Today is..

Admiring pretty new blooms in the garden.

Looking forward to picking our very first lemon. 22 isn't bad for a first fruiting!

Working on the machine and with a needle for a certain swap.

Love my bias binding maker!

I'm also quite excited that we're traipsing out to the country on Monday to view some properties. The weather is fabulous here today - I hope the sun is shining wherever you are.

God bless and keep smiling!

Blood Money

 

I watched this documentary with my husband lastnight. Wow! It was excellent. Narrated by Martin Luther King's niece, Dr. Alveda King, it takes you through the many historical and present day facets of the business of abortion. Although it is an American production it is totally relevant to any country that allows abortion.

There is so much information in this documentary but I found particularly the testimonies of a former abortion clinic owner and a former abortionist just so shocking and saddening. It also covers the very interesting facts about the specific targeting of African Americans. I wish everyone could see this movie. It's available on the Blood Money website and in Australia from various sources. 

Rip or snip?

Hi all! I'm back from a wonderful Easter with a little gripe. Now, perhaps I'm a little bit precious when it comes to fabric but considering I don't buy beautiful new fabric all that often maybe I'm justified.
I hate it when the sales assistant rips the fabric instead of cutting! There, I've said it - I positively cringe when I see my newly purchased fabric being torn.

Grrrr!

How messy is that?!

 

Most of my internet purchases have arrived perfectly cut, folded, pressed and packaged - even tied with ribbon sometimes - love it!

What do you think? Does ripping stretch or otherwise damage the fabric in anyway? Have you ever asked a sales person not to rip?

BTW, these fabrics are part of my design for Vic's cushion swap - more details later!

Happy Easter! + a lot of baking and a little crafting

I've been busy preparing for Easter this week, so don't have a lot to show for myself. The kitchen has been constantly occupied, preparing tasty treats for Easter Sunday as well as our regular meals.

     These buns are awaiting their piped crosses.

And because I've been in the kitchen so much my craft time has been very limited, so I've been making smallish embellishments that will come in handy sometime.

I'm thinking brooches, hair ties, quilt attachments?

The children and I are going to try this tutorial for dyed eggs this year - they look great!

I'll be having a little blog break over Easter so I hope you all have a joyous and peaceful Easter. See you soon and God bless you all.

Teapot

I like teapots. I like them for their aesthetic and practical applications. When my mother died I received a small teapot of hers which set me on the path of freshly brewed tea. Unfortunately that teapot that gave me many years of piping hot cuppas was accidentally broken recently and I've been on the search for a replacement ever since.


All images courtesy of wikimedia commons

There are 2 problems : price and function. Either they are too pricey or they leak, clog, or do something else that is really annoying.

                                  
If you have any teapot recommendations please do enlighten me, I can't take the teabags much longer!

AQC wishlist

Sarah Fielke's new book










   Nikki's new book









I was really taken with the work that Kim Bradley does with Cretacolor pastels - just beautiful. The pastels, however, are very expensive!










I had set myself a budget but ended up spending very little as the miser in me tends to kick in and disallow frivolous or impulsive purchases. Some of the above may be attainable sometime. I did buy a little purse kit from Nikki's stall, a few more buttons to add to the collection I'm saving for my girl's treasure boxes and a little bit of fabric to make the purse. So now I have money left over to buy some nice batting for the Maisy quilt, which is coming along quite nicely thank you!

Happy and holy Palm Sunday to you all, I'm looking forward to a great Holy week.

In support of Nikki M

Disappointing isn't it? People steal things all the time but this is pretty personal. This bag was designed and handmade by a talented artist. It has sentimental value. Perhaps the person who took it will have a change of heart and pop it in the post back to it's owner? I hope so.

Winner

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

14

Timestamp: 2011-04-16 10:46:16 UTC

 m.e (Cathie) said...

definitely very nice of you! love the "bloggy gift karma"
♥

Congrats to you Cathie, I'll be in touch!

Today is a good day!

Sometimes it can feel that the happy days are few and far between but when they happen it's a wonderful thing!

The sun doth shine.

The tired grouchiness of a certain 5 year old that made yesterday so awful is gone and has been replaced with smiles and good cheer. Pheeeeewwww!

The little one is having a long sleep to respite from her teething troubles.

Before husband left for work we teamed up so that most of the housework is done and I can have some relaxation ie. stitching time this afternoon. Hooray for good, selfless men!

Something about sticking my hands into a beautiful piece of soft and sticky dough makes me happy.

I've baked fruit bread and pikelets for the Lord's Day and roasted a fresh batch of coffee beans.

I'm looking forward to the Quilt Convention tomorrow. I've saved my pennies and set myself a budget. It's so long since I bought some nice new fabric, so that's a priority!

I hope you're having a good day too.

I'll be back later to draw the giveaway, good luck!

Cinnamon Rolls

My history with cinnamon scrolls is not very inspiring - often trying and constantly failing. Always too dry! For the sake of the children I went on an extensive search for a recipe that would produce moist scrolls. And found it!

Now, these scrolls are super unhealthy with a large butter content, but considering I will make them as a treat for the children (and the occasional nibble for myself!) I think it's acceptable. The beauty of this recipe is the caramel sauce the dough sits in to bake. When they're done baking you flip the scroll.....

and it looks like this! These are best eaten warm from the oven or re - warm them later.

I know you want to try these for yourself, so the recipe is here. Enjoy!

Quilts and sugar paste

Not much doing here creatively. The Maisy quilt saga continues with me making use of my seam ripper and pulling all my work to pieces because I didn't like the "busy-ness" of my fabric choices. Now I'm playing safe with white sashing. Much better.

I'm focusing on indulging in another of my passions - baking and cake decorating. Perfect weather now that it's cooler and I like having the oven on.

I'm experimenting with sugar paste and am quite taken with Mich Turner's work, so lets see what I can do with Easter just around the corner.

Don't forget to enter the "Pay it forward giveaway" which ends Saturday.

Thanks for dropping by!