Confessions of a gift-making coward

I love to sew, and to play with fabric combinations. No news there! I love to sew gifts for other people. But somehow, when I need to bring these loves together, something goes awry. I lose my confidence in combining fabrics when I try to take someone else's fabric tastes into account. I become paralysed with a silly fear that I might make something that a friend thinks is hideous. If I am going to spend time sewing something, I really want it to be something they will love! Often, this fear defeats me, and I avoid making the gift. Ridiculous, huh?!

Months ago, I had promised to make a frilly dilly bag for my gorgeous friend Wendy (who would never tell me that my gift was hideous, of course - she is my friend after all)! But so indecisive was I about what fabrics she might like, that I had to resort to a desperate solution:

"Wen, can you please go out and buy some fabrics that you really like so that I can make your bag for you?!"

What a coward I am! These are the fabrics she sent:

And without further agonising on my part, here is her bag:

Having Wendy choose the fabrics took none of the pleasure away from the process for me. I loved making this for her, safe in the assurance that she would love the end result.

For the record, the beautiful fabrics Wendy chose are:

1. 'Shangri-La' stripe by 3 Sisters for Moda

2. 'Fresh Air' brown print by Chez Moi for Moda

3. 'Lily Pond' by Wendy Slotboom for In the Beginning fabrics

4. 'Arabella' by Pat Sloan for P&B Textiles

5. 'Midas Touch' #2906 by Ro Gregg for Northcott

Lining - Michael Miller 'Dumb Dot' C2490

Pattern - 'Frilly Dilly Bag' by Janelle Wind

Foundation fabric - Natural linen/cotton blend

I only hope that my round-about way of gift giving didn't diminish my dear friend's pleasure in receiving it!

Daybook entry #4

Outside my window ... sun! after a few cold, miserable days. And the very last of the roses which are due for their winter prune.

I am hearing ... ABC Sydney 702 radio online. Morning show with Sarah McDonald.

I am reading ... Janelle Wind's stunning first book, fresh off the press. It is delightful. Called 'Pieces of Me', it is a collection of fresh & happy small projects. Janelle has posted about her book here, here and here. And you can find stockists here.

From the kitchen ... a recipe for a winter warming soup. I've not cooked this recipe for years, but after its popularity at a dinner with friends last weekend, it has been revived.

carrot & cashew nut soup

800mL well-flavoured chicken stock

½” piece of ginger, peeled & finely grated

½ nutmeg, finely grated

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves garlic, crushed

100g roasted cashews

600g young carrots, peeled & chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large onions, coarsely chopped

natural yoghurt & parsley for garnishing

Sauté onions in oil until transparent. Add remaining ingredients, except stock. Cover & cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Add stock & simmer until well-cooked. Discard cinnamon stick & puree remaining ingredients. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Serve with a swirl of natural yoghurt & garnish with parsley.

I am in awe of ... the talent of these young Aussie musicians. Calling themselves Aston, they are a group of classically trained musicians at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

I am hoping ... to sew today, with a Verna layer cake by Kate Spain. I have a quick quilt planned!

I am thinking ... of my Dad today. It is his birthday, and he would have been 70, had the dreaded cancer not struck 3 years ago. He would have dawdled up the drive in his farm truck, checked the lupin crop in the front paddock, joked that it wasn't as good as his, shared a cup of coffee, demanded 'something good to eat' & told me the same old stories he had been telling me for years. I miss him!

From my picture journal ... a favourite photo of my nephew at a family paddock barbeque recently. There had been so much rain that there were frogs EVERYWHERE. They are lots of fun to catch!

Have a great weekend, Bloom x

Farm garden tour - Part 3

I am glad so many of you are enjoying our walk through the garden. Thank you for all your kind comments on my last two posts. Feel free to ask questions as we walk! Passing across the front of the house, you look left over the front lawn to a stand of lemon scented gums.

Straight ahead of you, I've planted three silver birches, under grown with Australian native violet. This is what you'll see in the spring:

In the autumn, the late afternoon sun lights up the white papery bark of these birches.

And in the winter, there is the brilliant pink of a Taiwan cherry nearby to brighten an otherwise dull garden.

The path kicks around to the left at this point.

... around a Betchel crabapple (Malus ioensis) ...

... and on to our tennis court.

When we built the tennis court, we had to remove some dirt to achieve the correct slope on the court for drainage. This excess soil became a low sculpted hill next to the court. It is the highest point in our otherwise dead flat garden! And a great spot for a picnic & some tennis spectating. The hill is planted with lime green gleditsias for shade.

A connecting path meanders around the hill, and allows me more room for garden beds, and more roses!

One of my favourite views of the garden is from this path, looking back across the front lawn to the house.

If you keep wandering along this path, it eventually turns back onto the front lawn, through a mass planting of 'Double Delight' roses. If you know this rose, you may well be able to imagine how amazing it smells as you walk through here.

Fellow plant lover, KaHolly and fellow quilter Quiltsalott both commented perceptively that this garden represents 'a lot of hard work'. Well yes, that can't be denied. But it doesn't feel a chore to me. It is therapy. A way to relax. And a way to keep a little bit fit, supple and strong. I find a (weird?) physical pleasure in aching from a hard day's work in the garden.

Suzi-q hopes that I have my own gardener! Other than me, my Sweetness, and our three garden slaves, otherwise known as children? Nope, no gardener. I figure the day I need to employ a gardener is the day I had better downsize!

Mary Ann asks if we charge admission! Haha! There has only been one occasion when admission was charged. We opened our garden a few years ago for charity.

We had 1500 people visit our garden that day. It was unbelievable!

Amazingly, the garden held up well after all those visitors, and you could barely tell anyone had been there at the end of the day.

And in the true way of gardeners, there was not one plant damaged or a skerrick of rubbish left. It was a wonderful day for us, a very special opportunity to share our garden & help towards raising funds for our local cancer support group.

Farm garden tour - Part 2

I left you, a week ago now, stranded at the front entrance to our farm garden. I'm sorry - my garden tours are never speedy. Welcome!

On your right is the first of a few Manchurian pears, beautiful in spring bloom ...

... and equally spectacular in the autumn.

Look back for a moment to see this:

The front path runs right along the north side of the house. Prepare yourself for roses!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know of my rose obsession, particularly David Austins. Have a look here if you don't believe me!

These are the roses along the front of the house, in full and glorious bloom. We curse these roses every winter at pruning time, but by spring they are well and truly forgiven.

And looking back to the archway you have just walked through. I have tried to create a wide perennial bed along the front of the house.

The garden opens up at this point to a lawn ...

... which looks across to a stand of lemon scented gum trees. These trees catch the warm light of the setting sun each afternoon.

These trees are positioned so that from the front door, I can see the paddocks beyond the garden. I can also see right down the driveway to the mailbox - critical when I am expecting fabric in the post! Pour yourself a little late Friday afternoon champagne at this point and enjoy the view! Back soon x

Farm garden tour - Part I

I promised some time ago to dig up some photos of our farm garden to show you.

Please note that these photos are the best of the thousands I have taken over the years. It doesn't always look this good! 

Let me take you on a little tour - it could take a few posts! We'll start at the front drive.

Chinese liquidambers are planted either side of the drive, to eventually create an avenue that you will drive through. I use strawberries as a groundcover down the drive - pretty and productive! There are rows of agapanthus behind the strawberries.

And yes, I planted three deodar cedars as the focal point at the end of the drive ... hmm, thinking that was a mistake. These trees can be massive! Groundcover in this photo is a 'tough as nails' cream gazania.

The driveway kicks around to the left, to give a glimpse of the house.

To get an idea of the perspective, this is where you are, viewed from the roof of the house!

If you turn around and look back down the driveway, you see this:

You will notice as we meander around, that given the choice between a straight line and a curve, I will almost always choose a curve! Drives my Sweetness mad!! Walk a little further around the driveway, you will come across the garden entrance. The arbour is planted with potato vine & snail vine. Row of standard 'Iceberg' roses to the left.

The snail vine smells amazing in the summer. Unfortunately the meat ants agree with me and entering the garden can be a little hazardous at times! But it is worth braving the ants for this beauty.

So here we are at the front entrance. Haven't travelled far, have we?! I might leave you with the heady fragrance of the snail vine for a bit, and come back later to continue the tour. Mind the ants!

I could tell you, but then I'd have to shoot you!

Just dropping in to say 'hi' and let you know that, despite my absence from this blog, I have been stitching my little fingers off.

I know 'sneak peeks' are inordinately frustrating. Let me assure you, I am as frustrated about not being able to share my work with you as you may well be! But what fun I have had! Stitching with vibrant 'Hope Valley' ...

... basking in the privilege of working with some gorgeous pre-release Moda ...

... and combining some rustic linen with 3 Sisters 'Martinique'.

I am off tomorrow to spend the weekend with my lovely 'Club Quilt' friends. Having moved away from them two years ago, I still miss their company & inspiration like crazy. Looking forward to a catching up with their news, having lots of laughs and eating ridiculous amounts of luscious food I really don't need! Hope your weekend is looking as promising. Best wishes, Bloom x

Awww, but I AM doing the washing ...

Kona solids washed & ready ...

... for more of these, Paintbox quilt-a-long blocks:

Kona solids are hard to come by in Australia. I have purchased mine from Fabric Shack. The staff are very helpful, willing to do 1/8 yard cuts (!) and manage to get a whopping 9 yards of fabric in an International envelope.

"Muuum, I'm out of clean undies again." Hmmm, must go ... !

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished

Life in the Bloom household has been so madly busy this week that I really feel the need to go for a walk in the sunshine & enjoy a little peace amongst some flowers. Since this day is all but over & darkness has descended, it will have to be a virtual walk! Care to join me? Let's walk down here ...

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago in my local Botanic Gardens. Being late Autumn, there are not a lot of blooms to be found. But I did stumble upon a dahlia patch.

Giant, spiky ones ...

Cute pom-pom, button ones ...

Serene & simple ones, tinged faintly with pink ...

Ooooh, and a bee's bottom!

The camellia's are unfurling their plump buds ...

... to reveal a golden boss of stamens.

I have no clue what this little pink beauty is, but she sure is pretty!

And then around the corner is a beautiful collection of salvias. These are for you Annie!

Soothing blues and purples ...

... and a seldom seen yellow.

"Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves". ~ John Muir

Ahhh, that's better. Everything seems better after a turn about a garden, virtual or not! Peace descends. The night is quiet ... before the chaos that will be morning!