sweet nostalgia free BOM

there is a beautiful free BOM over at Dorothy Baker Designs. It's called Sweet Nostalgia. I am definitely printing it out to do. It of course may take me a looong time to do all the blocks but the vintageyness of it is too hard to resist. What an absolutely generous thing for Dorothy to do

Mad confusion??

A few weeks ago I was trying to find out when series 2 of Mad Men was coming. Anyway on SBS1's website they had said it was starting on September 29th and as there was another series of something finishing last Tuesday it all seemed to fit and boy was I happy about it.

But after searching the TV guide for this week there is no sign of it. So I went back to SBS and also to Google Googling madly to find it.

But alas, there was no sign of it?? where did it go? When it had the date 29th I even checked what day it was and was surprised it was a Tuesday as that seemed strange.

Anyway, sorry to all those who, like me, got your hopes up. I don't know what on earth is going on.

I have emailed SBS to find out. If I hear back from them I will let you know

But in the meantime, if anyone knows where series 2 is, please let me know!!!

granny love

I uploaded these and a few other crochet photos to Flickr (see sidebar) recently but felt I needed to share the granny and op shop love on the blog too
I have been so lucky to score a few beautiful blankets at the op shop over the last 2 or 3 years and these two, especially the top one would be my faves. The one up the top is huge. It hangs on the floor on our queen bed and weighs a ton!
In my never ending quest to master the granny square (and any crochet for that matter) I am happy having these beauties to love
xx

mad about Mad Men...

If you are mad about it like I am well guess what? Series 2 starts next Tuesday night on SBS1 yippppeeeeeeeeeeeee........check out these frocks!!! gorgeous or what

post edit: (see post 28th Sept)it seems I was wrong Mad Men is not in the tv guide and now I can't even find it on the SBS website or Google?? what the...?????

creative space

I managed a small amount of sewing in my space last night. I made this wristlet for Bel to take away with her. These are a great way to use up small amounts of fabric and such fun to make.

I have spoken to Bel and she is happy and already having a good time so I can chill out now and will start on my collage piece.

Pop over to Kirsty's for lots more creative spaces.....

up up and away.....

My little Bel flew out this morning to Western Australia for 2 weeks and I feel more sad and empty than I thought I would. I know she will have the most wonderful and busy time and be thoroughly spoilt. I will feel better once she arrives and I actually speak to her.
I didn't get the scarf finished. My arm is still killing me. It even hurts to use the mouse or to text!! I think I will need a few more days rest from stitching and knitting. My arm was on the blink before I did a few weeks of stitching AND knitting everyday so that may of been a little silly in hindsight!! anyway I will get on with some collage work instead. That should be fine and not hurt!

no a lot of sewing happening

My work table has looked exactly like this for over a week now. I feel so happy to have Kirsty's Community Quilt Project piece finished and safely in Melbourne. I really want to thank Kirsty again for evoking such a feeling of community with the quilt. It's been fun.

I have been trying to knit as much as I can but I have at least 50cm to go as Harry Potter scarves just HAVE to be long.

My arm has given up though. I haven't been able to do anything today so I have had to explain to Bel I really don't think the scarf will be finished by Wednesday night when we close and lock her suitcase ready to leave at the crack of dawn of Thursday

redwork is ready

My creative space has been busy with finishing off my Quilt Project piece and it is done and in the mail on it's way to Kirsty.

I have enjoyed doing this piece and being a part of The Project. I can't wait to see the quilt all together. Now it is finished though I can spend some time catching up on blogs and seeing what everyone has done. Each time I sat down at the computer over the last week or so I have thought to myself I should be stitching not surfing, therefore I haven't been visiting many bloggy peeps.

So over the next few days I hope to drink lots of tea while visiting favourite creative cyber spaces. But I still have to finish the scarf, I only have a few days left and have at the very least a metre to go!!!!

For more on The Quilt Project and other Creative Spaces pop over to kirsty's. She is not actually home but she said we can go in and make ourselves at home

remember this print....

Remember a few weeks back I showed you this owl print from my sister Julie for my birthday.....well lookie here......

Julie went back and bought this one for me for xmas. Lucky for me she decided she just couldn't bear to keep it in the cupboard for 4 months so she gave it me now!!! woooohooooo They now hang side by side in my studio. They are about 50x50cm each so they look fabulous on the white wall.

Apparently there is one more in the set....mmmmmm........you know you are my favourite sister don't you Julie????...........

cake and eat it too

I seem to have been baking a lot of chocolate cakes lately (3 in 2 weeks). I make this recipe a lot as it is so easy and practically fail safe so I thought I should share it with you.

I have been baking this cake since I was about 12 and the recipe is from mum's The New Australian Cookery circa 1958 (mum's edition). I started making this on Sundays for afternoon tea, when nan would come over. I also would make it for Mother's Day and for Mum's birthday, and here I am still making it. Give it a go, you can't go wrong.

Simplicity Chocolate Cake

3 TBLS butter (60g approx)

2 level TBLS cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 cup SR flour

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

I will add here that I always double this recipe as I use gluten free flour and it needs to be doubled to make a decent size cake I think (for GF flour that is). Plus I think if you are going to the trouble to bake something why not double it. I also use 1 tsp vanilla rather than a half as I like it and if you add extra butter (about a tablespoon or more) it makes the cake quite Brownie like and fudgey

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl add eggs, milk and melted butter mix until mixture changes to a slightly lighter colour and pour into prepared tin. Cook according to tin size. I cook for about 45 mins and then check on it and it is usually ready.

Cake is best with chocolate icing but is nice with just a butter icing like pink and green above.

I have made this cake without cocoa too which works well as a plain cake and it also works well as a cupcake mixture.

Hope you get to bake soon! This is great for quite a low fat cake for dessert and for school lunches (cook in a lasagne type dish to make it more suitable for lunch boxes)

If nan were still alive she would be turning 100 today and hopefully still eating my chocolate cake...xxx

seeing red....

I am plodding along getting into the rhythm each day of stitching....stitching to the point where my arm will ache so I stop. I can see the end in sight now, which makes me a little sad. I have loved working on this project and it will be in the mail soon on it's way to Kirsty to meet all the other squares...

ps I will share a better photo soon, this one was quite blurred except the middle so I cut bits off it

fabric finds

When I set up my new studio space a few months ago I had a lot of stuff just shoved in a small cupboard and thought I would sort it out later. Well I did that last week and look what I found! Fabric I had totally forgotten about. What a bonus! yippeeeeeee. It was all together in a plastic bag at the back of the cupboard. It was so exciting, just like I had gone and bought it that day!

So I have it all over my table now and have started cutting it for a few little projects.

I still have boxes to go through so who knows what surprises I might find. It's lovely to forget about things and then rediscover them.

more on the other projects later though. I am working everyday on my Quilt Project piece to get it finished. It seems to be very slow going and I am running out of time. I have even been trying to stay away from the computer a lot of the time!!

sigh...

a birthday present given to me by my eldest, and I just can't watch it enough....sigh...sigh

pressie

A little while ago I won a fabulous giveaway over at Potty Mouth Mama's blog and a few weeks ago I received my goodies.
LOOK at all the products I received from Little Innoscents. Yippeeee
These products are made with all organic ingredients and smell divine with essential oils and are made in Melbourne
Antonette developed them as a baby care range but they are for everyone. I haven't got a baby and I am using them. They are soooo soothing. I have had some eczema pop up on my hands recently. I haven't had it for years so I am using the nappy cream on it and it's cleared up!!
Find Antonette over at Little Innoscents also products are now sold at Priceline.