Bad bad bad....but oh soooo good

I watch all the Rachel Allen cooking shows on T.V. When I saw her make this chocolate mousse cake it looked so easy. I love a good brownie etc so gave it a go.

Wow - simple, four ingredients, 20 minute cook time and the best chocolate slice or brownie you could ever want. Not too sweet - very little sugar compared to brownies. Amazing texture, rich but not wet.

So click on the link and make it yourself. 

Quilt top and binding done

On Thursday i sewed together all the strips that I had blogged about doing. But when I did the quilt just was not quite big enough. So last night I put a cute little pop of colour border (only 1/2" finished) and then a bigger border on.

Being inspired and not yet too sleepy to turn the sewing machine off, I got stuck in and made the binding too. One of the bloggers I follow is Crazy mum quilts and she had a quilt very similar to this in her book.

Yay for a finish - linked to these places.

Today I finished coating the bathroom shelves, so they will be able to get put in and the bathroom will be done. Phew......

ps - this is another quilt for the Orphanage - Hope Homes International

Yum, I like that ...

declared the boys as they got stuck into chocolate from Finland. I tried to snap a photo of it in their hand but it got to the mouth too quickly. They were very disappointed when I only let them share one bar.

chocolate into mouth really quickly!!

A while ago I found a blog run by Tiina from Finland. She makes amazing zip pouches and her quilting is very different to mine and I love it. So I started to follow her blog. I was her 80th follower. To celebrate that she sent me this parcel full of bits of material and chocolate bars. WOW.

I know immediately what I will do with the Mickey Mouse. My niece and nephew are going to Disneyland in two weeks. So I am going to be inspired by Tiina and make them a zip pouch with things to do when they are driving their parent crazy on the plane. (trust me they will as they are 3 &1!!! - brave parents).

The red and black fabric is special to Finland. It is the signature print of the Finnish Quilting Association.

Thank you Tiina.

What I am working on.. a low volume quilt

Well having come home from Rarotonga I felt the need to get behind the sewing machine. The only thing was my concentration was not too good.

So I pulled out some of my scraps that I had cut about 6 months ago. I had tried to tidy up my fabric haul so I went through my scraps and cut 6.5 inch strips or 4.5inch squares. It dealt with the scraps really well. At the time I was channeling low volume quilting.

So this is my attempt at a very simple low volume quilt. All the strips are sewn and now just need a few hours to get it all together (without the help of Morris!!!).


I link to these places.

The last of the Feijoa's

Not wanting to waste this glorious fruit we generally scoff all the big fresh ones as soon as they fall from the trees. Two trees only just keeps up with our demand during the season. This year the last lot fell just before we headed off to Rarotonga. I love preserved Feijoa's but felt like something a bit different so used preserved ginger in with my syrup.

Here we have some sumptuous Feijoa and Ginger fruit. Once it was all bottled there was about 1.5 cups of liquid left. So I scooped the flesh out of the tiny fruit that were left, added a cup of sugar and made some Feijoa and Ginger Jam.

I link to these places

Using Men's Business Shirts

Anyone who knows me knows that I collect fabric. Well a long time ago I realised that a man's business shirt has a lot of fabric in it and so I started collecting 100% cotton or linen ones. I have made many things from french inspired cushion covers to aprons.

This time I made a nightie. This is a pattern that I use a lot as it is simple, comfy and reasonably decent if someone knocks on the door. The bias binding that I posted about the other day was for specifically for this.

the shirts - total cost $3

I needed a new nightie and got inspired when Miriam posted about her dress made from two different men's shirts. So behind the machine I whipped this up just in time to take to Rarotonga. The pink shirt was a bit more see through than I realised at first, so it is completely lined with the pink check shirt.

The labels.

Just for a bit of fun I put all the labels from the shirts onto the back of the skirt.

I link to these places

The morning after....

Got back from doing this.....

I even managed to do it!!

In wonderful Rarotonga to...... 

Doing this at 5.30am!!! (internal timeclock a bit out of sinc) at home. Brrrrr -3.8 C this morning. Fire pumping as hard to deal with after a week at 26 C!!

Making Bias Binding

I used this pink Gingham shirt from the Op Shop to cut up and make bias binding. It did mean that I needed quite a lot of seams but sewing properly on the diagonal it was all good.

So I unpicked the shirt and darts, ironed and cut 1 3/4 inch strips. Then I put it through my bias binding tool and ended up with the roll above. I am using it to make detail on a nighty. I love love bias binding, be it plain or funky you can use it for so much. It made me want to make heaps as it is quick, satisfying and fun.

The tool did cost me about $14 but I have well and truly got my monies worth. 

Linking up to these places.

Lucky me - I won again

On Friday, before flying out on Monday, these arrived in the mail. I won. Fantastic!!! For $10 a year I subscribe to an online newsletter run by NZ Gardener called Get Growing.

Over the last two years I have won

• These magazines
• a trug and fertilizer for the garden
• two tickets to the Ellerslie Flower Show
• A magazine (a yearly garden type calendar)

It makes me feel like a really lucky person winning things. No matter how big or small.

My own design - airline cabin bag

Well that is what I meant it to be. But it is HUGE. I followed all the airline guidelines for cabin bags and finished it measures correctly, but what airline will let me use it I don't know. I do have more left over furnishing materials to make a smaller one (what a surprise - more material - me!!!).

One side

But I am thrilled with this and the finish. I get frustrated with box type bags when you undo the zip it is sometimes hard to pack or retrieve items. So I made this with a square bottom but sides that open completely. Then, once the bag is packed, using the clips and D rings - hey voila - it turns into a square shape that is easy to take.

The other side

I straight line quilted this and bound inside seams with bias binding as french seaming them was just too bulky. The straps and the clips are all from belts bought at second hand shops but the most expensive things were the zip and bag feet which are brand new.

Inside

So we are off to Rarotonga but this is just too big so am not taking it. Hmmm. Number two will be happening pretty soon I think.

All clipped and ready for travel

I link to these places though some will be in a couple of weeks when we come back from holiday.

smart bag feet.

Just in time for winter

Well this is a first. The hat is finished just as we are heading into winter!! Normally my knitting gets finished well into spring, as I only seem to knit in the winter.

On our recent trip to Mt Cook Eli used Aaron's Alpaca hat the whole time. So on the way home we stopped at the Alpaca store at Geraldine and bought a kit. For only $16 the kit included all 100% Alpaca wool and the pattern.

I have just been to visit my Dad who is recovering from an Operation and so had time to sit and knit and finish this up. When I got home last night I gave it to Eli who immediate wore it. Great.

Linking to these places