Tuesday 26 March 2013

Last Minute Madness!!

Last week of school which means school holidays and visiting!! Therefore I have, in normal Amanda style, written multiple lists which are scattered around the house so I can keep track of everything that is going on here. 

There will always be something that wasn't on the list and cannot be planned for, Enter Master 6 who started the week by cutting a huge chuck out of some binding fabric I had on my sewing table for a project!! While containing my major freak out and calmly asking him why he would cut something on the table, he replied with, "Well Mum you emptied the scrap bin!!" Gotta love 'em.

I had three quilts returned to me last week from my wonderful long-arm quilter Dallas McLellan. I love meeting my quilts again after they have been quilted they always seem so much more "alive" and vibrant! So this has caused a whirlwind of binding and labeling to be going on. Speaking of labeling I was put onto a wonderful blog England Street Quilts run by a lady named Shontelle who has a free tutorial on making labels. I LOVE IT!!
Check out the labels now going on my quilts, I have adapted them to what I like on them but I have always liked a lot of details in my labels for the future generations that will snuggle beneath them.


One of the quilts that came back was very special as it was made by my mum and is her very first quilt!! I am going to teach her how to slip-stitch on the binding over Easter because love will only go so far ;-) Here is a peek of her quilt just because I'm just so proud and want to show it off!


Miss 4 and I where busy early in the week with a change of season on the way we added to our fairy garden with some hand chosen flowers seedlings and a new family member!! We would like to officially welcome Norm the Gnome to our garden. Master 6 declared Norm was brought to the garden to help the fairies with any heavy lifting because the fairies are too small. Good to have a man around now ladies!

To say thank you for a great first term to the wonderful teachers at both of the kids schools, I decided to do some inventive cooking! According to my mother that just means "Amanda's cooking without a plan".

On Monday I made my first Bacon, Spinach and Cheese Filled Loaf, it was so yummy and my poor brain nearly exploded with the possibilities of this new technique!!

Long story short I repeated this technique using half of a loaf dough, Philly cream, cheese, a tin of strawberries, Maggie Beer Verjuice and a few other bits to create.....A Hidden Cheesecake Loaf with Red Verjuice Sauce!! 

It tasted just like a baked strawberry cheesecake!!

With the other half of the loaf dough and the leftover cream cheese mix I added cinnamon and ground cloves, rolled together creating.... Spiced Cheesecake Scrolls!! This time they tasted like vanilla cheesecake, soooo good with a coffee!!

Just for general information I have been on a bike ride today....a long one!

For those that don't know I am a vintage girl at heart and adore the 50's especially. So when a vintage inspired range was released by Moda in bright contrast colors what was I supposed to do??? 

Keep it Sassy by Olive Sandwiches is just too good to miss! 
(That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Finally I have some of the rows together on the quilt I have been working on in the Glamping by Mary Jane and thought I would give a little peek.

Well that's it from me for the week, I have fixed the comments settings so if you would like to comment, Google will no longer ask you to join. I would love to hear from you otherwise, stalk away! 

Have a wonderful holiday everyone, no matter where you may be!!

May your bobbin always be full.

Amanda



Wednesday 20 March 2013

Welcome to my World!

It is with great delight that I am creating my first post here on Stitched to Life! This blog was created as a way for me to share with you the creations that often take over my life, both the fabric kind and the breathing kind!! 

Thanks goes to family and friends for all of their wonderful support and suggestions on names and topics that will be added to here over time. 

Okay, mushy stuff over I will now give you a general idea of what you can look forward to from me :-)

I am currently swamped with Unfinished Projects in a mad rush to have them done before Easter, seriously there is fabric and paper on EVERY available space in my sewing room!!

I have however accepted the fact that they may not all be completed before we go away to the family (including my beautiful new nephew!), I do hope to share some achievement on this front! I live in hope.

Some of these projects include a beautiful pattern "Spot" by Schnibbles by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. It is designed around the cute little charm packs that have always bambuzled me as to how you can come up with a showcase quilt from that amount of fabric. TA-DA! Thanks Miss Rosie!

I am using the bright charm packs of Glamping by Mary Jane to create this quilt and because this quilt is to be a gift for a special someone I can't post much more, except to say it's delicious! 

Another work in progress is a panel quilt that I have been asked to quilt for a friend of mine who has just had a new grandson. The quilt top itself is a cut up panel with sashing and I added a top and bottom border to give it a better finished size. 

To keep with the simple design of the quilt I have decided to Stitch-in-the-ditch the center blocks and free-motion quilt around the pictures. I have also drawn up a design around the outside border using a quote about baby boys I found online. I have basted all the layers together and am waiting for a break in the traffic to jump on the machine and get it quilted.

There is so much more happening in my little room however this is just a taste of what's buzzing.

As Miss 4 is now telling me it's time to take her to school I will finish up and save some more for next time.

May your bobbin always be full!!

Amanda