RAG RUGS AT HANDMADE HEAVEN

My Rag Rugs now have a new home. You'll find them in a little corner to the entrance of Handmade Heaven in Ipswich. Liesa's shop is looking gorgeous as she has a range of beautiful handmade items in there. It's a lovely visit if you're looking for a gift for a special person or just to want to appreciate all the different works of many talented crafters. Liesa is such a sweetie too, so pop in and say Hi to her.

FRESH BROCCOLI

We'll be having fresh broccoli straight from my vege garden for dinner tonight. Seems like it's dead easy to grow, so next year I'll be making sure I plant heaps more.

SALE FABRICS

These fabrics are not new, but they are so pretty aren't they. I am still finding fabrics that have never been listed on my website, and these were a few I found yesterday. Some are from Poetry Collection and some are Faded Memories. They were originally used when I made my first Milly's Quilt. They're now in my "Sale Fabric" section if you want to have a look.

THE DREADED EXERCISE MACHINE

At the moment this "thing" is totally alien to me, but in time it is going to become my friend.

It's supposed to be able to do something about the overeating and underexercising that has been happening at my place over the last few months when food has become my close companion while the weather has been cooler. At the moment, I HATE this "thing", otherwise known as a Crosstrainer, but I know in time I will LOVE it. I don't like exercise, but I also don't like being fat and if anyone has a better solution to the 3 letter "F" word, please let me know. This morning, I had my appointment with my daughter and owner of the dreaded machine and she is going to be my taskmaster and keep me on the straight and narrow. All I managed was 8 minutes and here I am 2 hours later and I'm still trying to stand upright on my legs. How embarrassing!! I will let you know how I progress. Anyone care to join me?

CABIN IN THE WOODS

I don't know who designed this quilt pattern. I just remember that it came out of a book I borrowed from my daughter some time ago and the pattern is called "Cabin in the Woods". Scrappy quilts are my favourite, and I made this one entirely from my scrap pile. I had it quilted by Rosalie from Rose Quilting on her amazing quilting machine, and this morning I took some time to bind it. It's going to replace the existing quilt on our bed which is (was) a one piece cloth all hand quilted. I'm afraid that one is going to have to go to the happy place where worn out quilts have to go. I'm not even game to wash it one more time as I know it just wouldn't survive. Maybe Bonny might like it in her kennel?

CARAMEL SHORTBREAD

I've been eyeing off this Caramel Shortbread recipe from Lucy's blog at Attic24 for the last few days and this morning my sweet tooth got the better of me. I just had to try out the recipe, and our morning tea was all I hoped it would be (except of course for the calories, but we won't spoil it by talking about them). If you want to make it too, go to Lucy's blog, Attic24 and follow her recipe from a few posts back. She's also got some gorgeous granny squares so it's worth going there just to have a look at them.

ALL ABOUT FLOWERS

Isn't it nearly always the way that things take longer to do than you expect? Writing patterns is certainly no exception, but it's done. Sam has finished the pattern for "All About Flowers" and it's now available. It's on our website and you'll find it here. Sam has used needle turn applique, but when I make mine I'm going to blanket stitch the applique by hand. The first quilt I ever made was entirely needle turn applique and I think I did enough needle turn to last me for the rest of my life, and besides that I'm totally addicted to blanket stitch applique. I love it and I can do it at night when I'm watching TV - that is, of course, when I'm not crocheting rag rugs.