Stitching friendships

In the sad absence of stitching news this month, I thought I would blow the cobwebs off some old projects to show you.This was a joint project with a lovely friend of mine that we stitched together about three years ago, and was a gift for a mutual & special friend. It is Bareroots Cozy Table Runner #101. We had such fun putting this together & made enthusiastic and rash promises that we would each make one for ourselves one day, but of course, we haven't!

Teeny weeny mini muffins

Thankfully the 'sous-chef' (aka daughter #1) is home on school holidays and afternoon teas are well catered for!

Time to smell the roses

Life is a bit busy right now & it would be sensible to sign off from blogging for a bit. But on the other hand, to post every now and then may be just the distraction I need! There will definitely be no time for stitching in the next month or so, but I am hoping to manage just a little bit of time each day to 'smell the roses'. Hope you can smell them with me!This is one of my newly planted roses, a little ground cover rose called 'Grannie's Bonnet'. A very happy New Year to you all. I wish you good health & every happiness in 2008.

Making Christmas memories

One of the most special things about our family Christmas is receiving gifts from my children. A few years ago, we came up with a means of helping our kids to think about giving as well as receiving at Christmas time. They each have $5 to spend on each of the other members of our immediate family and are encouraged to make a handmade gift for everyone. These are my wonderful gifts from my children this year, all of which they bought & made without my knowledge:My littlest blossie (age 6) made me this handmade box, painted gold, filled with sand & planted with artificial hibiscus! She also drew me a picture with lift up flaps, beneath which were more drawings of special things. Her $5 was spent on a length of very beautiful ribbon & a paper punch. The youngest man in my life (age 9) busily set about making me some origami animals & flowers. He has picked up on my fetish for ric rac and also bought me a very cute Christmas tree stamp. Biggest blossie (age 12) presented me with homemade rum balls (one of my Christmas favourites) in a handmade box, and a Donna Hay magazine for holiday reading. I love that they have each been so thoughtful about their gifts, and know exactly the things that make me happy! They are so precious.

'Hark the herald, angels sing ... glory to the new born King'

My best wishes for a wonderful & joyous Christmas to each and every one of you as we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Thank you for the most amazingly warm welcome you have all given me to blogland. I feel truly blessed by these new friendships. The last few days have seen some life-changing decisions made in my household, which have meant all of my Christmas preparations have gone awry. But amongst the chaos, this arrived today from a lovely, generous member of our extended family. So I at least have a centrepiece for our family's Christmas table tomorrow! It is just the sweetest idea - a tree made entirely from tiny parcels of jaffa lollies, Freddo frogs & candy canes! Won't this be a hit with the kids? And with others of us who remain 'young at heart'! Happy Christmas everyone.

Maiden commercial quilting experience!

My Mum recently sent off her beautiful 1930's single Irish chain quilt to a commercial long arm quilter. We have always quilted our own quilts with simple straight lines. Nervously awaiting it's return, we picked it up yesterday & were delighted with the result. It is stippled all over which accentuates the coloured chains ...and has beautiful feathers on the border. I will post some better photos when it is bound. The fabrics left over from this quilt are being used by Mum to do her Quilt-a-long blocks.

Half way there ...

This is Mum's sixth block of twelve in Amandajean's Quilt-a-long. And here are all six blocks so far. Looking good Mum - keep up the pace!

Baking biscuits

It seems half the world is baking biscuits at the moment, so it seemed only right to join them! Almond & white chocolate shortbreads are a favourite for me at Christmas, and with a little ribbon, cellophane bags and some hastily stamped tags, they are quite presentable.

almond & white chocolate shortbreads


125g butter 
80g (½ cup) icing sugar 
½ teaspoon almond essence 
130g plain flour, sifted 
30g (¼ cup) ground almonds 
1 tablespoon cornflour 
pinch of salt 
100g white chocolate 


Beat butter, icing sugar & almond essence until pale & creamy. Mix in the flour, ground almonds, cornflour & salt until just combined. Cover with plastic wrap & refrigerate for 30 minutes or until the mixture is firm. Roll teaspoonsful of the mixture into balls & place on trays lined with baking paper. Press biscuits flat with a fork. Place the trays in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to chill. Bake at 130°C (fan-forced) for 17 minutes or until shortbreads are a light golden colour. When cool, drizzle the biscuits with melted white chocolate. Makes approximately 20.

An old-fashioned beauty

Our snail creeper (Vigna caracalla) is flowering profusely. I have this planted on an entrance arbour to our house. It is highly fragrant & delicious to walk beneath. It is an old fashioned plant, not common in gardens these days. It is easy to grow from seed if you can find some. The flowers are a wondrous shape, curling about like snail shells, in beautiful pearly cream & stunning purple shades. As the flowers age, they become a golden colour. The only disadvantage of this stunning plant it that it attracts millions of ants. Walking beneath it comes with the peril of ants dropping on your head! Aaaah, it's worth a few ants in your hair!

Christmas treasures

The Club Quilt Christmas party was wonderful as always. I received these gorgeous cushions from my lovely friend Leanne. These cushions are very special as Leanne is the mother of lots of young children, and has very little time to stitch. Thank you Leanne - I love them both & appreciate every one of your meticulous stitches! Leanne cleverly selected parts of this little Nancy Halverson print to embellish with stitching. She has backstitched over the wording, emphasised the the angel's dress & wings with running stitch & added three very sweet heart shaped buttons. This cushion is also a Nancy Halverson design, and I will know when this little ewe is lost because her rusty bell jingles. Too cute! My gift was received by Dale, and she was either pleased, or a very good actress! No doubt, Peg will have the details of the night & all the wonderful gifts on the Club Quilt blog over the next few days.