we will all be in hobart

i am off to the airport tomorrow night to pick up some of the kingston girls who have been holidaying in townsville, then on tuesday we are all going back to the airport via 'my valet service' and all hobart bound. there are some people who will be LOOKING forward to us coming!

and this old boy too

and when our eyes meet

we will all love being together with family and friends

(this is a potato)

one of the creative pursuits we all enjoy is patchwork

and next saturday

the quilted crow

in hobart

is having the grand opening of the new venue for their shop

and we will

 go

WHOO HOO!!!

it looks as though it will be a heavenly new spot to shop in hobart

we will also have lots of tea and cake

someone is having a birthday!

 

the kingston girls in town

off to the airport i went on monday to pick up paula and barb from hobart, they were to stay with me for a few days before heading to townsville. it was the first time we three had been together since starting this blog. there have been lots of laughs, lots of stitching and quite a bit of technical work done on the computer, lucky me! but then i do give directions on the sewing and choices. here is a pictorial view of our few days.

barb has just finished, well almost, a hexagon quilt and planning and lots of stitching for a new one was taking place here.

some r & r taking place also, some stitching in bed in the morning, with some inspiration on her bed !

i call it my 'bed of roses quilt', all handpieced years ago, but then i had it machine quilted!

paula, meanwhile was getting on with her hst quilt, sewing lots more triangles together in preparation for the flight to townsville and adding in a few more fabrics in her colour range.

it is looking good, really good, i love it !

then we laughed about this, all on the table together with our sewing etc., we had soup for lunch with a salada biscuit! these items all gathered in one area of the table!

they will be back in a week for a couple more days, that will be good!

there are lots of things to pack to send back home, they went shopping at ikea!

a lovely slow sunday

i don't often do it, but so far this sunday i have done lots, but am still in my nightie and dressing gown! last week looked like a quiet week, but gathered speed and the last few days have been full and active and long days! i have been watching the 'tour de france' which means in southern australia you have to stay up late. i watch because of all the lovely scenery along the way, know nothing about the tactics of the race etc. it is a cold and wet sunday and so that is my excuse, if i need one!

i love these little cards sent to me by a friend who lives in hobart and they sum up my day really!

i should be out walking, if only i could, but 'him' is missing!

paula and barb, my cousins who i do this blog with, are coming over to stay for a few days before going to townsville for a family wedding.

so

i am preparing for their stay and have been making our favourite soup, windsor brown by jamie oliver!

you can google the recipe, it is delicious, a hearty winter soup for meat eaters.

in the area where i live in melbourne we are very lucky to have a flower boy who comes from door to door on the weekends and yesterday i chose these tulips to brighten the house over the next few days and to welcome my family and any other visitors.

i am sure we will report on some of the things we get up to over the next few days.

just arrived

our long awaited order of double sided tape arrived today.
there are 3 different widths. 3mm, 6mm and 12mm.

the prices are: 3mm $0.80c for 25 metres

6mm: $1.90 for 50 metres

and 12mm $2.90 for 50 metres.

this tape is fantastic for all paper crafts and especially card making.

instructions for storage drawers as requested

for those ladies who have purchased the kaisercraft storage drawers kit, these instructions were provided by kaisercraft, in their Q3 magazine.

• paint both sides of the shelves and all the edges of the remaining pieces and set aside to dry (they will need a couple of coats)
• cover the top with paper of choice. you will need 2 pieces of paper for this as the shelf is wider than the paper.
• using second sheet of paper, cut 2 rectangles 10.75cm x 22.5cm and cover the outside edges of the shelving unit.
• now for the drawers. the hardest thing about covering the drawers is deciding which paper to use. each drawer requires 2 pieces of paper to cover it. the first piece is a rectangle 7cm high x 12 cm wide. centre this over the back side of the drawer and wrap 1cm around each side edge. the second piece is a whole strip from the paper and should be 7cm wide.
• begin wrapping the strip around the remaining 3 sides of the box, beginning at the back edge of one side. press paper down firmly at each edge to create neat corners. trim off the excess. press the small amount overhanging into the bottom lip underneath each of the boxes.use die cuts, stickers or embellishments of your choice to create your own unique masterpiece.

when i finished my drawer set, i used mod podge to seal the whole piece. this gives it a nice low sheen and also protects them from bumps and scratches.

when in melbourne last, margie completed her drawer set and the photo is in broderie.

for those who like all things birds, kaisercraft have released a new  paper collection which will be available soon, along with a desk storage organiser. ( i cant wait for this one. its gorgeous)

a bag lady

i have those over the door hanger thingys and i hang my various bags on them, have to make use of the space! there are more, but cannot show them all, you would know how many bags of stuff i have! and that would not be fair! so sometimes it is very exciting to go through the bags and find all those projects or purchases you just had to have 'at the time'.

The Stitching Bug Has Struck Again. This time in Tassie

barb has been busy stitching, to get her quilt top finished. she started this project some time ago but in the last few months has been patching furiously to get all the hexagons in place. next she will move on to the batting, then backing. when i saw her work i just had to take a pic, especially to show lizzie who was responsible for getting us going.....                                                                 

barbara, sister of paula and cousin of lizzie proudly displays her project

and now my attempt at a triangles quilt, inspired by lizzies, using all the little bits of left over fabric, or so i thought, but i keep looking for more colours and patterns. lizzie has kindly sent me lots of bits and pieces and i have purchased some...just a few. it started with about a dozen triangles, just to see if i was going to like doing it. once it had grown to 12 inches square, i had to keep going. i was going to do random piecing but after doing the centre piece, decided to do a bit of a pattern around the main square. this is the result.

and the winner is ! ! !

thanks to those of you who left a comment. we have a winner, it is BARB from funwithbarbandmary . a blog that i have found recently on one of my journeys! having done the candied hexagon quilt myself some years ago, i was interested to see the version that barb and mary have as a banner for their blog, i think i may do another, always been tempted. i will call mine 'some of my favourite things', i have some fabrics saved or put aside while the thought roams around in my head. congratulations barb, i will send you some of our treasures soon.

for all of the 'losers', sorry, i will share the recipe for the cheese pie.

LIZZIE'S LUSCIOUS CHEESE PIE
___________________________

ingredients: you will need 2 eggs, 600mls of light cream, 3 different cheeses  (approx 750grms, depends on the size of your dish & i play with the combinations) and encourage you to do so, however i usually combine grated cheddar, mozzarella and fetta, pepper and salt and shortcrust pastry. i usually just buy the pastry sheets. unlike making a quiche, you should have more cheese than custard !

line your favourite pie dish with the pastry and trim, and fill with your cheese ( amounts of cheese are not scientific). whisk the two eggs and the cream together with the pepper and salt and pour over the cheese in the dish. very simple !

place in a hot oven for about 10mins (200c), then turn down to 150c and cook for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your oven. it will come up a bit like a souffle and split. it is better cooked , then allowed to settle and served warm or cold with a lovely fresh green salad.

enjoy, it is not printed in a book or anywhere as far as i know, another one of my cousins made one years ago and i have just done my own version since then, you also can experiment !
the picture of the pie is of course on the previous post.