Sponsored Giveaway: Ladybug Quilt Shop

Ladybug Quilt Shop   is generously giving one of our readers a $40 gift voucher to spend in their store. They are stocked with lots of delightful fabric, including my current favourite, Bliss by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. I am planning on making Sarah a red and aqua quilt as part of a bedroom makeover. I never get tired of that colour scheme.

They also have lots of other wonderful fabrics – Pure by Sweetwater ; Breakfast at Tiffanys by Fig Tree Quilts; and many other fabulous designs. The best thing is that the current exchange rate makes them very affordable (average of US $8.10 yard).

If you make an order with a 2 yard minimum during the week of the giveaway,  Sara will add a free FQ of her choosing to your order! Just write A Spoonful of Sugar in the notes to seller.

To enter, simply leave a comment below mentioning your favourite fabric that is carried in Ladybug Quilt Shop. Entries will close on Wednesday October 6, and we will randomly select a winner. Everyone is welcome to enter, just make sure you leave an email address so we can contact you!

Ladybug Quilt Shop

Random Recreation

The school spring holidays have got off to a great beginning here with a long weekend. I made a big start on my spring cleaning, had a few shopping outings with Sarah to buy summer clothes/shoes, and worked on a few crafty projects. I have to work this week, but then have a week off work to relax and spend time with the kids. Can't wait!!

Here are some snapshots of our random crafting over the weekend:

Sashiko stitching on a table runner. I was inspired by the Moda Lamour Circles fabric that I got from Lady Bug Quilt Shop.

Decorating a gift bag with Eiffel Tower Images

Making some little Treat Cups for my nephews 8th Birthday - which has a Magician theme. (I cut out all the 8's and J's on an old deck of cards)

Sarah made up a big batch of cupcakes for her cousins Magician Party. She was inspired to make some Magician Hats - she placed two chocolate biscuits on top of the cupcake to form the hat shape. Sarah has recently bought Hello Cupcake with her pocket money - I think she will be inspired to make many more novelty cupcakes!

More Christmas Projects

My copy of Handmade Christmas Special arrived in the mail today. It has lots of inspiring ideas for Christmas and includes a couple of my projects:

Gift Baskets - I combined some hessian, some Ikea checked fabric and some Kokka linen with cute motifs, to make these baskets. I plan to make a few more for Christmas - an eco friendly packaging solution.

You may recall my little handbag ornaments I made up last Christmas? I added a few more to the mix - I can't wait to hang them on my tree this year.

This issue also includes a few wonderful designs by Jennifer Reynolds. It is such a fun issue - can't wait to get started on a few more projects for Christmas.

Quick Projects

I have been having withdrawals from my sewing machine lately. I had a couple of hours free yesterday and wanted a quick project to undertake. Sarah suggested that we needed a new table runner in our meals area and that it needed to incorporate some red polka dots.

I had a look through my stash and made up the table runner using some Joel Dewberry Damask (thanks Janelle!), a strip of black Authentic, and of course the obligatory dots.  Looks great on the table - I really should make up a whole lot more of these in different combinations.

While I was busy sewing, Sarah made up a big batch of her Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies (recipe from Martha Stewart Cookies). She packaged some up to give to a friend.

I love the bakery bags with their window that we bought in Japan. I wished I had of bought more - they are perfect for giving home baked goodies.

Knitting Mochimochi

As you know, Sarah and I love everything Japanese, so we were especially thrilled when we recently won a copy of Knitting Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec from Rachael over at Rachael Rabbit. The book promises 20 Super-Cute Strange Designs and it sure delivers! There are so many cute and wacky Amigurumi projects - it is hard to decide which project to knit up first - the Bite-Free Bed Bugs, the Confused Moose or the Cuter Polluters to name a few.

Here are a few projects from the book.

If you are looking for some quick and fun knitting projects, you won't be disappointed with Knitting Mochimochi. You can find it at the Book Depository (currently AUD $20.51, including free shippping).



It has been a while since I have knitted any toys. When I searching through my yarn and knitting needle collection last night, I came across a Jean Greenhowe knitting book - which reminded me of the last knitted toys I made, some 12 years ago.

Here are the Clowns I made my children when they were young -

The Painter.....

and the Gardener.

They reminded me of how much fun knitted toys can be. I am off to buy some double pointed knitting needles this week, then I can get started on some Mochimochi. Thanks so much Rachael for a wonderful giveaway:)

Strawberry Jam

Strawberries are plentiful and cheap at the moment so I made up a batch of Strawberry Jam this afternoon. Our jam supplies from last summer ran out a couple of months ago and we returned to store bought jam. I think we were spoilt with all the home made preserves we have been eating - so I am determined to make up a lot more this year so we don't run out again!


This time I used a recipe for Strawberry Jam from Nigella Lawson's book - How to Be a Domestic Goddess. Interestingly, this recipe called for a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar which made the jam a little darker but with no noticeable difference in taste.

I decorated the jars with a simple tag and lid label using my Cricut Preserves Cartridge. Can't wait for the rest of the summer fruits to arrive - the nectarine jam I made last year is still one of my all time favourites.

Milk Carton Packaging

I recently picked up a pack of white milk cartons from Riot Art and Crafts. They are made from a thick white card with a gloss finish, and I thought they would be the perfect way to package up some hard to wrap gifts.

As it is never too early to start planning for Christmas, I decorated one in a Christmas theme this morning. The shape of the carton will be perfect for giving cookies, wrapped in a cellophane bag and then popped inside.

I used the Cricut Very Merry Tags to cut the reindeer.

I also made up one with a Ice-Cream Sundae birthday theme using the Cricut Sweet Treats Cartridge.  The cartons would also be great for kids birthday party favours.

I think you will be seeing more milk carton projects over here in the future.

The Postman Always Rings Twice ....

I was trying to get a head start on the weekend cleaning today but was interrupted by two deliveries.  My designer copies of Stitch and Quilting Arts Gifts arrived within minutes of each other. I think both are due to hit the news stands this week and they are also available from the Interweave Store.

I am looking forward to sitting down later with a nice cuppa to read through them properly. From what I have seen so far, they both have plenty of inspiring projects and articles, and feature many of my favourite bloggers. I was most excited to find out that Stitch will now be published four times a year.

Here is a little peak at my projects -

A Recycled Denim Wine Tote that I made using an old pair of Sarah's jeans. I added some sashiko inspired stitchery to the front, and reattached a pocket on the back to store a corkscrew.

A Travel Tie Portfolio - a fun gift for Dad's or business travellers. I made this out of a Indonesian sarong that I repurposed, and added a cute tie appliqué to the front.

My Advent Houses - I can't wait to string them up this Christmas!

Hope you don't mind me sharing! Even though I have been lucky enough to have some of my designs published in the past, I still get a huge thrill seeing them in print. I still can't believe that my houses made the cover:)

Happy Fathers Day

Hope all the Fathers out there are having a wonderful day. We have spent the morning celebrating with the extended family - there were three generations of Fathers present. I have some lamb shanks in the slow cooker (a favourite of my DH) and we will be having a delicious dinner tonight. Sarah is busy at the moment baking up a special dessert.

I always like to give gifts from the kitchen -especially to my Grand-dad and Uncle as they don't often have home baked treats. I baked up some Anzacs for them and packaged them up in some cute brown paper bags that I bought in Japan. I cut out a bag topper and label with my cricut.

I packaged up some of my dad's favourite candy in a box that I made to put with his gift. I love being able to cut out tags and boxes on the cricut - it makes packaging up gifts so much fun. It is also a good way to get a creative fix when time is in short supply!

I took a chocolate marble cake to my parents place for morning tea. This cake is a favourite in our family - served with fresh berries and cream - it is delicious, and it always looks impressive when I make it in my rose bundt tin.

Marble Cake

Ingredients:

4 eggs (separated)

250 g unsalted butter, softened

1 cup castor sugar

2 and a quarter cups self raising flour, sifted

half cup milk

one and a half tablespoons cocoa

Vanilla essence

Method:

Preheat oven to 170°C.

Grease and flour a bundt tin (25 cm diameter).

Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form.

Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Gradually add egg yolks; mix well.

Add flour and milk, alternately; stir.

Gently fold in whisked egg whites.

Divide mixture in half. Add cocoa and vanilla essence to one half of the mixture and carefully stir in.

Add big spoonfuls of both light and dark mixtures alternately into cake tin. Pull a fork through the mixture once to make the swirl.

Bake in a moderate oven about 50 -60 minutes until golden brown.

Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Serves 12

Note: I am really behind on my emails and blog visiting this week - busy week at work, sick children, school functions etc. Hope to be back on track soon :)

Sew Liberated

I borrowed a copy of Sew Liberated by Meg McElwee at my local library. I have been on the waiting list for the book for a couple of months and was pleased to finally have a chance to look through it. I am a big fan of appliqué and the book has 20 projects to incorporate elements of appliqué into projects for house and home; projects for babies and children; and projects for spoiling yourself.

The book includes full sized pattern pieces in a handy envelope inside the back cover. The projects are modern, fresh, and contemporary and would appeal to the new generation of sewers. Projects are suited for the beginner through to the more experienced sewer.

Some of my favourite projects are:

All in all, I would recommend Sew Liberated. It has lots of useful and inspiring projects that can be easily customised with a few simple appliqué techniques.

I hope to do another library run tomorrow - there are a few other sewing books waiting for collection. Reading about crafty things is about all I have managed to do this week on the crafting front. I am hoping to tackle a few projects next week when my work commitments settle down.