A special gift from Grandma

My Mum stitched this sweet little zippered pouch as a special gift for my youngest blossie. The design is from Anni Downs' book, 'A Simple Life'. Anni's books are always packed full with gorgeous projects, and are great value for money. I think I own almost all of them! The fabric kit was purchased from Anni's shop, The Home Patch.

I love the boots on the end of these skinny, stripe-y legs, scooting through the blooms ...

... and what's not to love about the plump pooch?!

Even the pouch lining is delightful. Anni has a wonderful eye for colour and print.

When my daughter was so unwell last year, my Mum spent a lot of time with her, willing her to be well. They have an especially close relationship as a result, and this little gift is treasured.

A little spice

A rainy, dull day and a surplus of tomatoes begged for some chutney-making today.

This is my favourite recipe, warm and spicy, with a peppery kick. Red or green tomatoes can be used with equal success. The tip of the day comes from my youngest child - "Mum, if you're going to chop up kilos of onions, you'd better put my swimming goggles on"! Her suggestion worked a treat - not a tear was shed. But there was great amusement at the sight of a be-goggled Bloom in the kitchen!

tomato chutney

1kg tomatoes, chopped

500g brown onions, chopped

200g apples, peeled, cored and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped

1 tbsp sea salt

½ teaspoon coriander seeds

½ teaspoon fennel seeds

2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

3 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

½ cinnamon stick

300ml cider vinegar

225g brown sugar

Place tomatoes, onion, apples, garlic, ginger, salt, spices and half the vinegar in a heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring, for one hour. Add remaining vinegar and the sugar and simmer uncovered for 90 minutes or until thick. Stir regularly to prevent catching. Spoon hot chutney into sterilised jars and cover with airtight lids for one month before serving. Recipe makes enough to fill approximately three salsa jars.

Flannel panel quilt

The new school year has commenced with a bang. With the first of our three children heading into her HSC year, there is an imminent sense of a whopping great mountain ahead to be conquered, mostly for her, but for us all as a family! 

During the parent orientation for my youngest girl, starting Year 6, the following clip was shown:

Man, if I wasn't feeling the pressure of parenting teenagers before seeing this, I am now! I mused that it would be interesting to gauge the state of mental health of Generation X parents; the ones like me who are floundering to keep up with the extraordinary pace of change. I only hope the medical authorities are making ample provision for us all when we finally crack under the pressure ... or perhaps it's just me :)

I think I'll just go crawl into a corner and quilt for a few years! It seems the only sensible alternative, surely :) To this end, I have finished the flannel version of my 'Spin to Play' quilt.

It is made with a 3 x 3 panel of 'Pretty Paisley' flannels by Lesley Grainger for Robert Kaufman which is cheerfully heavy on birds, blooms and hearts.

These fabrics were kindly given to me by Marally Craft, who will also have a limited number of kits available.

Fabric details: (left to right, top to bottom):

1. Brown on Tea Dye Stripe from Alpine Fabrics;
2. Green circles from 'Love Birds' by My Minds Eye for Riley Blake Designs;
3. Red and white spot from 'Pretty Paisley' flannels by Lesley Grainger from Robert Kaufman Fabric Company;
4. Aqua paisley fabric from 'Pretty Paisley' flannels by Lesley Grainger from Robert Kaufman Fabric Company;
5. Orange fabric from 'Mumbo Jumbo' flannels by Laura Berringer for Marcus Fabrics;
6. Dark brown fabric from 'Shaded Oaks' flannels by Holly Taylor for Moda;
7. Yellow and white spot from 'Pretty Paisley' flannels by Lesley Grainger from Robert Kaufman Fabric Company;
8. Red circles from 'Love Birds' by My Minds Eye for Riley Blake Designs;
9. Pink paisley fabric from 'Pretty Paisley' flannels by Lesley Grainger from Robert Kaufman Fabric Company.

The backing is a bright and happy check from 'Della' flannels by Valori Wells for Free Spirit.

Quilting details:

Machine quilting was once again beautifully done by Belinda of Eucalypt Ridge Quilting.

The quilting design is 'Song Birds' by Anne Bright, which conveniently repeats the bird, blooms and heart motifs. 

This little quilt is cuddly, comforting and and just the ticket for one overwhelmed, Generation X-er to crawl into the corner with! 

'Spin to Play' panel quilt - the details

This post is for those of you interested in the fabric and quilting details of my 'Spin to Play' panel quilt.

Fabric details:

Panel fabric: 'Animal Party Too' by Amy Schimler for Robert Kaufman. One full panel includes the eight images shown. Very cute, and great for boys or girls.

Arrow fabric: 'Scarlet' from Celebrate Seuss! by Dr. Seuss Enterprises for Robert Kaufman

Coordinating fabrics (left to right, top to bottom):

1. Blue, Green & Yellow Check from 'Button Up Bears' by Kylie Kreations for South Sea Imports;
2. Yellow spot fabric from 'Animal Party Too' by Amy Schimler for Robert Kaufman;
3. Green spot fabric from 'Little Critters' by Diane Eichler for Red Rooster Fabrics;
4. Red Daisy from Delighted! by Amanda Herring, The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake Designs;
5. Black print from 'Folklorika' by Kim Schaefer for Andover Fabrics;
6. Ground cover in blue from 'Pretty Bird' by Pillow & Maxfield for Michael Miller Fabrics;
7. Shell Swirls in blue from 'Classic Jurassic' by Viv Eisner for Wilmington Prints;
8. Leaf fabric from 'Animal Party Too' by Amy Schimler for Robert Kaufman;
9. Unknown mustard stripe.

Quilting details:

Machine quilting was done by Belinda of Eucalypt Ridge Quilting who I can't recommend highly enough!

The quilting design is 'Foxy Friends' by Anne Bright. It has the perfect critter mix for this quilt :)

Kit availability:

Marally Craft will have a limited number of quilt kits available with identical fabrics. They can be contacted via their website or phone: 02 6362 3860.

Pattern availability:

In the Bloom shop as a PDF download.

'Spin to Play' panel quilt

I finished this bright and happy little quilt over the school holidays.

  

One of my local quilt shops, Marally Craft, generously provided the fabrics for me to play with. The quilt incorporates a pre-printed panel fabric, with eight cute animal images from Amy Schimler's 'Animal Party Too' range.

 

For some fun, the central panel has some appliquéd detail, and a rotating red felt spinner!

I'm guessing the spinner is strongly weighted towards 'play' :)

I will add some further details about the fabrics and quilting in my next post.

I have written up a pattern for the quilt which is now available as a PDF download in the shop.

I'm busy stitching the bind onto a more girly, soft and cuddly flannel version of the quilt. Hoping to have it finished this week.

It is back to school time in Australia, so I'm looking forward to some serious stitching time in the next few weeks. Thankfully the weather has cooled a little, after what has been a scorching Australian summer. My thoughts are with the many Aussies who are suffering terrible loss through fires and floods. Bloom x

Come Fly With Me

While 2012 was a little lean in terms of stitching productivity, I did manage to put these photo album covers together. They have just been published in the January Holiday edition of Australian Homespun.

As always, the challenge for this project was to come up with a concept that is just a little different to every other pattern that has ever been published :) Not an easy task! In the end, I was pretty happy with my long-booted, stripe-y legged girl, packed and ready to travel the world. I've used some felt applique and embroidery, including the dreaded satin stitch!

I had fun searching for & purchasing just the right fabrics. The red cloud fabric is 'Free as a Bird' of the Cut Out and Keep range, a beautiful organic cotton from Cloud 9. The text fabric is called 'Town Square' from Sweetwater's Hometown range. The red and blue wavy bits remind me of geological profile diagrams! They are fussy cut from a piece of Anna Maria Horner's 'Innocent Crush' range.

The January edition of Homespun is available in Australian newsagencies now. Or a digital copy can be purchased at Zinio who are having a great special on Homespun subscriptions. Be quick though, the offer expires this weekend.

Mum's 30-minute reversible ironing board cover

We usually spend some of our summer holidays at our farm. The weather is hot, hot, hot with most days at least 40 degrees Celsius. So it is a perfect time to be inside sewing during the heat of the day. 

I have my grandmother's old ironing board at the farm, and it was desperately in need of a new cover. In a nod to my fabric-hoarding predecessor, my Mum and I dug out an old piece of fabric from Grandma's stash.

In a combined effort, Mum sewed while I wrote the tutorial :)

Requirements:

• Two pieces of fabric the length x width of your ironing board plus approximately 8 inches. We used the old floral fabric for one side, and a blue and white micro-check for the other. Our ironing board is 54" long and 15" wide at the heel end.
• 1.5 yards 1/4" elastic

Lay the two fabric pieces on a flat surface, right sides together. Lay the ironing board on top of the fabric, table side down.

Mark a line 4" beyond the perimeter of the ironing board.

Cut both fabrics along this line. Pin the two pieces together. 

Using a 1/4" seam, sew the two pieces together, leaving a gap for turning at the straight end of the cover. If you have an overlocker, simply overlock the pieces together. Mum says the gap needs to be big enough to get your fist in!

Turn the cover right side out through the gap. Press the seam.

Topstitch 1/8" from the edge, leaving an inch gap for inserting elastic later. Topstitch a second row of stitching 5/8" from the edge to form a casing.

Thread the 1/4" elastic through the casing. Place the cover over the ironing board and adjust the elastic to length such that the cover fits the board firmly. Secure the elastic to length with a few stitches, or knot it if you're feeling lazy :) Trim any surplus elastic. Done, ready for action! In Mum's words, "A blind man would be pleased to see that".

And in a nod to Jamie Oliver, whose 30-minute Meals take me two hours, we relinquish all responsibility for the claim that you will whip this ironing board cover up in the time declared :)

Kind regards,
Bloom and Bloom's Mum

Christmas greetings

From my family to yours, I hope you have a very happy Christmas. For us, Christmas morning first sees us busily getting the almost thirty members of the extended family to nine o'clock church! 

We welcomed the newest family member to her first Christmas. I think she was impressed and shows early signs of being a party girl :)

Like everyone, much of our day is centred on specially prepared food, always a cold feast for our family in Australia. I don't ever recall having a hot Christmas lunch. Salads and seafood abound!

The feasting is interrupted only to spend time pool side, cooling off. Or perhaps for the adults to have a snooze in a quiet corner!

Having had a sick daughter in 2012, we are particularly thankful this Christmas that she is well. It is a time for our family to reflect on a God who continues to give us every good thing. He continues to give graciously and willingly, two thousand years after sending His most precious gift of His Son for us all.

I hope your Christmas is a special time of reflection and time with family, and that 2013 brings good health and happiness to you and yours. 

Bloom x

Busy hands

Our kids always hit the ground running when holidays roll around, all eager to 'make stuff' and do things that the demands of the school term haven't allowed for. They have all been enthusiastically creating.

Miss 17 has most helpfully taken on the task of gift wrapping, priding herself on making each a little different.

She has also declared her intention to learn how to crochet and as her first project has chosen to make a double bed blanket - she doesn't do things in halves! It is currently 240 chain long and 1" wide. Photographic evidence of progress to follow at a later date :) 

The boy has been madly folding origami Christmas ornaments from old French texts to sell at a local pop-up market.

He has been selling his kusudama too. He first began making these a couple of years ago, and has refined his skills to a point that I can't match and others are willing to pay for!

This is his (and my) first market experience, and he is quickly learning the intricacies of maintaining adequate stock, filling custom orders and balancing his till at the end of the morning! His customers have been very kind and encouraging. I suspect he is quietly busting to have an 'origami'free' day to indulge in Minecraft!

Our littlest bloss has been keeping our strength up with morning tea chocolate creations.

She has also been beavering away in her room making gifts for family. It is such a pleasure for us all to see her returned to her happy, creative self after such a tough year with sickness.

And me? Well I'm mostly racing about like a lunatic as is apparently normal at this time of year. But just occasionally I find a quiet spot and a few minutes to stitch the bind on my latest little quilt.

Peace on earth

We have been to the farm for a few days with our kids and have returned to civilisation to the horrific news of the Newtown school tragedy. To be frank, I have avoided reading the details as I'm not sure my heart can take it. As a parent of three children, freshly on school holidays and pulling me this way and that with requests and busyness, this news stops me in my tracks; makes me re-appreciate the blessing they are to me this Christmas.

As I was reading through my emails this morning, one from Sarah Jane Studios struck a chord. Sarah has designed a downloadable card with 100% of the funds to go to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund which is set up with Newtown Savings Bank to support families of the victims and community needs. In some small way, purchase of this card may just help with the practical needs of those mourning the loss of precious children.

In Australia, gun ownership has been stringently controlled since the Port Arthur massacre of 1996. I am genuinely interested to know how the Newtown tragedy leaves our US friends feeling about the complex matter of gun laws and the right to bear arms.