I haven't been a good blogger lately, sure I've shared some links to giveaways, but I haven't really been sharing pics of things I've made, things I've received or caught you up on what's going on here in Icy Berri! Yes, it's Brrrrrrrrr here right now.....was so cold this morning, I thought I'd woken up in Iceland!
Where to start, oh I know, I could share with you something I got emailed today. Over on my right hand bar thingy (don't ya just love my technical terms?) Side bar on the right perhaps might be closer to the right terminology.....anyhoo....over there on the right, you will notice that I have a button for you to go sign up for Accuquilts newsletter and not only will you get all the latest 'sales' updates from them, you'll also be the proud owner of their 22 FREE patterns. Click on the button (please) and go get the patterns....before they run out...hee hee hee.
Now, for some pics. A bit earlier in the year, I signed up for the Santa Sack swap, and I got partnered with
Annie (she's been a bit
slack busy lately, and hasn't updated her blog for a while, but I'm sure she will be back on board again soon) and yesterday I received my first part of the swap.
I didn't think you'd want to see the parcel before it got to this stage of undress.....it was only a mailing satchel....I think I still have it here somewhere if you really MUST see it! See the Santa gift tag? If you were able to flip it over and read it, you would've read this........
YAY, rip rip rip....paper opened......big reveal...no wait Naomi, grab the camera, people will want to see....sigh.....grabbed the camera.....again.....and voila....a pic of my GORGEOUS Santa Sack. (Please excuse the mess behind the pic....I've officially run out of room, and become the worlds' biggest sloth)
But wait, the sack doesn't come empty....it has 'stuff' inside.....shall we take a look and see what kind of stuff is inside???? Ok, but sssssh, don't tell Anna I've had a peek, she might get cross with me and tell Santa I've been a naughty girl!
Awwwww, rats, she must've known you were going to encourage me to peek inside....can you see what she wrote on the gift tag? Bah Humbug.....and they're wrapped, so I can't even accidentally peek inside....
BUT, I can take them all out the gift bag and take a pic of them to show you (read.... to make you jealous!)
How spoilt am I? Can you believe that this is her first swap....boy she's certainly set the bar high huh? How am I ever going to compete, I'm already going to be making her another sack, even though she says not to......but if you could see the pathetic attempt I sent her.....mind you, until I saw how great the one she sent me was, I wasn't too worried about mine....but I hate the thought that she might feel somewhat 'ripped off'.....would hate to get me a bad name!
I've promptly packed the pressies all back in the gift bag, and popped that inside the Santa Sack, and popped it up on top of the craft dresser/cupboard...so it's not in my direct line of sight, and I won't be tormented by it on a daily basis for the next 6 months! Thank you soooo sooooo much
Anna....I love it....this is so much fun.
Yesterday was quite a good day for "Barry" my Parcel Guy, well ok, you got me, he's not just mine, I share him with the rest of Berri! He not only bought me my Santa Sack swap, but he bought me my Mug Rug Swap, from Sewing Steph.....OMG, I've been blessed with another great swap partner......quite a few times recently....need to post more often so you can see all the goodies I've received/sent.
As usual, I digress.....Steph sent a card saying this was her first mug rug....I am honoured...it's gorgeous....and unless I get a visit from Naomi Campbell or Naomi Will, I won't ever have to share this one...no one can say they didn't know whose it was hey? lol
I've taken a couple of close ups to show the gorgeous detailed stitching around the border and in the stripes.....you should be able to make it all out if you click on the pics to enlarge them. Did you also notice that the quilt being done on the sewing machine is PURPLE? Be still my beating heart!
Then, as if the gorgeous mug rug wasn't enough excitement, she sent me a fq of owl fabric...one I haven't seen before.....how hooty cute is it? She says that she too likes owls and that the fabric is from one of her favourite ranges.....I can see why it's one of her favourites, can't you?
I bought a couple, ok I can't count, there's actually three new patterns in my collection....The Quattro bag, Scrap Sack 2 and the Bow'led Over Bag. Aren't they nice? I think so, and as they're mine, I guess that's all that matters...right?
Last Saturday, my quilting group (Evening Star Quilters - Renmark SA) had one of their Saturday Sew Ins....they run from 10am - 10pm, but I only ended up going for about 7 hours. As usual, I spent most of that time procrastinating and noseying around at what everyone else was doing. Some of the ladies are doing D4P quilts...will get pics when they've gotten a bit further on. The president was making a lovely mixed Hexagon quilt, and I just had to grab one of the templates....it's called "Candied Hexagons", and on Sunday I made a couple of coasters using the templates.
The first one is for Raelene, as she's a 'pink girl' and the second one is for me, coz I'm a 'purple chick'. Mine actually looks a bit more purpler (is there even such a word? LOL) in real life than it does in the pic, in that it looks more blue than anything else.
Lastly, if you're a Facebook friend of mine, you might've seen me mention that our next door neighbours are fruit pickers and have been supplying us with lots of oranges and mandarins.....what to do with them.....well have been 'sharing the love' with friends, and have frozen a bag full.....but wanted to try and make a "Whole Orange Cake" but some that I found had 6 eggs in, or almond meal so I kind of made my own recipe up, and this is the resulting cake.
Recipe: Get two medium sized oranges and give them a quick wash....to get any 'heavy' dirt off the skin. Then place both whole oranges (skin & all) into a saucepan and cover them with cold water. Bring to the boil and allow them to simmer for about 15 mins. Drain off the water (into a jug or another pan, and when cool, pour it onto your garden), fill the saucepan back up with cold water, and repeat.
At the end of the second 15 mins, drain the water, and allow the oranges to cool.
Once they're cooled, put the oranges into a food processor or large jug/bowl and stab blend/puree them (depending on which method you're following at this point) until all the skin is broken down. Put this mix to one side.
Preheat oven to 170'c.
In a mixing bowl, place three eggs and 1 cup castor sugar and beat with electric mixer until thick and light coloured. Add 3 cups SR Flour and the orange mixture and gently stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is combined completely.
Grab yourself a round cake tin (Not sure what dimensions mine was, but it's about an 18 or 20cm tin). Trace the bottom of the tin onto some baking paper and cut the circle out and place in the bottom of the tin, then spray the inside of the tin totally (including the baking paper) with cooking spray (I use homebrand canola spray).
Put your cake mix in and spread it evenly out. Place cake tin in oven for 60 mins or until skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle.
Allow to cool for about 15 mins in the tin. Lovely on the day it's made, on it's own, or the following day you can slice it and spread it with a little butter.
Enjoy!
Ok, that's it folks, you're more or less up to date....have been making a wild flower pincushion ( from the BHG website I think!) today....hope to get it finished tonight....wish me luck! Pics of that tomorrow if I do!
