An open garden

The weather has been cold and miserable here, and not conducive to photography. In lieu of sewing news, I thought I'd share some photos of a local garden we visited recently.

The garden is set stunningly amongst rolling hills, lined with vineyards.

The thing that impressed me most about this garden was the extensive and clever use of perennial plants.

It was all I could do not to whip out the secateurs and pinch some cuttings :)

The silver birches were just turning their brilliant yellow at the time, ready for leaf drop and preparing to show their beautiful, white & spotty legs!

I love the use of spiky plants in a garden ... 

... and I'm also a fan of grey or purple foliage. This garden had it all.

There was a significant collection of roses ...

... in every colour imaginable.

Brilliant splashes of cherry red coreopsis ...

 ... and deep gold and russet red.

If purple is more your style, it had that too: 

 And of course, there were plenty of spots to just sit and admire the view. 

 It is the Queen's Birthday long weekend here in Australia. I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty in my garden. Have a great weekend. Bloom x

Some kind of wonderful ... indeed

It just happened that my youngest blossie was selected for a CWA Public Speaking competition in Bathurst this week. I could hardly visit Bathurst without popping in to The Home Patch. As serendipity would have it, Annie Downs' new book, 'Some Kind of Wonderful', had just arrived and was ready for purchase! 

Annie never disappoints. This book is filled with sweet and whimsical projects. Here are some of my favourites, and will be added to my ridiculously unachievable 'to do' list!

A very sweet, birdy cushion, embellished with felt daisies and jumbo ric-rac.

Surely the prettiest heat bag ever, with Annie's distinctive felted woollen blooms.

And a simple, and very lovely daisy quilt.

These are just three of sixteen projects in Annie's book, available at THe Home Patch, hot off the press!

Now what?

Good question!

I have had a lovely time constructing this panel using paper piecing. Now, what to do with it?!

Starstruck

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Sarah Fielke on the weekend. You might just want to read that first sentence again - SARAH FIELKE, I say!! Was I excited? Ha, just a little!

Sarah is a talented Australian quilter and designer, and the author of three books, the latest being 'Quilting, From Little Things'. She was in town for the day to teach a class at Patchwork Orange. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the class, but I popped in, ever so briefly, to say hello and to delight in her beautiful quilts.

For the quilting superstar that she is, Sarah was very humble and unassuming about her work. My gushing made up for any humility on her part! It was very special to see some of Sarah's quilts from her book 'in the flesh'.

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There was 'Flock Together', a stunning feathered star quilt with its tiny, tiny half-square triangles. Nothing Sarah does is half-hearted, and this quilt was intricate and HUGE!

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One of my favourite quilts from Sarah's book is 'Whirligig'. I love the Anna Maria Horner full-blown yellow roses on aqua. Seeing this quilt up close makes me even more inclined to make it. It was gorgeous.

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Sarah also had 'Hanging Lanterns' on display. I could have stood looking at this quilt all day, picking out fabrics that I have in my stash. One of the things I love about Sarah's designs is her ability to put together surprising combinations of fabrics that work together effortlessly, and give a real vibrancy to her quilts.

There is nothing ho-hum about Sarah's work. Her quilts are stimulating and energetic, and challenge me to break out of my 'matchy-matchy', safe little box. 

I would love to have chatted with this talented woman all day. It was all I could do to drag myself out the door. Family commitments took priority this time, but given another chance, I will be there in a heartbeat!

Rainy days and ... Sunday

A dull, rainy Sunday here, perfect for a spot of biscuit artistry by Miss Nine:

Perfect for exam study for the older offspring ...

... and a sewing room cleanup for me, motivated by this inspiring post by Lisa. 

A netball final and Swans playing in the AFL on tele. 

A nice quiet Sunday afternoon. Sweet!

Chalk and cheese

I am working on two very different bag projects at the moment. I have been bitten by the paper piecing bug, and am playing with some little shapes. I have an idea in my head for these pastel lovelies. Whether the idea translates to reality remains to be seen!

I am also in need of a new Frilly Dilly. My favourite one is sadly a little worse for wear, so I am working on a replacement, using some very muted, wintery fabrics. 

My favourite part of constructing these bags is when I gather up the frills. The gathering transforms the fabric into something entirely different, and it is always a surprise to me.

Winter has definitely arrived here. My brother snapped this shot at the farm this week - brrrrr!

I will be rugging up for the round of kids' sport tomorrow. Stay cozy warm and have a great weekend. Bloom x

Home baked

I love to cook. I especially love it when I have time to try something new and adventurous. I am loving Masterchef! And this series, I have a special interest as I know Kate - she is lovely and taught me to make handmade pasta! 

Often the reality of life sees me churning out the same old 'tried and tested' recipes, because they are the quicker and simpler option. One of these standby favourites is raspberry and coconut muffins. I try to keep something homemade in the kids' lunchboxes as much as possible, and these are always popular.

raspberry and coconut muffins

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1.5 cups self raising flour

1/2 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup frozen raspberries

1/4 cup dessicated coconut

In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and the egg. Add milk and vegetable oil and whisk. Add the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. Fold the raspberries through the mixture gently. Spoon the mixture into a 12-hole muffin tin, lined with paper pans. Sprinkle the top of the uncooked muffins with caster sugar and a little extra cinnamon. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes.

And talking of baking, the Moda Bakeshop book, Fresh Fabric Treats is due for release any day now. Unfortunately, I don't have any 'inside' information for you, and there are still no sneak peeks of my contribution. But here is a little 'Google Preview' to whet your appetite! Bloom x

You know life’s been busy …

… when your Google Reader count hits 1000+ unread posts! Mercifully, I had a quiet Monday at home, catching up on some ‘around the house’ stuff.

On the stitching front, I added an occasional stitch to this little panel. It is from Leanne Beasley’s ‘Vignette in Stitches’ project. I intend to use it for a cover for my diary.

I have been fiddling with some ‘Hullabaloo’ Dresden plates. It is a sweet new range by ‘Urban Chiks’ for Moda.

And I pause every now and then to enjoy my Mother's Day flowers from my nine-year-old blossie!

I’ve not made much progress on the 1000+ unread posts. I confess, sometimes life means I have to ‘mark all as read’ and start afresh!

Action in fairyland

Here are some details about the delightful quilt made by my sister-in-law for her daughter.

The pattern is the single bed quilt from Natalie Bird's 'Fairyland' book.

It is a sweet collection of appliqued fairies, gainfully employed in many pursuits ...

... including a spot of gardening ...

... some Fairyland ballooning ...

... some cupcake juggling ...

... elephant chasing ...

... frog squeezing ...

... and some serious nighty action!

Natalie Bird is a wonderful Aussie designer. You can find Natalie's blog here, her website, The Birdhouse, here, and details about her 'Fairyland' book which contains nine different projects here.

My sister-in-law is relatively new to quilting, and I'm sure you'll agree, this is an impressive achievement. So much detail in this quilt.

She chose to have her quilt professionally quilted, and the quilting is amazing. See if you can spot the details: 

 Ladybirds

 Cupcakes, butterflies and baskets

 Bunnies

 Angels 

 Sunbonnet Sue

And teddies!

What a lucky daughter to be snuggled under this masterpiece!

Daybook entry #8

Outside my window ... man, who's got time to gaze out the window?! Just as well this week has been short, because it's been way too busy. When last I had time to look, I saw this:

I am thankful for ... my time across Easter with my husband's family. He is from a large family, and it is increasingly difficult for everyone to make it to family gatherings. They are easy, fun company.

I am thinking ... about my brother who is being ordained into the Presbyterian Church tomorrow. He is 5 hours away, and I am really sorry to be missing his ordination. 

I am impressed by ... this amazing quilt, stitched by my 'relatively-new-to-quilting' sister-in-law for her daughter. I took lots of photos of this quilt on the weekend, so I will be back soon with more details!

Tonight, I will be ... enjoying my Friday night champagne, and curling up to read this gorgeous tome, delivered late this afternoon. Sarah is visiting town in a couple of weeks, and I would give my eye teeth to be in her class. For one reason and another, I can't be - grrrrr!

From my picture journal ... two of many fun sunset shots I took of my kids over Easter. 

These were taken within a five-minute light window, with me awkwardly prostrate in the paddock. I have the green ant bites on my belly to prove it!

Enjoy your weekend. Bloom x

The calm before the storm

The cousins are coming ... the cousins are coming! My mother-in-law is turning 70 on Easter Sunday, and the family are coming to stay.

We are accommodating and catering for twenty-five across the weekend, including a small army of children, so the last week has been a flurry of activity. I sneaked a quiet walk around the farm garden before the family descended and the rowdy fun begins!

We will roll from one meal to the next, enjoying easy company. Tents will be set up in the garden, and the hammock slung between trees for some serious 'chilling out' time.

There will be lots of tennis, and paddock golf. Trees will be climbed, and the garden explored. Easter eggs will be hidden, and excitedly found and consumed!

There will be time to get to know a new baby cousin, and time to catch up on the family's news since Christmas.

And there will be time to reflect on the place of Jesus in history, and in the hearts of Christians the world over.

I hope you have a happy time with family and friends across the Easter break, and that you too will find a moment for some quiet contemplation of life, the world and everything! Bloom x