Tuesday - back to work!

Where has the last month got to? I’m still sorting myself out after a leisurely Easter and Sunday was Mother’s Day, so the last 4 weeks have been a bit of an overindulgent blur.

I still haven’t had a chance to sit down with a coffee and catch up on my favorite blogs (…yet…) but I will get there sometime this week.

Yesterday I think I found the last little brightly foiled chocolate egg which had rolled under the fruit bowl ….so it might be time to stop indulging! I have some pressing WIPs that are taking up all my time- you know how it is, you pass the bulk of the work and you don’t want to stop when you are so close to finishing. I’m sure we all know that feeling!

When my children were very young, they would loudly complain that there was no Kids Day for them on which to get presents and breakfast in bed - which I always thought was so funny. The truth is, I think Mother’s day and all those days are a bit of a marketing trick…but I still can’t help falling for it…it’s just so nice, isn’t it?

My DDs are all grown up now so I didn’t get breakfast in bed. Really though, I can’t complain, I don’t bake Sunday lunch on Sunday’s- they do, and I get away with endless hours of quilting whilst they help out around the house, so I am very fortunate. Lunch yesterday was wonderful and picture perfect – such a treat, and I did get a useful cup with a lid (which I’ve wanted for ages) for when I go to meetings, etc. I also enjoyed some unusual flowers. I don’t know why I love this decorative cabbage so much (I think its Kale), but I do. And on Saturday I treated myself to 2 Liberty Print Handkerchiefs.

So, yes...I did buy some fabric (even though I am trying to stash bust) but I don’t have to worry about my groaning fabric shelf taking any more as both squares are already useful before even being used!

Now in hindsight, I don't know if I ever will use them, but I like having them in my handbag just in case. I think I must be in the last hankerchief generation as neither DD was impressed with this purchase.

I couldnt help but take photos

I am determined to make this week a productive week. It feels like one festivity after another in my house and I need to get into ‘working mode’. Wish me luck, I’ll let you know if I get there.

An Ordinary Moment in May

 This year is simply running past me! It feels an age since I last blogged, just before Easter actually. I hope you all had a restful and family focused time, and if you didn’t enjoy those things then I at least hope you enjoyed plenty of chocolate.

Today my DD caught me catching up on Hearts Desire in my standardly messy studio and took a snap.


I thought it was about time that I cleared my table for the next project as I have several coming up that I want to get finished.

Whilst cleaning up, I became distracted, changed my To Do List and decided to finish some blocks instead..

this is my applique leaf production line

For those of you who don’t already know, I have a ‘test’ sewer make my quilts before I launch my BOMs and at the moment she has completed more of my own work than I have. I have to sort that out immediately! But then the mail arrived…and I had to stop to admire Inspirations Magazine. It’s such an inspiring magazine that it gets me to wondering…when will I get the time to do some needlecraft?

How do you prioritize your interests? Is quilting what you do – or is it one of the things you do?

I’d love to know!

Ok, back to work with only the sneakiest peeks of an upcoming block visible in this photo.

At least once a week I get an email asking for a pic of Hearts Desire.

But remember: It's not a mystery if you know!

Lavendar Wands for Spring

When I first posted about my bees and lavender shrub, most of you were in Winter, so I decided to re-post my lavender wands when you were entering spring. Early spring is the best time to make Lavender wands – and they are so easy, it’s likely to become a pluck and weave affair every time you pass your shrub.

Making them up when the lavender is new is best because the stems are so soft and flexible. If you look closely at my pics you will see that my stems have no flexibility left in them at all, they are basically forced into position – this is because there is no moisture left in them. Early Spring and Young Lavender is the best combination and easier to shape.

It’s so simple!

Collect a bunch of lavender.
Make your first attempt a small bunch.

Strip the leaves off the stem so that the stem is naked

Tie your ribbon just below the head of flowers, tightly.

Now, holding the lavender in your fist, close your fist and bend down the stems over the lavender flowers, so you are creating a ‘cage’

Now, simply weave over and under. Pull through your tied ribbon end and start weaving. You can weave over and under individual stems or group your stems and weave over and under lots of 2 or 3 stems. With the larger sized lavender wands, I just weaved stems as I liked.

When you reach the end of the flower cage, wind your ribbon down the stem and tightly knot and tie off. Use any width of ribbon you like, I like wide ribbon but its all down to preference. With the stripped stems and discarded bits, I collect them into organza bags for keeping amongst my linen.

Oh Spring!

Golden Rabbit

This is Golden Rabbit, he's my Easter Afternoon Project.

This pattern is so simple, it's a pleasure to make and really, it only takes an afternoon.

I don’t usually associate bunnies with Easter, however, I sketched this rabbit (he’s more of a hare, isn’t he?) a few years ago, and I’ve been wanting to make him up. So here he is: bright, vibrant and dancing through a meadow. The meadow side of spring.

If you’ve been thinking about an easy Easter project to brighten up your table, there’s still time to get this one done.

The pattern is a line drawing and is suitable for a small wall hanging. I’m going to hang mine up on the kitchen entry door. My DDs like the idea of turning it into a spring cushion and whilst that would work, I think a wall hanging wins. Of course, if you added sides you could also make a table runner, whatever suits you. It’s so versatile. My only recommendation is brights. I haven’t stitched in my sleeve hanging yet as I wanted to post this project right now, but I will be adding a hanging sleeve to finish it off.  Of course, you could just print it out and colour it in too!

Here I am, looking over my table, I stash busted this pattern,

and it feels so good to have used up some fabric and created / finished a WIP.

 Here are the fabrics I selected to use and also, the front page of the pattern.

I coloured it in to play around with colours and you can too.

I also added an extra flower when making up as three is always better than two!

He's so bright! I really like how the leaves have turned out

Now, although my head is in Spring, in my part of the world, we are actually getting cooler. It's funny, but I still relate to European weather! I think many of my blog followers are in Spring, so it's  OK, I can get away with it! 

Like it? Make it!

When this pattern was first released in 2011, I made it free to all members of my online quilting group at that time. Today, it is no longer available for free, however you can purchase the pattern for $2.95 USD as an instant digital download. 

Potica for Easter

They say it takes a village of woman to make Potica and if you ever make this Slovenian walnut roll, you’ll find out why.

It’s time consuming. It seems incredible that such a simple cake could warrant so much work, but worth it? Oh yes, definitely. Special occasions don’t seem really special without Potica on the cake plate. That said, you don’t really need a reason to bake it– any day’s a good day for Potica.

I don’t have a village of women, but I do have 2 daughters and excellent delegation skills. No matter how many times I have made it in the past, or make it with them now, they always ask those little details that you forget (or, that they don’t write down). So this is one of those recipes I know they’ll be looking up tomorrow, next week and in years to come. There are quite a few Potica variations out there, all as good as the next one, I’m sure. This is an authentic recipe. It’s an old one and it works for me.

Potica is best the second day, if it lasts that long, and improves with age for up to 4 weeks in an airtight container.

I took step by step photos of our Potica baking for my DDs and have slotted it together in the video below. The added Polka music is traditional Slovene music for anyone who wants to get into an Alpine Baking Theme... enjoy!

Click read more for detailed recipe...

Inside My Studio

Update 19th April 2011

Thank you everyone for commenting on this post. It's nice to know that someone understands my chaos and creative mess. For years I felt guilty about not having a 'Showroom Studio'...you know the kind...and I always wished I'd had the inclination to create that kind of photogenic space.

I'm really fortunate to have such a great DH and a supportive family, and as for the mess - I've decided that that's just the debris creativity comes from.

Time for my yearly studio pics update.

I had grand ideas about sorting this mess out before Easter, but have now accepted that this won’t be happening.

I have actually reached the point where I have had to pause WIPs because there’s just no room to carry on with them.

A good Spring Clean for me is when I can see my table top surface again.

It’s a great design table and I have a lot of things going on there. I think this is actually my biggest dilemma, at any time I have at least 3 or 4 projects out, demanding attention. I long for the day when I whittle my UFOs and WIPs to 1 single project and breeze around my studio without walking into, over or on something.

 This is my Hearts Desire Chair, before that it was my Red Delicious Chair.

Really, it's the Current BOM Chair. It Seats the Box that holds all the fabrics I will be using.

That shelf behind me was actually custom made for the Design Table.

It is so crammed full of work that I have been considering some kind of File System

You can’t tell that this is actually a large room (it’s a full size living room) with windows along one side. Great for daylight, but something of a storage loss (that’s what I tell my family anyway.)

Those are my shelves on the wall, full of journals, notebooks and sketchings.

Sometimes you don’t know how much you have, and it takes a photo to realize that you don’t really need a new 3 tiered box of Derwent’s,  anyway, where would I fit them in order to make best use of them?

That's my chair by the window, I crochet there whilst looking over the birds or the Camellia bush. Mostly I read in this spot. It looks cozy but it doesn't get used much. Well, not that much, it is a working room afterall!

To be completely honest, even I am a little shocked with how much stuff I have and how out of control it looks! Is it any wonder both my DDs are keen on minimalism??

Luckily this room's completely at the back of my house so we don’t have to walk through it, or even acknowledge it.

My grown up DDs have dreams of building me a shed to move all the stuff into there…whilst I have dreams of them both moving out so I can take over their rooms….just kidding!

Beneath the Design Table is where I store a lot of my fabric stash.

 There's a machine under there! I think it's an overlocker!

Sometimes I like to listen / watch out of the corner of my eye/  to The Quilt Show when I'm working. When I'm seriously working, I don't like the distraction, but when I am tidying up or sorting out it's a welcome relief.

Yes, this room’s a mess, but it’s my mess and I know where everything is…and also, it saves the house. Imagine all this (important!) stuff being dispersed throughout a house?? I'm so lucky that my family are tolerant and in fact, supportive of this chaos.

Come along to Vic Quilters at AQC Today!

Coming along to AQC today?

Julie Adamson and Vic. Quilters have organised a free Demo Table where you can stop by and see techniques in motion...just come by the Vic Quilter's area...Well known tutors have offered their time and it's a great idea!

I will be working on applique at the Demo Table today between 2pm - 4pm.

Do stop by and say hello!

I will have 10 x Hearts Desire (Block 1) to give away to anyone who asks, so don't be shy! Blocks 2 & 3 are still available for free so it's the perfect time to join in!


It's not too late to join in the mystery....