Fun in the kitchen

Lemon Meringue Pie:


Inside:


Recipe taken from a lovely baking book I bought in the US when we travelled through 4 years ago. I have also made the easy brownies from this book which turned out fantastic. I have quite a few pages ear marked for future cooking endeavours!

Hot Pink

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mums out there. Aren't hand made presents WONDERFUL??! Boo's childcare made up a little plaque with her handprints and a photo of her on it and I absolutely adore it. I will treasure that one forever.

Here are some beautiful flowers that I received:


I have been back working on the baby quilt. I think I am doing something wrong with the quilting part.. the lines aren't straight, the stitches just don't look nice and there is so much puckering.. sounds ominous doesn't it? Hope I'm not scaring too many quilting people..

About Time!

Okee.. I have been a bit slow in popping this on my blog b/c I was waiting until my blog hit the stratosphere and had won a few awards.. Ah-huh.. not likely! So... after winning Karen's Pay it Forward a while back, I am finally putting my own Pay It Forward up. The PIF goes as follows:

"I will send a handmade gift to 3 random people who leave a comment on this blog post. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

Hand Quilting Lesson

Just recently, I attended a lesson on hand quilting. There were six of us and we sat around working on our stitching and had a lovely little chat about many things. It was so nice and casual and relaxed, as any get together should be. Here is a picture of my piece of hand quilting including the basting stitches that are weaved through the piece in purple. I didn't get very far and have not sat down with it since. I'm amazed at what an art form hand-quilting is. You have to move the tiniest little needle in a special rocking motion in order to get through the batting and to create the smallest stitches possible. You have to get used to using a thimble or you will wreck your fingers. All, in all, a lovely day out!

Special fabrics

I have received some thrifted sheets which I think are absolutely adorable.


I also received the following three aprons. I will keep the second one in the stack as an apron - its a gorgeous shape/design. I'd really like to make something with the fabric from the first. I am thinking of making a case with it or maybe keep it simple and just edge it as a tea towel. There is not very much usable fabric so it will be a challenge.

Beautiful Knots

I have been so inspired by the wonderful knitting on blogs like retromummy and Kylie's, that I have bought some wool and knitting needles! I went to the Bendigo woollen mills as recommended by retromummy. This is my sampler. My mother in law helped me get the hang of it. She is a fabulous teacher and taught me how to read a pattern so that I can get started on a project. I am going to start off knitting a hat which will hopefully be sized right to fit Sarah. She desperately needs a hat for winter. I have been looking in the shops and have not seen many winter hats which is disappointing but which is good as its motivating me to have a go at making one of my own.