2

A very happy (and probably hot!) Australia Day to all. For us, it was spent enjoying a lavish brunch & some tennis with friends, interspersed with long & excited recounts of Jelena Dokic's win in the Australian Open last night. Here is the second of my recipe discoveries for the summer, sure to cool you down nicely! 

White chocolate, raspberry & almond ice-cream cake

150g blanched almonds

Store-bought sponge cake

2 litres good quality vanilla ice-cream, softened

300g frozen raspberries

100g white chocolate, chopped coarsely

Spread almonds in a baking tray. Bake in 200 degrees Celsius oven for 5 minutes until golden. Cool & chop coarsely.

 

Line a cake pan (I used a 20 x 20 cm square pan) with plastic cling wrap.

Combine softened ice-cream, almonds & chocolate in a bowl & stir through. Stir frozen raspberries through mixture gently. Transfer mixture to cake pan. Press down firmly & smooth surface.

Cut sponge cake into 1.5 cm slices & cover top of ice-cream mixture. Cover with cling film & freeze until firm (at least six hours).

Turn onto serving platter. Top with extra berries and/or melted white chocolate. Slice to serve.

Now this just makes me feel happy!

Fabrics washed & ready for action!

Souvenir shopping?

I am slowly unpacking from our travelling about, and am unearthing little bits of shopping. Who needs postcards or teaspoons when you can buy fabric & sewing treasures! These lovely fabrics were purchased in Corowa & Echuca, both wonderful country towns on the Murray River between New South Wales & Victoria. I was very excited to find the 'Follow Your Imagination' fabric by Prints Charming - I have seen fantastic things made from this print. And there is some Sis Boom & some Robyn Pandolph in that little stash too! And a few more pieces to add to my Dear Jane stash. You may remember when I started Dear Jane, that it would be made entirely from my existing stash? As if that was ever going to happen!

I visited a favourite quilting shop in Berry, and was very self-controlled, leaving with the smallest of parcels. I had been told, more than once, that the only thread to use for needleturn applique on my Dear Jane quilt is pure silk. Expensive? Yep! The beige colour will be used for light fabrics, the grey for darks. Also, a little packet of 'the only needles for needleturn'! Hoping to try these out soon.

And also from Echuca, some very cute buttons to be used for who knows what, and a divine black velvet buckle.

Now aren't you glad I didn't buy postcards?! And the crazy thing is, I will remember where each one of these things was purchased, & the little towns we visited. So perhaps they are souvenirs after all!

Favourite recipes for surviving a hot, hot, hot Aussie summer #1

With the temperature soaring to 43 degrees celsius (109 degrees fahrenheit) at the farm on some days, we quickly went looking for some new recipes to cool us down. And with strawberries still hanging on in the garden, we came up with this surprisingly simple & delicious treat:

Strawberry Sorbet

500g strawberries, washed & hulled

500mL water

220g sugar

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

1 egg white

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan, over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to boil, lower heat & simmer for 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Blend strawberries & lemon juice to a smooth puree. Combine with sugar syrup mixture & freeze overnight. Transfer sorbet to a food processor & blend with egg white until light & fluffy. Return sorbet to freezer. Makes almost 2 litres of sorbet.

Holiday roundup continued ...

Christmas for us was spent on the South Coast of New South Wales with my husband's family, always a fun & noisy time as his family grows larger each year! And always an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful beaches around Jervis Bay.

We saw the New Year in back at the farm, catching up with lots of friends & reacquainting ourselves with our garden:

Many hours were spent knocking (I mean caressing!) the garden back into shape after weeks of neglect.

And there was just the smallest amount of quilting crammed in amongst the busy-ness.

The first days of January heralded the start of our annual swimming lessons ...

... which came in handy when the newly installed stock troughs required testing!

We couldn't have squeezed any more into our holidays if we'd tried! Now, onto preparing the family for a new school year, and perhaps organising some serious stitching time for me!

Summer holiday roundup ...

We have had the busiest, but most fun-filled summer holidays, which I will attempt to summarise into one post. Wish me luck!

It all started in early December with the most gorgeous wedding in Wagga Wagga (my old stomping ground & where I was married) - very special! This was followed by a camping holiday on the Murray River in Victoria ... ... a beautiful part of Australia, stirring strong childhood memories for me of growing up on river properties. A highlight was a river cruise on an original paddle-steamer at Echuca. And need I say sampling the regional produce was a highlight? Oooooh, and the coffee shops?

And then there were gardens to see ... ... and golf to be played! And all this before Christmas! I have given up on squeezing this all into one post, so this will have to be 'Summer Holiday roundup ... to be continued'! Back soon.

Back from cyber wilderness

A very happy New Year to everyone! Apologies for my absence. We have been backwards & forwards to the farm, where there is no internet connection. Just popping in to say a quick hello & let you know I am still in the land of the living! I hope you have had special times with family & friends over the festive break. Thought I'd share my favourite Christmas gift with you:

A gorgeous 'Aviary' layer cake by 3 Sisters ... ... and a layer cake pattern book by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures. Ooooh, noice! This gift was from my husband's family, & expertly chosen by my lovely sister-in-law. I am thinking I will make the layer cake up using the 'Vintage Diamonds' pattern from the book. Should be very soft & antique-y. Or perhaps this lovely, lovely thing?! The pattern for this quilt is free on the Moda site, here. And so another year of fabric love, creating, scheming & dreaming begins!

A quilt shop tour for Christmas?

I have been travelling about with my family for the last couple of weeks or so, and consequently have been away from my computer & blog. A very disconcerting place to be! But of course, travelling throws up many an opportunity to visit quilting shops! A highlight has been Beechworth Quilter's Cottage, in the historic, goldmining town of Beechworth in Victoria. Inside is a most exquisite collection of quilts, many crafted by talented Australian designer, Yelena Elliott.

Delightful displays in every nook & cranny ... ... masterful examples of needleturn applique and amazing quilting ... ... and some always extraordinary Dear Jane Blocks ...

I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Yelena, and you can meet her too, at least via cyberspace at her blog, Flosie Floo. Yelena has the honour of being the only international designer invited by Alma Allen and Barb Adams of Blackbird Designs to contribute to their latest book, You're Invited'. In the photo above is the quilt Yelena submitted for the Blackbird Designs book, and is called In Mollie's Garden'. You can read more about this ámazing quilt here.

She has also recently had this quilt, 'Reg & Rita' published in Australian Homespun magazine. One of Yelena's works-in-progress is the intricate, hand-pieced work above.

One of my favourite quilts was this sweet 1930's child's quilt called 'Freckles'.

I also loved the old-fashioned look of this quilt called 'Connie's Crowns'.

And this would be my long-suffering family! "No Mum, not another quilt shop"!

So from my family, to yours, a very blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. The photo was taken during our travels, just in case you thought reindeers were Santa's only means of transportation! Best wishes from the land of emus & gum trees, Bloom xxx