my granny-rose cushion

Well this week I had hoped to finish my granny rose cushion for my mum for mothers day but didn't quite get it done...never mind it will be in the post to her this week. I just have to sew 3 buttons on it . I told her it would be a little late. I put a little picot edge all around to finish it off.  and have just done the back plain. (like a big granny square) .
I must try and do some on chey's quilt this week. I am thinking of trying to make a poncho for my next crochet project, i'll keep you posted.

the back of the cushion

the back and front

finished cushion

picot edge of the granny rose cushion

my little bird

I rescued this little baby bird quite a few months ago now and he has been living with us till today.  I decided today was the day to release him back to the bush.  One of my 5 cats actually went and robbed the nest and I heard it swarking and the cat dropped it . It didn't look hurt just scared so we looked after it by hand feeding it each day with the plan to release it when it could fend for itself....but after several tries the cat would catch it as it was not frightened of them at all as it would see them looking into the cage everyday.  and was really tame by now.  I think this bird has 9 lives !!  It got out last weekend and the cat caught it again and i went and rescued it yet again  so today i took it further from my house ...over to the neighbours  land  down to the ''tee-pee site''.  They actually have 'a tee-pee' that they put up in the summer.....anyway i let the little bird out and off he hopped into the bushes undergrowth. here is  pic of him/her  i 'm not sure what sex but it is a blackbird.  I hope it survives.
This pic is when I saved him and he kept filling up with air when he breathed as i think the cat damaged him somehow but it healed up and he came right. Sorry it looks a bit yucky .

little bird

the 'tee-pee' site

grown up 

off hops my little bird....bye bye birdie!

man in his boat

a clay sculpture from our friend who has since died

a cute heart rock

one of the paths

a pretty bromeliard

broms

broms

bodie there old dog about 11 yrs

more broms

These are some bromeliads in there garden. on my walk.
Hope all mums have a good day.

chey's star quilt

chey's finished quilt top.

Well I have just finished one quilt top over the weekend....Chey's quilt top is done...now just have to the rest by late june as it is for his birthday.  I hope he likes it. It will be in time for winter too.  My other one will have to wait till I'm ready. here is a pic of it so far.  I have gone  with cream for the boarders as i wasn't sure what i was going to do, but i think it looks ok...it will do .

"I've been making these flowers."

I have been making these crochet flowers .  I saw them  here and thought they were really neat so tried them out. The pattern is quite simple to do.  It is called 'lily pad hexagon'. I am going to make them into a bag too  I think. So far I have only finished them but need to sew them together and line it with fabric. When I have done some more I will post some pics of my progress. Love making these!  They grow quite quickly too, which is good. you only need 13 for a bag.

the yellow centres and first row of bobbles 

 

I have also been making these lovely crocheted ' Granny  roses'. you can find the pattern on astri blog.  She has a great blog and a 'you tube' video of how to make them. thanks astri.   I think they are really pretty too  and look great when stitched together into something.  I am making these into a cushion for my mum for mothers day. It will go on her bed as these are  the colours she has in her room...hope she likes it. I will post a pic when all finished which i hope will be on time!!....
some of these i tried a darker green around but think it is too dark ...just the wrong green for the leaves....so I am going with the lighter  green  ..although i do like the dark green the more i look at it...???  What do you think??

I have been sewing my fat quarter quilt for chey also i have nearly joined the top up but have not taken any pics yet but will.
well I must go now and do some more on it or I will never get it finished.!

my blocks so far.

Well I have been working on my fqs blocks and have only got the double borders around each block stitched on so far.  I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do  but have been looking at the flickr group of these to get some ideas and have used the eyespy fabric to frame each one.  I like how they have turned out so far and I am trying to decide on sashings.  I am going to use some kiwi ana prints for the back to make it all most a reversible quilt so it will be two quilts in one!  I have been busy making velvet jackets so not much time to do quilting at all . And this weekend  i have plenty of more jackets to sew up. They have 2 jet pockets with flaps in the front  openings on the sleeves a roll collar with a riveier . short to just below the waist.  Quite a nice jacket. designed by Andrea Moore.   I saw some of her designs on the 'Goodmorning show ' this week on tv.

I bought a few fat quarters I saw  on sale and a small jellie roll , I quite liked the colours  so took it home with me . I'm  thinking of trying out a jelly roll racer quilt with it . would make a nice crib size i think for a baby....Well I better go do some jackets now  or at least make a start on them.

It is the school holidays  for the next 2 weeks here.  I usually go down to my mums for a week and my sister pam usually comes over from ozzy but I'm not sure if I will go down as I have got  rather  a lot of work to get done and I can do it from home and not actually have to go into work each day so i can have a bit of a lie in , in the mornings!

all the blocks with double borders on.

fat quarters

Hope everyone has a nice easter and don't eat too much chocolate !

''Another one finished."

1 & 2

Pincushion number 2 is also finished. I just had to have another go making these after looking at others on flickr group. Here is my pic of this one.  It is  a little bigger than the last one . I will probably make a few more too.

number 2 pincushion

block 12- the last one

 I have finished my last blocks in the fqsqal . Now to get it finished !  I always find other things to distract me from the main job...like this cute little pincushion ..it only took me about an hour to play around with it...but it's finished! rather easy and you can go to this tutorial it's easy.  I think I will do a couple more .

On saturday I took myself off to the local quilt show. "Quilts across the ranges". The western quilters circle have there annual show at this time of year....Yes, I remembered to take my camera along and took 3 pics and then....beep beep beep ...oh no, flat battrys! " I really hate it when that happens".  When I got home to download pics I realized it wasn't flat battrys but a full memory card!  ...Should have put my glassess on!!  So if you would like to veiw some of the quilts that the guild have on display please go to their blog over here.  There are some really lovely quilts and wall hangings to see..  I liked these 2

a beautiful quilt as you walk into the room

a bargello quilt

block 12-my block

block 12-chey's quilt

close up of the pretty button

the back view

my cathedral pincushion finished!

mozzarella cheese

Mozzarella Cheese in 8 Minutes


Ingredients
2 Litres full cream milk
1 teaspoon citrus acid
2 teaspoons renco
Boiling water

Method
In a deep and microwave-proof dish place the milk and 1 teaspoon citrus acid. Stir well.
Place in the microwave for 6 minutes on high.
Remove from microwave and stir through the renco.
Place back in microwave for a further 1 minute.
Remove once again and drain excess liquid.
Place back in for a further 45 seconds then drain excess liquid off in a colander.
You can then put into a cheese basket to allow it to set. The cheese will seem bland, so you will need to make a Rock Salt broth.

Place one cup of Rock Salt in a large pot of of water and simmer for an hour until all the salt has dissolved.
Cool then place your cheese in this broth for 20 minutes. This will help to flavour the cheese.

You may need a mould to help you to create the right shape for the cheese.
Once you have drained the excess liquid, place boiling water over the top and with a wooden spoon gently press juice out of the cheese.
Remove and place in a cheese mould.

(Broadcast: 23 Feb 2012)