It's Monday!

Isn't the the most interesting title for a post ever? It's the best I could come up with at 11.39 at night. As such, this is a short post with one pic - the stitching I did today! I finished all the applique I could before the actual quilting starts. The bird on the tree will go on after I quilt and join the fabric into a tube. Maybe tomorrow? Crossing fingers and toes and everything else for that to happen!

Make like a tree...

I am rather fickle at times. As proven by my decision today to bring back the tree! I loved your comments - they were so helpful. I loved the flower I had planned, and will use it on something else, but hearing that you actually liked the tree, I thought I'd give it another go. I had thought the fabric choice wouldn't change my mind, but when I auditioned the polka dot I knew that was the one!
I felt that the busyness of the old tree would get in the way of the leaves and bird shining, and sure enough, the plainer polka dot solved that problem.
Another great suggestion from you was to have the bird facing the other way. I really wanted my bird to face the flower on the other side, but it got me thinking...why not have another bird?!!I've only stitched up one side of the trunk and one branch, but I can't tell you how excited I am to get this finished up. Usually I'd do the applique one day, and put the whole thing together the next, and this feels like it's dragging on forever. Hopefully I'll have time to get it finished up this week!

Zig Zag Progress

I didn't do any exciting stitching today, but I did do some boring stitching! I needed to make some more chair covers for the children's classes at church. I won't even bother showing you a photo - if you are desperate to see, they are the same as the ones in this post from a week ago!

So since I don't have any exciting stitching to show you, I thought you could look at what is on my design wall in my quilt room.

If you follow my blog you might remember the zig zag tutorial I did a few weeks back. I have received just over half of the blocks back from the 2 swap groups I am in, and I think it's shaping up rather nicely!
Once I receive the rest back and make a few more myself, I'll have enough for a bed quilt. I have grand plans for this quilt, and it involves a complete re-do of our bedroom. Hopefully the hubby isn't reading this!

Thank you everyone for your input on the birds/tree yesterday - some really good points were brought up and I have some thinking to do!

For the birds

When I drew the little pictures of the flower/branch/bird for the bag I've been making this week, the branch with the bird seemed like a great idea. Then I cut it out and it looked like this...
It was just OK but I didn't love it, and I didn't think changing the tree fabric would make me like it much more. Plus it was going to be a pain to actually applique. The tips of the tree branches and bird would have to be appliqued to the other end of the bag after it was quilted and joined into a tube shape (as you can see in the first photo) and I just didn't feel like dealing with that, so being a woman, it was my prerogative to change my mind. Smile to yourself if you are now singing the Bobby Brown song in your head!

So now I'm doing another flower in its place, with the bird sitting on top, but I can't decide which bird and wing to use! I've appliqued the stem but won't get to the bird until tomorrow (Saturday)or Sunday, so you have time to let me know which you think works best!


By the way, the appliques look a lot better once stitched - the seam allowances you see in the photos cover up a lot of the design - plus there are a couple of extra little things I plan on doing!

Pillowcase

Well, no quilting happened today at all, but I still sewed - I made a soft flannel pillowcase for my youngest.
I won a few giveaways on the recent Sew Mama Sew giveaway extravaganza (I will show you more winnings as I use them!) from Tawny Bee and today a pack of three different yards of flannel arrived. Our youngest grabbed the one with skulls - he is a big skull fan. In fact, we are wondering what will become of this kid - he loves skulls and wants to be a boxer when he grows up!

The pillowcase was so simple - I mean how hard is it to sew two straight seams and one hem? Took all of 5 minutes.

And yes I did use blue variegated thread. Hey, it was what happened to be on my machine, and if you have a problem with it I suggest you read the words in the photo ;PI just snuck in and took photos of him sleeping with it. Not the best photo - but really, who looks good when they sleep other than babies?!
Aaah a little better...Then he rolled over - and I saw he was sleeping with the monster I made him for Christmas. Be still my heart!

Flower applique

One flower done today - tomorrow a tree branch and bird, then I can get this bag put together and start using it!

Yes that's right, I couldn't decide which photo to use so you get them all. And this is my attempt at a short post! One day I might even have enough guts to try a "Wordless Wednesday"...maybe...

Tasty Tuesday

I have finished all the letters in the word 'QUILT' and designed some more applique to place on either side. They are just little inch tall drawings doodled on the back of a used envelope but that's how I design most things. Whatever works!



I thought today I'd share a recipe I made this afternoon, hence the title "Tasty Tuesday". Maybe I'll make it a regular thing - we'll see!I made a recipe that takes me right back to my childhood called Cheese Rolls and it is peculiar to the city I was born in, which is Dunedin, New Zealand. Now New Zealand is not a very big country, so for a food to be known in just one city is pretty strange. I suspect they might have a Scottish influence since the city has a strong Scottish heritage. Wikipedia has a little enlightenment here, and you can read about a cheese roll competition here!

I remember my Nana would make these, and my Mum too, and my Aunty Ann made them and sold them in a bakery she worked in. There is a saying in New Zealand, which is "World Famous In New Zealand" - it's pretty funny, and so true! Nobody really knows much about my home country other than Lord of the Rings was made there. Some people even think it's part of Australia! How rude!

Anyway, back to the recipe!

In a microwave safe bowl (or pot on the stove) put the following:

1 pound grated cheese
1 grated onion
1 large can Evaporated Milk
1 packed dry onion soup mix

Heat in microwave for 3 mins, stir, and heat for another 3 mins. The cheese should all be melted.

Take 2 loaves of sandwich bread. If it's fresh, leave the crusts on. If it's a few days old (like mine was!) cut the crusts off. The bread won't fold without cracking if it's not fresh, but it's still do-able!

Spread a spoonful of the cheese mixture on the bread and roll up, or fold in half which is what I did today. My bread was just not fresh enough to roll, but the taste is still the same.

Place on trays and brush the top with some melted butter (because there aren't enough calories in it yet).
Bake in a 375F oven until golden and the bread is crisp. Something about the warm gooey cheese mixture with the crisp bread is irresistible! Even my picky 6 year old loves them.

This mix will make A LOT of rolls - at least 2 loaves of bread worth, and you can put them in a bag in the freezer and take them out and heat them up as you need them. A couple of warm cheese rolls with a bowl of hot soup on a cold day is wonderful!