Lazy Susan

I havent used a packet cake mix for a very very long time, lots of reasons - but usually because I have a stocked pantry and have no need for them, Its not hard to mix a bit of flour/ cocoa/ sugar together....

Coming home after being away for two weeks and remembering that christmas & new year happened just before I left - My pantry is bear!

so

Whilst shopping for lunch for the kids (no food in our fridge)I spied the Donna Hay range of packet cakes.

I had friends coming in an hour for afternoon tea. The pretty packaging sucked me in and for $7.99 AU I bought it! Twice the price of your average packet cake mix.

I was dubious - I like my own brownie recipe & my recipe is really easy just a melt & mix in one bowl affair.

Once home and the kids sorted with lunch, I poured my packet cake into a bowl added the melted butter & 2 eggs mixed with a wooden spoon as per instructions and I felt it was a bit dry, it was more of a dough - brownies should be a wet mix in my experience.

With that I added 1/2 cup of milk to the mixture, I would have liked to add more but I didn't want to push it and end up with a gloupy mess.

To add my own "thing" to it I added dollops of cream cheese to the top. If I had any food in my house I would have mixed orange rind into the cream cheese to add a choc orange flavour to it (YUM)

Lots of other yum flavours that can be mixed into the cream cheese to add a bit of an extra zing - raspberries,vanilla & sugar, cinnamon etc

If you wanted to do tricky swirls on top - all you have to do is add a touch of milk to the cream cheese and beat it so its more malleable. 

any way here is the brownie straight from the oven.

crisp on the outside

solid but gooey on the inside

not bad ??

I would suggest eating them warm from the oven, I cant give any information about how long the freshness lasts or what they are like at room temp - because they are all gone!

Happy eating

Xx Siobhan

Summer Holiday

Im enjoy the Queensland sunshine, its been blistering hot - 40C most days

I'll be back with some great news and projects in a week!

Xx Siobhan

going in Circles

I bought a new Sewing machine !

It makes top quilting so much easier

I had this front made up ready for another large cushion front, changed my mind and its a baby rug now

I've been busting to do the circle top quilting for ages! so many people have been doing it very small example of people I have noticed would be Malka Dubrawsky & Denyse Schmidt, so many others on Flickr with fantastic work.

If you have a blog post or flickr picture on circular top quilting I would love to have a look (as I'm sure would everyone else)

Leave a link in the comments

so much fun & I think it adds a nice extra dimension to the quilt

Not sure how much longer this wall will be in the back of my house, Our renovations are starting to take shape

Take Care

Xx Siobhan 

Desperate House Wife Quilt Block - Spots & Stripes

I have made a block for Jane's

Desperate House Wife Quilt

each week a different blogger participates by designing/ making an 8" block

and here we have mine


The Spots & Stripes Block

I wanted to use some graphic fabric, with bright colours

3 inch squares cut in half on the diagonal to make half square triangles

placed into a zig zag pattern

& framed with a 1.5 inch strip

all sewn together with a 1/4 inch seam

all of the fabrics are available at
Bea Spoke Quilts Fabric Shop


Thanks to Jane for a chance to be part of the Desperate House Wife Quilt

Xx Siobhan

Threads & Bits

On the 4th January I have a quilt on the 

Fat Quarterly Blog

I was trying out some Aurifil Threads

Go have a sticky beak ;)

Xx Siobhan

Happy New Year

I'm off on holidays with the family this week, getting out all my projects that can travel with me. Lots of hand sewing hexagons & my starry night quilt

I have millions of Hexies that I keep especially for travel, I stock pile all my scraps through the year of all my projects.

I'm all ready to enjoy an Australian family Holiday :)

Fingers crossed the weather stays just like this

Happy New Year!

Xx Siobhan

A bit more liberty

I'm finally hopping on the circle band wagon, possibly a whole 18 months after everyone else.

I can see this being my year of the circles.....

Also mid project my sewing machine has decided to not work - Its in desperate need of a service & tinker. 

It currently sews full speed even if Im not pushing the pedal and makes an awful noise. I'm thinking maybe its possessed?? 

Its definitely telling me it needs some R&R.

Xx Siobhan

Christmas - Better late than never ..........

Christmas traditions 

Every year since I can remember my mother made Rum Balls for Christmas.

The last few years its been up to me.

Except this year..... I had the cakes baked & ready - I just ran out of time & didn't finish them off!

anyway - better late than never? right?

No recipe for these - its just been learnt over time

The first few are always a bit wonky or rustic!, I'm slowly remembering how I did it a whole year ago!

I'm also remembering how I seem to get chocolate - Everywhere!

I'm off to make about 100 more rum balls......

and then get stuck into a few quilty/ crafty projects that need starting/ finishing before I set off on our family holiday early Jan 2012

Hope you had a happy Christmas

Xx Siobhan

Jack of all trades

Its a crazy time of year, thank goodness all the school/ preschool commitments are finished & now just Christmas to contend with

In my little world Im doing lots of bits & pieces

a long time ago I made these little panels up

I have finally framed them :)

I'm also printing lots of cards with my pictures 

because things are so chaotic I just hung the framed panels without much thought, for now they will live on the back wall.

I'm planning on doing a few more over the holidays, Its nice doing something small & manageable. I'm on a mission to only start projects I can finish. 

I'm still ploughing away with my hand quilting on the Starry night quilt, not much longer and it should be done.

because we are renovating furniture is everywhere its all a bit crazy but

we are finally fixing up the back of our house, 

which means living with a bit of mess.

I'm off to eat some chocolate!

Xx Siobhan