Happy Little Vegemites and RAEME

First up I had a couple of questions about VEGEMITE after that AWESOME VIDEO (which still makes me smile and cry at the same time!)  Apparently some of you poor souls don't know what it is!  Aussie kids grow up on VEGEMITE and we all know the vegemite song.   The official website  will tell you that 

VEGEMITE spread is a nutritious and versatile food. Proudly made in Australia, it’s one of the world’s richest known sources of Vitamin B.

VEGEMITE spread is virtually fat-free, with a mere 40kJ in a 5g serve, and is the perfect accompaniment for a wholesome, breakfast, lunch or snack. It’s far more tooth and gum friendly than jams or choc nut spreads, without compromising on taste. In fact, its unique and delicious flavour is what distinguishes the VEGEMITE brand.

VEGEMITE spread contains no artificial colours or flavours, and has absolutely no added sugar. It is suitable for vegetarians, is kosher and halal certified and contains rich sources of thiamine. 25% of the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of riboflavin and niacin are delivered per serve, as well as 50% of the RDI of folate, or 25% for women of childbearing age.

The B Vitamins in VEGEMITE spread assist in converting carbohydrates, proteins and fats in food into much needed energy and are also important for proper functioning of the nervous system, muscles and brain. Folate aids in producing red cells in the body and niacin helps to maintain healthy skin and a healthy digestive tract.

BLAH BLAH BLAH!  

Here is the bottom line.  Toast just ain't toast without a swipe of butter or margarine and then a thin smear of vegemite.  This was my breakfast this morning - all in a good cause.  Couldn't let it go to waste! 

Let me tell you, when we spent nearly three years living in the States we took a bunch of huge jars of vegemite with me.  I was determined that the boys would not lose the taste for it.  Then I had to find a bread that wasn't too sweet.  American bread is much sweeter than ours.  If you live in the States - I finally found it at Trader Joes!  Still miss that place!  We gave lots of samples of Vegemite to lots of Americans but they just couldn't handle it.  Perhaps their palate is not quite mature enough poor things!

 I actually got to do a bit of sewing tonight.  It is actually for an Aussie hero quilt but I can't share it on that blog til I am ready to post the tutorial with it so you get a sneak peak.  

I have been asked to make a quilt "in RAEME colours or something with the Aussie flag if possible" for a guy who only went to Afghanistan this Monday just gone.  

RAEME stands for Royal Corps of Australian Mechanical and Electrical Engineers I the Army.

  The turtle mascot Belvedere is resting on RAEME colours - the red, royal blue and gold - on his quilt.   

I decided that this was a quilt I could put together fairly quickly and I have been wanting to do a star tutorial for some time for the blog so thought I would kill two birds with one stone (horrible expression really).  I usually don't let myself take requests because I have so much admin to do but this time I thought "why not".  

Here are my stars -the white has been added in to bring in the white from the flag.  I think I will have about six stars on each end , not really sure yet.  This an organic "design" which basically means I am making it up as I go along!  LOL!  Sorry the light is not great - it was very late with I took the pic.

I think when it all goes together it will look quite good and then I will have to decide how to quilt it seeing as there is such a large area of blue, 

or maybe I will ask one of the quilters to do it for me .....not sure yet.

I and thinking of having stars top and bottom of the flag but I need to make more and lay them out before I know for sure.

Busy weekend coming up.  Tomorrow taxi duty during the day intermingled with sewing, baking and a few errands of my own.   Tomorrow night is dinner with the girls for Jacqui's birthday - she is the baby of us - lucky thing!  Sunday I think I am having 9 1/2 for morning tea (the half is 4 months old).  One of the lovely soldiers is bringing his family over so that my boys and a friend of theirs, Jake, can talk to him about joining the army.  I hope they are not all too shy!  I am thinking ANZAC Biscuits, Chocolate Chip and maybe a chocolate caramel slice.  I want enough leftovers to send some home with both the lovely soldier and his family and Jake and his family.

I guess you will see baking photos tomorrow and Sunday.

 Till next time.............happy stitching!

Hmmmm....I wonder .....

.....what these are - cute aren't they?

And what could this be?  

 No idea?  I am getting ready to write a tutorial but you will just have to wait to see what for as it is too late for this little bunny to stay up any longer........

And if you couldn't guess what those cute little critters are here is a hint!

Till next time................happy stitching!

A day of frustration

 I auditioned my planned border fabric today and aside from the fact that I could not get good light to take a decent photograph I am just not convinced that it is the right choice.

So out I went to see if I could get some more of the black squiggly fabric which is the easy choice but of course it is not available.  I saw this black fabric and although I hate using such a black fabric coz it attacts lots of fluff I think it is the best bet.

 It is not actually a solid black but has these cool aboriginal motifs on it.

 I didn't know how much I needed so I bought half a meter and will do the maths on Thursday.  No time tomorrow as it is an Aussie Hero sewing day.

Till next time................happy stitching!

Baking, and Borders to come

I have been flat out today - answering and replying to emails after that awesome video from Egypt last night but I still managed to get a little baking done - as per a request from Fly Boy I made a batch of Chocolate Caramel slice.  I made some last week but decided that the base was too thick but I really loved the way topping was made and the resulting taste.  Then I was given another recipe and I thought, well you don't know until you try it so try it I did.  I still think the base is a bit too thick so maybe I will have to try again. What I have decided I like is using copha with the chocolate in the top as it sets better and stays firmer than butter does.  Hopefully Guitar Hero and Fly Boy will eat it up as this is a perilous thing to have in the fridge.  So far the signs are not good - it has been in the fridge ready to eat since dinner finished and savoury things have been the flavour of the night.  Grrr!

 I also managed some sewing but it hasn't resulted in a very exciting picture.  My quilt for Ireland is now ready for borders but I want to see it in the daylight before I commit rotary cutter to fabric.   It was so dark and rainy tonight by 430 you would have thought it was at least two hours later.

Hopefully tomorrow I will get the borders on as I would really like to get this layered by the end of the week.

And just before I go...

Jane M asked me for the details for the cute farmyard quilt that Amy completed.  Unfortunately you are a noreply blogger Jane so I can't email the details to you.  Hopefully you will read tonight's post and see them  

The quilt is called Little Macca's Farm by Kookaburra Cottage and is only available as a BOM.

Till next time..................happy stitching!

Why I love to quilt...

I am sorry, I don't have any sewing to show you although I had planned to.  My night sort of got hyjacked by a video from Egypt closely followed by Skype conversation with a soldier in Egypt!!!  That left me on such a high and it started me thinking about why I love to quilt ....


Earlier in the year a Blogger friend of mine who lives in my old hometown in America confided to me that she had a few challenges ahead of her that wee not going to be fun.   At the time she said to me "Life certainly throws us curve balls, and this one is no exception. I just keep thinking that life will be back to "normal" in the fall."  I knew right then and there I had to do something for her.  I hate to feel helpless and what I do is make quilts but with my commitment to Aussie Heroes and a few other projects I knew I needed some help.  So I emailed some of my bloggie friends and some of the Gumnuts who I thought might have time and asked everyone to make some fall inspired pinwheels.  I told them the basic details and kept the recipient's identity a secret and hoped they would help me out.  I was not disappointed.  One of my wonderful bloggie friends, Joyce,  who also lives in America, offered to put the quilt together for me to save me from having to ship a completed quilt internationally.  That was just so kind of her.  Gradually all the blocks started to arrive at Joyce's house and when the quilt was finally completed Joyce devoted a whole post to pictures of it here - it is gorgeous!  And finally it was shipped off and arrived with its new owner.


I don't think she will mind if I share part of her thankyou message.

I am speechless. I am so touched, that words can not describe my feelings.  I LOVE my quilt. The colors, the design, the quilting . . . all wonderful.  This quilt will have a special place in my heart, and on my bed! To think that a group of women I have never met could make something so beautiful, just for me, is really quite amazing. This blogging world is so much more than the surfing and pictures and stories involved. The friendships that are made miles and miles away are tributes to the great spirit of quilters!

Then I told you about a very Special Quilt that my friend Louise made for our mutual friend Carina's daughter Georgie.  Georgie was born after Carina's lovely Mother in law passed away.  Unlike her siblings Georgie never received a quilt made by her grandmother.  All the grandmother's materials were given to Louise, who is not really a quilter but a wonderful dress maker.  Out of love, Louise made a quilt for Georgie and then rang me for advice on quilting it - I offered to quilt it for her and ended up binding it as well and then last Friday Louise delivered it to Carina.    The next thing I know there was a teary Carina on the phone to me to thank me for my part in the quilt.  Such a little thing for me to do but so important for Carina, her husband John and one day little Georgie (currently only 4 years old).


These are the sorts of reasons that I love to quilt.  I used to do cross stitch but there is something about being able to wrap yourself up in a quilt that just beats all I think.  If you want to see some more reasons why I quilt just pop over to the Aussie Hero Blog and watch the video we were sent from Egypt tonight.  I had a whole evening of Cherry Red sewing planned for tonight but this has somewhat distracted me!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


More sewing tomorrow night I hope but it the mean time I am just really happy that around 28 years ago (GASP!!!!) I took a night school course in Patchwork!!!


Till next time.....................happy stitching!

Girly stuff

Some time ago, way back here, I showed some of my friend Del's work.  She is working on the most gorgeous pieced and embroidered quilt.   You can see more of it here.   Last Wednesday Del brought her latest block to show me and so that I could share it with you.  This is going to be such a pretty quilt once it is finished.

As far as I know Del said she has just one block left to finish and that is the centre one which is mostly embroidery.  Happy stitching Del!

And recently I showed you the tracksuits I made for my niece in Melbourne.  Guess I got the size right.  Honestly she is the spitting image of her mum!

This morning I had a lot of errands to do and then I came home and finished off this cake.  It is just a Triple Chocolate Temptation Cake as per the request but I made it with the cookies lying flat down instead of on their sides and layered them around the place and used several layers to build it up to cake shape.  Then I covered it with a second layer of cream so I was nice and white and added the pink marshmallow flowers.

The final touch for a 17 year old girl's birthday cake is edible glitter.  I think you can just see it on this picture.  In real life it looked so pretty and sparkly.  This is for a friend of Fly Boy's.  He has gone to her birthday party tonight and all she asked for was a cake-size cake as opposed to a log so I think she will be pleasantly surprised by the extra pretties.  I hope so anyway.

I doubt I am going to get much more done tonight.  I am off again in 15 minutes to collect Fly Boy from the party - that on its own would not be so bad except that I drive 30 minutes to the party house, collect Fly Boy and friend, drive 30 minutes to the friend's house and then 20 minutes back home.  Fun, Fun, Fun!   NOT!!!!!

Till next time.............happy stitching!

Just the hand sewing left

I am so pleased.  I finally managed to quilt my "special" quilt.   This is a gift for a friend of mine and I so can't wait to give it to him/her.  When I make a quilt for someone I find myself constantly thinking about that person and how they will feel when I give it to them as I am stitching along.   I used to think I had to wait till a special occasion to give someone a quilt but then a couple of years ago I decided life was too short to wait for special occasions.  If someone is special and I want to give them a quilt - then I will, 

end of   story! 

I have given this person a quilt before but it wasn't a particularly nice one - it was rather plain, to be used without fear of ruining it.  Well it is time for an upgrade!

So, here is the quilt - first the back.  That brown down the sides is actually a basket weave print and it goes really well.  I love the country manor fabric.  That is what I have based the whole quilt around.

 I like the pattern that stands out with the burgundy squares meeting up so I emphasized that with the quilting.  Hope you can see it.

 another view of the quilting.

 The back again

  And at last the front.

My lovely friend Sharon is going to finish the binding for me and hopefully I will drop it off to her tomorrow.    I was going to machine sew the binding but seeing as there is plenty of time for her to do it I will hand it over.  I wouldn't have let her do it if there was a rush!

And now I will move full steam ahead on the quilt for the International Charity Bazaar in Ireland.  I love crossing things off my to do list!

Till next time.....................happy stitching!