Birthday Tea Towels

I celebrated another birthday during the week (it happens!) and had a lovely day. I was showered with home made cards and kisses from my children, along with a new camera from Tim (and kisses from him too of course!). I also enjoyed a birthday lunch with one of my dearest friends. We have been friends since year 8 and continue to enjoy one anothers company. She surprised me with these absolutely adorable tea towels. Her gift was soft, flat and squarish, so as I was unwrapping her gift I was sure it was fabric. Well it was fabric - just not the quilting cotton that I thought! I was absolutely delighted!! They are all linen - most of them Irish linen to boot!

Look at the eyelashes on the donkey (they remind me of Eli's!)!

How cute are these Christmas angels?

I always have some cooked, mashed pumpkin in the freezer (for pumpkin pie - canned pumpkin is not readily available in Australia. Besides, the fresh stuff is sensational!), so I think some of Flo's pumpkin scones will be making an appearance this week!

Flo Bjelke Petersen was a member of the Australian Senate and the wife of Queensland's (a state of Australia) longest serving Premier Joh Bjelke Petersen. As the tea towel suggests, she was well known for her pumpkin scones!

Rainbow Girl

A couple of weeks ago I purchased two stitcheries from Wendi at Shiny Happy World who was hosting a Finished Stitches Challenge. The challenge works like this: participants purchase stitcheries from Wendi for a penny plus postage and then turn them into something. I love to sew, but stitching is not something that I have done a lot of (I think it might be because I can sew fast, but I can't stitch fast. I like fast!). So the opportunity to play with someone else's hard work stitcheries was very appealing. Hence my purchase of two!

Eli and I checked the letterbox this morning and  I recognized the postmark on one of the envelopes - my stitcheries! When I was selecting the designs there was no indication of size - part of the surprise woven in to the challenge by Wendi!

I was keen to get going straight away, so I chose 'Rainbow Girl' to use on my first project. She's a cutie - 7cm (2.5") tall and 3cm (1.2") wide on a calico background.

Following a tutorial from Sweet Bee Buzzings (thank you Pinterest!) I made a small, flat bottomed pouch. It measures 13cm (5") long, 8cm (3") high and 5cm (2") deep. It is very, very sweet and I think that it is perfect for my appliqued "Rainbow Girl' - just look at her face!

This is the first pouch that I have made that will stay in our house. While it is nice to gift things, it is also nice to keep things sometimes!

My second stitchery is called 'Beep, beep'. Aptly named. You'll have to see what I make with that one - it is considerably bigger than 'Rainbow Girl' (and there is nothing girly about it!). Any suggestions are very welcome (up until now I have not had any inspiration come to me!). You can see what other participants have made here.

So, are you a stitchery person? After writing this post I have decided that I am not. I am also not a hand quilter. Though I am very good at appreciating other people's hand stitching!

Chocolate Squares Recipe {Thermomix and Conventional}

A few weeks ago the junior football season ended. I was ready for the end. It is a long season and any longer would have just been too long. So the end was perfect timing! Jed enjoys his football and belongs to a great team with a fantastic coach (who writes an entertaining game summary on the football club blog!). Tim and I share the manager role for Jed's team. Each week during the season I made a batch of chocolate squares for the team's after game celebrations. Even though no scoring is undertaken in this age group there are always celebrations!

These delicious chocolate squares (not quite a brownie and not quite cake!) were a big hit, so (with the permission of my lovely friend who shared the recipe with me in the first place) I am sharing the joy!

I have tweaked the original recipe just a little. If you have a Thermomix this is a one jug recipe. If you don't, it doesn't matter! This recipe is very, very simple and very, very bad; you'll be making these often and I will tell you now that they are not healthy! But they are so delicious!!

Here it is - first the conventional recipe and then adapted for the Thermomix:

 

Chocolate Squares

Makes 15 large sized chocolate squares

Ingredients

·      175g (6 oz) butter

·      60g (3/4 cup) cocoa

·      4 eggs

·      325g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar

·      160g (1 cup) plain flour

·      squirt (1 tsp) vanilla essence

·      250g (1 – 1 ½ cups) choc bits

Method

1.          Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees Fahrenheit) - fan forced (170 degrees
        Celsius/340 F if not fan forced).

2.         Grease and line a large lamington tray (roasting pan) – 33cm (13“) x 23cm (9”)

3.          Melt butter and cocoa powder in a saucepan. Turn off heat and allow to cool a little.

4.         In a mixing bowl and using an electric beater, beat eggs and sugar together for 3 – 4 minutes

5.         Add cocoa mix to egg and sugar mixture and continue mixing.

6.         Gradually add flour and vanilla essence while still mixing.

7.          Pour into greased and lined tray (mixture is fairly runny!).

8.         Sprinkle chocolate bits over the entire top.

9.         Bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes (or until mixture doesn’t ‘wobble’ hugely in the 
        centre of the tray. A little movement or 'softness' is what you want!). My oven is hot so I

10.    Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from the tray.

11.     Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares or rectangles.

Note: Do not overcook! Remove from the oven when it looks slightly undercooked. 

Double the quantity while you’re at it and share them with every person you know – this recipe works just as well with twice as much!

This is how I line my tray after greasing it (which means spraying for me!). Lining two sides is easier than lining four!

Make sure that the sides of the pan that are not lined are well greased. When cooled, slide a knife down these edges before removing from pan.

Thermomix Chocolate Squares

Makes 15 large sized chocolate squares

Ingredients

·      175g (6 oz) butter

·      60g (3/4 cup) cocoa

·      4 eggs

·      325g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar

·      160g (1 cup) plain flour

·      squirt (1 tsp) vanilla essence

·      250g (1 – 1 ½ cups) choc bits

Method

1.          Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees Fahrenheit) - fan forced (170 degrees
        Celsius/340 F if not fan forced).

2.         Grease and line a large lamington tray (roasting pan) – 33cm (13“) x 23cm (9”)

3.          Place butter and cocoa powder in jug. Heat for 4 min, 60 C, speed 3.

4.         Add eggs and sugar to jug. Mix 3 min, speed 4, scraping down sides of bowl if needed.

5.         Add flour and vanilla essence. Mix 30s, speed 6.

6.         Pour into greased and lined tray (mixture is fairly runny!).

       

7.          Sprinkle chocolate bits over the entire top.

8.         Bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes (or until mixture doesn’t ‘wobble’ hugely in the 
        centre of the tray).

9.         Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing from the tray.

10.    Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares or rectangles.

Note: Do not overcook! Remove from the oven when it looks slightly undercooked.

Double the quantity while you’re at it and share them with everyone you know  – this recipe works just as well with twice as much!

Let me know if you make some chocolate squares!

 While we're on the theme of chocolate, look at this delectable tea towel that my online friend Helen sent me!

And, speaking of tea towels, I can't wait to share some absolutely adorable tea towels that a very special friend gave me for my birthday (I was very spoilt!). If you love tea towels you'll need to sit down before you look at these beauties! 

Scrap Bag Challenge - Sneak Peek!

The leg of my jeans!

I am very slowly making progress on my Scrap Bag Challenge quilt. The top is put together, though not without a great deal of frustration! My original method was an epic fail (it required a product that is not yet available in Australia - more about that later!), so I resorted to Plan B. Plan B was fiddly, laborious and left me covered in little threads. I really don't know why I even own black jeans - they are much higher maintenance than blue jeans if you want to slip in a bit of time at the sewing machine!

However, I am pleased with my completed quilt top (thought I would have liked to avoid the unpicking I inflicted upon myself) and the quilting is coming along nicely. Just very slowly.

Here are a couple of photos of the quilt top. Do you think you can guess what it is? Hopefully not, otherwise I may as well have just shown you right up front!!

Can you feel my frustration? Lots of 1 3/4" squares!! Don't look for perfect points everywhere...

Any ideas of what it might be?

Bee Blocks - All Finished!

I have thoroughly enjoyed participating in my Bee over the last 12 months. I have had the opportunity to make beautiful blocks that I would not have made time for if I had not committed to the Bee.I have made online friends whom I admire and respect. I have received 22 beautiful blocks that I will sew into a quilt very, very soon. Really I will. After Christmas. And after the children start the new school year. So that means I have just given myself to March 2014!

 Alas, all things come to an end and these pink lovelies were made in August.

Second last Bee blocks!

They will become part of a 'paintbox' quilt like this one from Oh, Fransson! by Elizabeth Hartman.

Paintbox Quilt

Unfortunately in my haste to post off my September - and final - Bee blocks, I forgot to take a photo. They were postage stamp blocks (sometimes known as 'scrap vomit' blocks, but these were using pretty fabrics only!); 49 x 2.5" squares sewn together. When put together they will look as beautiful as this Postage Stamp quilt from Red Pepper Quilts.

Postage Stamp Quilt

So, now that I have finished be Bee commitments I am looking forward to ticking off a few projects on my {ahem} very long 'to do' list of projects!

First up: my Scrap Bag Challenge quilt. Thanks to a lovely friend I have some beautiful backing fabric for it!

What are you working on at the moment? Or hope to be working on soon!

Another Messenger Bag

Are you getting sick of seeing these? My girls have only just realised that, despite making quite a few of these,  I haven't actually made them one yet! Both of them have birthdays coming up in the next four months. As they are my 'go to' birthday gift I think I will make each of them a bag for their birthday. Hopefully they will be surprised (though some oddly shaped wrapping should take care of that!).

This one is for my niece who turned 15 on the weekend. I bought the flap fabric (a furnishing fabric - there are some beautiful and exciting furnishing fabrics around - I think I love them all!) toward the beginning of the year when I was buying some batting. I happened to walk past it and immediately thought of my niece. I knew that I'd be making her a bag for her next birthday, so I popped it in the pile of bag-making-fabrics where it stayed until a week ago. I sent my sister a photo of the fabric before starting, just to check that I was on the right track with my fabric selection. What was really lovely for me was when my sister reminded me that when my niece was a little girl she would gently 'catch' butterflies on her hand. She loves butterflies! So I had chosen the perfect fabric. Does that mean that I'm a really great Aunty (or not, because I didn't remember!)?

Eli's zip!

I used a black denim for the strap, outer and inner body and the zip that Eli chose for the inner zippered pocket. I think Eli has an eye for colour!

One of these days I'll do a tutorial for one of these - they are so easy!

My niece loved the bag, so again, I am absolutely thrilled!

My next project is to complete the charity quilt that I am making with Christine's scraps as part of her Scrap Bag Challenge.

What do you think my quilt will look like? The top is three quarters finished and it is only small, so it should be finished very soon...

Book Week

Our primary school celebrates Book Week in a big way - it's fantastic! There are art competitions, guest authors, a week long book fair and the highlight of the week - dress up day! This year I was not at all surprised that Lily asked if she could dress up as Qui-Gon Jinn (a Star Wars Jedi). I was just grateful that she didn't ask to be Chewbacca (a request in the past that has not yet been fulfilled. I'm just waiting for some furry brown fabric to go on sale so that I can buy 5 metres of it).

I didn't have any brown fabric (Jedi robes are always brown), but I was able to get my hands on some grey stretchy fabric. Once Lily gave it the thumbs up (I think she knew that if she said no she'd be choosing between a purple tutu or pink fairy costume from the dress up hamper!) I set to work googling DIY Jedi costumes. I shouldn't have been surprised at all the sites devoted to Jedi costuming, but I was!

A few days later a costume had evolved which was then left out in plain site to ensure that Lily was extremely good and very obedient in the lead up to dress up day (actually, she's a good girl!).

 It was a bit tricky to show the entire costume without showing Lily's face (I don't put photos of my children on my blog, though I did leave a bit of her chin to show you the beard that she asked for. Luckily there was some brown amongst the face paints. Failing that I don't think Lily would have minded if I had used chocolate!)!

Lily thought the costume was fantastic, so of course I was absolutely wrapped that she was so happy!

Jed decided to team up with a friend and chose the book 'Harry and his Bucket Full of Dinosaurs'. Jed's friend is obviously a very good friend, as Jed went as Harry while his friend willingly dressed as a dinosaur. Jed assures me that he isn't actually reading this book. Lovely - plain clothes and a bucket for Jed. He's done.

So that leaves Zoe. Or should I say Hermione Granger. Zoe would dearly love to actually read the Harry Potter series (so would Jed for that matter), but after reading it recently myself I decided that I would like my children to be older before reading it. But that doesn't mean you can't dress up as the very clever Hermione. After visiting four op shops I finally found a woollen skirt that I was able to shorten to fit Zoe. Unfortunately I didn't find a grey, woollen V-neck jumper to go with it. After a quick phone call to my sister to see if any of the cousins had one I remembered that I had a grey V-neck cardigan that would be great. I call it my maths teacher cardigan. Because I used to be a maths teacher and it makes me look hilariously like the stereotypical maths teacher from way back. I made a mental note to call my sister whenever I have forgotten something, as she obviously has some ability to help me recall things!

So, the only thing left for Zoe was to find the set of Harry Potter wands that Granddad sent over to us a few years ago. I couldn't find them anywhere (I should have called my sister!). The last time I saw them was to take them out of the drawer where they were being kept and move them somewhere where a certain someone wouldn't touch them (they were all still in their packets - helpful to identify each of them). A certain someone - and they youngest child shouldn't always be blamed - had unwrapped Voldemort's wand. After some very avid searching I finally found Voldemort's wand on the floor behind our low bookcase. I still don't know where the other wands are. Like Lily, Zoe was willing to make a compromise and used Voldemort's wand as Hermione's.

Eli (who insisted on dressing up too - as a princess) and I spent the morning of dress up day at school. We watched the entire school parade past in their absolutely amazing costumes (everyone gets dressed up - even the staff), read books on picnic rugs and enjoyed some morning tea. The weather was glorious. A little too glorious - it was very warm and I felt more than a little sorry for the teacher sitting next to me who was dressed in a very thick Pikachu onesy!