Lone Star - Full Instructions :)

Hi 

Just a quick one

I thought I would re - post a link to the Lone Star instructions

I've had a few Q's about it.

The above link has all the posts from start to finish in it.

One thing to remember which I don't mention in any of the posts - Angles! 

If you make a bigger or smaller diamond the angle may be different, I'd recommend cutting out four diamonds in paper and making sure they fit together???

& dont forget when you piece angled pieces you need to off set it! thats explained more in this post.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the Lone Stars! post them in the Lone Star Flickr group

& here is a link to my Scrappy Quilt post

Both quilts are still with the long arm machine quilter - Kim is currently in Houston! lucky her - she got to go to the Quilt market.........

Maybe next year I'll get to go :)

Hope all is well

& any Q's let me know

Xx Siobhan

Cushions

I joined a Flickr Pillow Swap Group just before I went overseas, I've never ever been in a swap before so it was a bit daunting - now I think I'm addicted!

I'm about to complete the fourth pillow & then I have to decide which one to send to my partner........

The three pillows with lots of text fabric are all my Fabrics, the ones I print on Spoonflower

The zig zag is all sorts of bits n pieces.

 I love this wonky Star! I'm envisioning a whole quilt made with big and little wonky stars

The big X is another one I'm thinking about enlarging into a quilt........

I like big bold simple shapes

It all feels very bright & vibrant

Wonder what my swap partner is making me......

Xx Siobhan

When Life Smiles

Everything just fell into line today. 

House organised, kids happy, paper work done, computer work/emails done, deliveries turned up & Sewing Done!

Its when all the little stuff works out - Thats when I smile :)

all fabric from my BeaSpoke Spoonflower range

Xx Siobhan

On a roll

With the cooking bug,

I'll do anything to not do what I actually am suppose to do :)

always the way.....

I have grand plans now to make pickles & chutney  & curry paste for christmas presents

On a serious note - being a mum, I am expected to cook dinner every day (most days...)

& after being away in Italy/ France for 3.5 weeks I'm more enthusiastic than usual about the whole cooking thing.

I remembered that cooking can be fun and my kids are actually eating it which is encouraging.

Last night my littlest one Miss 5 wanted to make Basil Pesto - which is very easy and no real cooking involved

I dont really have a Pesto Recipe, Its one of those ones that I've made so often that I do a lot of guessing

The Pesto I made last night made about 3 cups worth 

it had

2 big bunches fresh Basil

200g Pine nuts - lightly toasted

150g Wedge or so of Parmesan cheese

6 cloves of Garlic

Good quality Olive oil

The kids pick off all the leaves for me and place it into the food processor whilst I toast the pine nuts in a pan, peel/ crush garlic & roughly cut up the parmesan. 

Its then all thrown together in the food processor, the kids whizz it & I pour in the olive oil till it looks like the right consistency

Hay Pesto!

The serve last night made Pesto Spaghetti (two packets of spaghetti) for four kids and three adults with some left overs for Mr's lunch. Last night I added some grilled chicken to the pasta - other nights it might be salmon or prawns, Pesto goes with most things.

I have one jar left and in the fridge for a snack or maybe to have later in the week on steak.

When I say good quality olive oil - I mean a olive oil you would use in a salad or similar, because the pesto isn't cooked you want your olive oil to taste nice.

I have friends with an olive oil label Cintra Estate its very yummy & lots of restaurants use it.

 for a salad olive oil I'd go with a gold colour like above and with cooking - green or cheaper is fine. 

But like I said above - go with what tastes good. Its a bit like wine - just cause its expensive doesn't mean you'll like it.

Anyway I'm off to finish binding quilts and

plan my next project

Xx Siobhan 

also thanks to
http://adayinthelifeofraisings 


for commenting & leaving a link :)

procrastinating

Hi What have you been up to?

I have reorganised my fabric cupboard into colour order, reassessed projects that need finishing in a pile of order, arranged all my receipts, caught up on my fav blogs & been baking!

what I actually need to do is write invoices & finish the organised pile of projects :)

Wish me luck being more productive today

Xx Siobhan




Update 18th Oct 2011


*Recipe


set oven at 180 Celsius
30cm X 22cm baking tin, lined with baking paper (the jam sticks)


Base
250g butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 egg yolks
1tsp vanilla paste


1 370g jar Raspberry jam


Topping
1 cup raw caster sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
2 cups desiccated coconut




put the softened butter, caster sugar, plain flour, baking powder in a food processor and blend add the egg yolks & vanilla process till a soft dough forms.


Press it into the base of the lined tin.
Bake for 12-15 minutes till golden brown. Allow to cool (really really wait - otherwise it turns very messy) then spread the jam on top.


to make the topping, combine the caster sugar, egg and coconut - then spoon on top of the jam.


Bake for a further 25 minutes, cool in the tin, cut into slices.


Enjoy Xx

A bit of Colour

 Hi All

I've been busy making a pillow for a swap I joined, in my usual style I've made it a lot bigger than it needed to be.....I'm not good at small.

I'm considering making a smaller version to post overseas? not sure how this one will go in the post?

I've been making a few zig zag quilts lately and I usually prefer to make them from half square triangles, I like the shape and width of the zig zag.

I saw these tiles in Italy and I was looking at some Missoni designs - love Missoni. 

I decided to give a different technique a whirl.

Once I worked out my angle and cut a template it was easy. I like that I can vary the width of the zig zag.

I'm already looking at other material combinations and trying this pattern out again. I think its very Missoni-ish

I also finally got my spoonflower order of new colours and used the mustard numbers fabric on the back.

Cushion Back - Mustard Numbers Fabric

Liberty & Mustard Numbers

here you can see a little tiny bit of a quilt that will be in the Dec/Jan 2011 issue of DownUnder Quilt

finished cushion size is 75cm X 75cm

I'd also like to say a big thank you to all the  people that support my blog!

Its always so nice (& a surprise) to see my blog on other peoples blogs (mouth full)

I'd like you to leave a link in the comments to your blog and next post I'll post a list

until then

Xx Siobhan

Sticking with the classics

Hi All

I've settled back to routine nicely :)

Kids back to school today & everyone cheery 

Playing with fabrics today - working out what to do next!

sometimes I get overwhelmed by my stash of fabrics and colour choices, I think thats why I always have a go to fabric.

I have no real intention of being a fabric designer, when I design and print fabrics on spoon flower the intention is usually to make a fabric that will mix n match with designer fabrics - I dub these my "classics". 

When I say classic - I mean something that will have a staying power from season to season, something that will mix with new designs - a fabric that will go with everything.

If you look at most of my quilts/ cushions - they all have a bit of my own fabrics in them.

below are some I received in the post today, 

I needed a few more colours to mix up with my stash. 

Mustard, red, turquoise, pink & grey

if you'd like to have a look they are all on my Spoonflower shop

and here we have some IKEA fabric, this is going to make some great cushion backs

Im desperate to put some of my mustard numbers & black/white/grey text fabric with the IKEA fabric - Love the combination

This matches beautifully with a new lot of Liberty fabric I picked up!

Looks like I have some sewing to do

Have a good week :)

Xx Siobhan

Paris & Home

Hi All

I'm finally on home soil ! - Sydney Australia.

I thought I'd pop up some photos of Paris before I got back to business and my usual fabric/ sewing.

I Love to travel - but I love home and my family just that little bit more :) very glad to be home

This was my third year in a row of going to Paris. 

Its become very familiar to me - I enjoy going to the same cafe's & spots for dinner.

 I love that nothing much has changed in that time - even the grumpy lady serving my breakfast at PAUL.

I have my favourite spots but most of all I like to just walk around, people watch, relax & eat :) 

here are some of my pics and spots I'd recommend.

Jardin Des Tuileries

Laduree

Angelina
226 Rue de Rivoli, Paris, 75001

Favourite Gallery - where I buy my etchings

View from the Eiffel Tower

Le Bon Marche
24 rue de Sevres 75007

Le Bon Marche
Food Hall

Merci
111 boulevard Beaumarchais 75003

Sainte Chapelle

Maille Mustard
6 place de la Madeleine 75008

St Germain Des Pres
window shopping

Notre Dame

St Germain Des Pres

Paris Catacombs

Pont Des Arts

The Louvre

Saint Sulspice

Pierre Herme

Chateau de Chenonceau

Jardin Des Tuileries

I also had a great dinner at one of my regular spots Allard, this time I had the duck with olives - It was divine! I highly recommend going - you will need to book.

Back to sewing & designing 

Xx Siobhan