Tuesday, February 22, 2011

We meet again

I put the kettle on just before half ten this morning in anticipation of the first car arriving & didn't have long to wait. The others soon followed and another Tuesday got underway. Of course we had to have a couple of oatmeal & chocolate chip cookies too.

Our thoughts today were with those in Christchurch New Zealand as 3 of us have connections there. We watched the news updates with sadness. Such devastation. Hopefully the rescue services will be able to help those that are trapped soon.



I had made soup for lunch which seemed apt given the gloomy greyness outside. It was very easy if you'd like to try ( Adapted from a Weightwatchers recipe)

3 pints chicken stock
8 chicken thighs (cooked)
Chopped veg (I used carrot, onion, swede, leek)
4 tablespoons lentils/barley/split peas etc

Place all ingredients in large casserole in oven to simmer until veggies are cooked through.




We were so busy chatting we didn't start any sewing until just before lunch! Janet & I had been to hear a talk by Kim Porter last night about her recycled fabrics so we were telling the others about our evening. Alison had been to a scrapbook day & made a beautiful book - can't believe I didn't take a picture! I did manage to photograph one of her beautiful dresden plate blocks which you can see here.




Caroline had some tiny cross stitch which is going to be beautiful. Amanda was preparing an applique block for a raffle quilt. Janet finished the binding on her most recent quilt which is stunning - triangles pieced into diamonds and wonderful colour graduation. I hand pieced 1 hexagon! (It was my job to keep the tea flowing!)


Fingers crossed now that I manage to post this week's entry

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Finally got round to it...

We have talked about setting up a blog to record what we get up to at our weekly gatherings for ages.  finally the moment is here and we are starting .... quite a scary thought....


When we started to get together some years ago, our main aim was to share our love of quilting and to encourage and support each other with the various projects we undertook. Well we have certainly encouraged each other to buy more fabric, start more projects and to definitely eat more cake. We even managed to persuade Caroline to start quilting!


Today we met at Alison's, a somewhat rainy journey through the countryside for everyone but it all added to the feeling of a day out. 


What were we all working on? Janet and Alison were preparing more diamonds, English paper piecing, for their take along handwork project. Caroline was cross stitching. Amanda was finishing off a very sweet felted wool needlecase and Chris was sewing the binding on a baby quilt, a gift for a friend. The fabrics she had chosen were so fresh it looked lovely and the prairie points in the border added to the charm, she assured us it was a very easy pattern from Moda Bake Shop. I wonder what it would look like in scraps? Another potential project to start perhaps .....


Banana and chocolate chip muffins were on offer today, rather tasty, sorry no photo though, they were eaten before we thought about it! 


280g of SR Flour
1 teaspoon soda bicarbonate
3 well ripened mashed bananas - about 240g when peeled and mashed
85g of sugar
1 egg beaten with fork
60ml milk
85g of melted butter
85g chocolate chips 


Oven temp 190 - 200 oC for 20-25 mins


In a mixing bowl, sift flour, soda bicarbonate and chocolate chips
In another bowl, mash bananas, add sugar, beaten egg, milk and butter. Stir well.
Pour all wet ingredients into dry. Stir just until combined.
Spoon into muffin cases and bake.




Look forward to seeing what everyone is up to next week.