A Quilt for Sarah

I put the finishing stitches in Sarah's quilt today and I am so pleased with how it turned out. It is my favourite quilt I have made so far - there is something about Bliss fabric that makes me smile every time I look at it. Sarah is thrilled with it.

It is quilted in parallel lines, 3/4 inch apart and finished with a red polka dot binding.

The backing was pieced using the Blue Medallion print, a strip of red polka dot, and some white kona cotton.

The quilt is based on the June Bug Pattern by Thimbleblossoms and is a twin bed size. The fabric is available here.

Next up is a matching pillow for the bed, and a mat for the dressing table and bedside table.

I love the summer holiday period - it is so nice to make the time to work on projects for my sweet family. I am still trying to find out what colours my son would like in his quilt. I am leaning towards a solid colour only design - hope to pin him down soon:)

It will probably be a quiet here over the next two weeks - I plan on spending the last of the school holiday period with the family. It has been fun playing lots of board games (I am still the undisputed  champion at Scattergories), taking my 16 year old son for driving lessons, watching lots of dvd's, and reading - such a relaxing time of year!

Additions to our Library

All of our extended family know that Sarah loves to cook and anything related to her passion is always the perfect gift. Her library of cook books has grown with Christmas and her recent birthday, and her new books have inspired her to made us a number of treats. I love school holidays - Sarah is often volunteering to make the evening meal:)  In fact she is in the kitchen as I type making up a batch of cinnamon scrolls.

These are her new cook book  additions:

Cookie Swap by Julia Usher  

This book shows you how to make a range of beautifully decorated cookies for occasions such as parties, birthdays, Christmas, Easter, and other special occasions. All the cookies are beautifully photographed and there are lots of ideas on how to present the cookies for gift giving. Some our our favourites are:

Valentine Cookies

Easter Bonnets

Rosewater Marguerites

Under Her Thumb (print) Cookies

Sarah can't wait to make some of the Easter cookies.

Bread by Sara Lewis  

Bread contains lots of recipes for both sweet and savory breads, as well as instructions covering bread making basics. All of the recipes contain instructions for making the breads by both hand or using a bread machine, which gives you the option depending on the amount of time you have available.  Sarah has already made a batch of croissants. Some of the delicious breads include:

Buttered Garlic and Basil Sticks

Surprise Chocolate Mini Loaves

Donna Hay - Fast Fresh Simple  

Donna never fails to deliver when it comes to easy recipes that are always big on flavour and can be made with things that you would easily find in your pantry. This book has lots of recipes for speedy dinners and desserts. It is the sort of cookbook that you would turn to again and again for meal ideas that the family will love. Sarah has already made the Maple Glazed Chicken with Potato Rosti; and the Coconut Poached Fish.

Some of the recipes we have ear marked include:

Rustic Summer Crumb Pasta

Coconut French Toast

Ice-Cream by Pippa Cuthbert and Lindsay Wilson

With the summer weather we are having, Sarah has already made up a few batches of ice-cream - in flavours of Vanilla Bean and Coconut Mint. Sadly our ice-cream machine "died" last week, but fortunately the book also includes a section on how to make ice-cream using the still freezing method. Sarah tried her hand at this technique and the results were equally delicious. The book has over 80 recipes for ice-creams and sorbets with some different flavours to the usual. It also includes a section on accompaniments - how to make sauces, cones, and baskets to serve with the ice-cream. Nothing tastes better than homemade ice-cream.

Some of the flavours we are going to try next include:

Nougat Ice Cream

Chocolate Lamington Ice Cream

Do you have any favourite new cookbook titles?

Proud to be an Australian

It has been a devastating week for many Australians with the flooding in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria; and the fires in Western Australia. These disasters have had a massive cost in the loss of life, damage to property and loss of livelihood for many people. It will take a long time for the communities affected to recover and rebuild. What has struck me though is the indomitable australian spirit. The news has been full of inspiring stories and people rallying together to help those in need. The blogging community is also rallying together to help those affected by the Queensland floods. Corrie over at Retromummy has a list of ways you can help. Coles and Woolworths are also collecting donations from shoppers.

Image Credit

This week I am very proud to be an Australian.

A Red and White Birthday

Sarah celebrated her 14th birthday this week. To celebrate she invited a few friends to see a movie and have a sleepover. Of course the theme had to be red and white. I tried to stick to the theme with the desserts...

White Chocolate Blondies - I baked these in a friand tin which gave them a nice oval shape.

Mini Baked Cheesecakes

Meringues with sprinkles

Sarah also made up some home made vanilla bean ice-cream - delicious!

We also made up some party favour bags that contained jars of red/white candy; hand cream, and lip balm.

I have been working on Sarah's new quilt - not ready for her birthday but hopefully by the end of January. It is such cheerful fabric to work with.

It will match her room perfectly - she has already started adding some red/white accents.

Felt Confetti Pillow

The Stitch Winter/Spring 2011 Issue will be hitting the news stands in just over a week.    I am thrilled to have my Felt Confetti Pillow on the cover. This issue is all about sewing techniques and you can read a preview here.

I haven't seen the magazine yet but here are some photos I took of the cushion before I mailed it off.

We have recently bought new sofas for our Media Room and I can't wait to make some more pillows to co-ordinate with this one to jazz up the space.  We have framed some old LP Album Covers on the walls which compliment the cushion - I might change over some of the covers - we have a big box in storage and it is great way to use them.

I started my 4 weeks annual leave yesterday from the day job, so hope to find some time to work on some home improvement projects over the summer. Although with a new school year to organise for, family birthdays, and a family holiday, I am sure the next few weeks will fly by!