Melanie Makes Meringues

Foxy

2012-02-10T07:57:00.000Z

I was asked to make a cushion out of an old baby tee-shirt for someone to give as a gift to their colleague (apparently they're scared of foxes?!). I do like upcycling! I think it turned out great, used a cushion pad from Ikea.

Front

Back

Love Melanie x

We're back!

2012-02-08T14:04:00.000Z

Started my new course of independent study in stitch at Committed to Cloth. Had an amazing group critique session for my last piece of 2011, stood and spoke the truth and understood how critique can move you on in life and work. Felt release, light, support.

Started a new piece based on a free-pieced curve.

Learning to use a design board, the work flowed. I am using fabrics I have dyed and printed over the last couple of years.

Upstairs at the barn where we have our delicious lunches.

Goodbye from an orange sunset.

Much love

Melanie x

A Very Cherry New Year

2012-01-01T11:08:00.002Z

I found a small piece of cherry fabric in the bargain box at my favourite fabric store. Not big enough to make another Pinny of Power but I did manage to make a little cherry sweetie bag out of it.

And inside I've put Cherries in Chocolate, Cherry Drops and Cherry Fizz Balls!

I am going to leave it outside my cherry friends' office later on today.

A very merry cherry new year to you all!

Love Melanie x

Rest

2011-12-31T08:27:00.003Z

I finished the banner I have been working on since the spring before my self-imposed deadline of the end of the year. Here is a picture of the work in progress during a critique at Committed to Cloth.

The lettering is always one of the most time consuming parts of making a banner. I choose my fonts relating them to the work and print the letters at the appropriate size. Then I transfer the letter on to fabric to which I have applied a bonding agent, for example Heat n' Bond or Bondaweb, using a light box. Then I cut them out, heat bond them on to the background with an iron and applique round each letter with a blanket stitch. It all takes a while!

And here is the finished banner on the wall at church. I wanted to make a contemporary, thought provoking banner. I used the image of the everlasting laundry basket, one thing is sure and that is that you will produce laundry for the rest of your life. You can never reach the end of your laundry as soon as you can see the bottom of the basket new laundry is created. I have been thinking about this scripture for some time. We say Rest in Peace when one of our loved ones or someone we respect dies but wouldn't it be amazing if we could rest in peace now. Twentyfirst century life doesn't offer us a whole lot of rest.

Rest in Peace

Melanie x

October Cake of the Month

2011-12-01T07:14:00.001Z

I'm a bit behind with Cake of the Month and I'm having a catch-up. I invested in three very good quality 20cm loose bottom cake pans from Lakeland so that I can make the layer cakes from the Hummingbird Bakery books.

The question for October Cake of the Month was : -

I can reveal that the question to answer to win October Cake of the Month is - Who is your favourite puppet?

And the winning answer : -

It has to be sooty, sweep, sue and little cousin scampi - we could really embaress Charlie and Joe by reminding them how obsessed they used to be over them..........

The winner received a Maple and Pecan Layer Cake. The recipe came from Cake Days by the Hummingbird Bakery.

I'm going to try and make November Cake of the Month today!

Love Melanie x

Pinny of Power #2

2011-11-27T21:40:00.001Z

Do you remember I made a pink polka dot cherry frilly pinny for a friend who has a cherry business? Well I made another one for his colleague.

Here it is modelled by my lovely husband.

As you can see I have sewed blue polka dot frills this time to make it a bit more butch.

I discovered the gorgeous cherry fabric in one of my favourite fabric stores, The Owl and the Sewing Cat.

Now both my friends have a cherry Pinny of Power!!

Love Melanie x

Committed to Cloth - Last Session of 2011!

2011-11-18T18:42:00.000Z

I had my last session at Committed to Cloth for 2011. Next year I will be doing independant study in stitch and as we do not go back until February there is quite a long break. I spent most of the last session scraping thickened dyes on to some new fabric with a credit card.

The blank canvas

I need some pink and purple fabric.

And some blue.

I added some purple to my spirals piece. Well, I have some fabric to keep me going for a few months.

Love Melanie x

September Cake of the Month

2011-10-16T21:05:00.001+01:00

September Cake of the Month was a Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Cake. It smells absolutely delicious when it's cooking and the recipe comes from Nigella.com

So, here's the question: -

To win the September Cake of the Month answer this question - If the following heads of state competed in an arm-wrestling tournament who do you think would win; President Dalia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania, O le Ao o le Malo Tufuga Efi of Samoa, President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, President Ollanta Humala of Peru or Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei?

And the winners answer: -
I want to say Ali Bongo, I have no idea who that is but the name reminds me of a tropical fruit drink with a catchy theme tune which we used to sing on the way to school. Um Bongo Um Bongo they drink it in the Congo!

I gave her a 3-pack of Um Bongo to go with the cake. It's exclusively supplied by Asda in the UK now.

And do they drink Um Bongo in the Congo? Let us ask the ever reliable Wikipedia: -

It was believed it was unlikely that Um Bongo is drunk in either the Republic of the Congo or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the Portuguese version has been spotted for sale in a 'Jambo mart' in Lubumbashi in Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Love Melanie x

Salvation Army Auction Quilt

2011-10-16T18:39:00.000+01:00

It was the black tie fundraiser for the day centre yesterday. It was an Auction of Promises at the Town Hall and although I haven't heard the final figures I do believe the target of raising over £3000 was met. Excellent!! The Salvation Army Stitchers (the S.A.S!) donated a beautiful single bed quilt in shades of lilac, purple and pink.

My dog, Billie, loves to walk over and sit on any of my quilts in progress. Very helpful, NOT!

One of my quilt group friends lent me a pigma pen to write a label, I usually embroider one but I ran out of time with this quilt.

We were glad to help raise some money for a cause close to my heart. I hope the new owner enjoys their quilt.

Love Melanie x

Bye Baby Bunting

2011-10-16T18:15:00.004+01:00

Finished another baby quilt just in time for the arrival of the grandson of one of the stitchers in my day centre sewing group. I've covered his name with a little mouse! One of my quilt group friends made the orange dog block.

His Grandma made some of the blocks and chose the colours.

Trains on the back!

Welcome to the world baby boy, God bless you.

Love Melanie x

Cake Update

2011-09-10T09:57:00.000+01:00

Let's have an update on my recent cakes. I had a break from Cake of the Month in August as I really needed it! Yesterday I finally made the winning cake for July Cake of the Month. The question was: -
I am going to make an intergalactic, time-travelling Dr Who cakeanoid for July Cake of the Month. Just answer the following question; if you had a TARDIS or similar time-travelling machine which moment in history/space/time would you visit or re-visit? Answers below and I will pick a winner.
And the winning answer: -
I would not travel far, just back to the summer of 1992 when I'd finished school and had the best summer ever, no responsibilities, great weather, and just heaps of laughter.

For my husband's birthday this year I thought it would be good to start the day with a mini-birthday cake for breakfast.

We had dinner with our parents and children in the evening and he had his main birthday cake then.

The recipe was from a very interesting book by Harry Eastwood called Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache. The recipes all contain vegetables and are made with spelt or rice flour. This light chocolate cake had 200g of butternut squash in it. It was moist and delicious and I didn't tell anyone about the veggies until after they had finished (I never do with my family!). I think this cake could count as one of your five-a-day!

I got some fabulous, unusual British berries which were a limited edition from Waitrose. They tasted a bit like raspberries. Looked fancy :)

Well, that's the end of my cake update. More baked goods to come, I'm sure.

Love Melanie x

Bagz

2011-08-14T12:37:00.002+01:00

Seem to have been making a lot of bags lately. I've been holding on to this adorable piece of vintage fabric for a while now and I recently used to make a little cocktail bag for my brother-in-law's girlfriend. I had enough material and trim to make two so I also made one for myself. Love that vintage 1950s look.

I dyed this percale a charcoal colour and then discharged it using thermofax screens and an old brush for the border fabric. This screen is a cow parsley design from thermofaxscreens.

I quilted it with cow parsley shapes too, to echo the design. I like the way it looks on the back, like autumn trees.

The other side of the bag is another piece of the charcoal fabric discharged with a sand dollar design and a circular sponge.

Now I don't have to carry my cutting mat and ruler to class in a large plastic Next bag!

This bag has a sepia look which I like.

I made this for a Snoopy fan friend's baby. It was a present for her dedication service.

I love Snoopy (still!)

Well, I think that's all the bags folks!

Love Melanie x

Have a Doris Day!

2011-07-17T13:24:00.000+01:00

Bought a lovely cherry fat quarter at the new fabric shop in my town and thought I would make a pinny for friends who have a cherry business. I love these 1950s style aprons, I think I'll make some more. I recently watched the Doris Day and Gordon MacRae film On Moonlight Bay and the sequel By the Light of the Silvery Moon and Doris Day was actually wearing a pink polka dot apron in one of them. I don't know who was prettier Doris day or Gordon MacRae! They don't make films like that anymore. I used to love watching them on Saturday afternoons when I was little. Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Debbie Reynolds; wonderful!

It's reversible!

Modelled by my lovely Mum!

And a cherry card to go with it.

Love Melanie x

Gonk Babies - Part Deux

2011-07-16T10:41:00.000+01:00

Made more gonk babies! Dropped off two for my friend's birthday yesterday and just posted the other two to their new home.

The fleecy bits I have left are getting smaller so I think the future gonk babies will be tinier too. Micro gonk babies?!

More gonk love

Melanie x

June Cake of the Month

2011-07-10T14:00:00.000+01:00

Here is the question I posed for June Cake of the Month: -

June Cake of the Month! I am going to go with "What is your favourite word?". I love words, I used to read the dictionary a lot when I was little. Put your current best choice in the comment box you could win this month's cake. :)

There were so many answers, here's the winner; How about this: Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia - it means a fear of long words. ...

The winner is someone I decided would appreciate something a little more sophisticated than usual so I made a chocolate orange cake decorated with candied oranges from a Nigella Lawson recipe.

And I have already asked the question for July's Cake of the month!

Love Melanie x

Postcards from the Edge

2011-07-10T13:47:00.000+01:00

Love stationery! I clip and keep images and text which catch my eye from newspapers and magazines so that I can make my own postcards as I also love snail mail!

Sent this one to a good friend yesterday.

Happy Sunday

Love Melanie x

70th Birthday Quilt

2011-07-08T20:49:00.002+01:00

I made a quilt for my Aunty Wendy's 70th birthday. I am really pleased with how it turned out, I think it's one of my favourites out of all the quilts I've made and definately it's in my aunty's colours. I dyed and printed all the fabric myself, in fact you can see some here.

I dyed a sheet one of my Seven Sisters Quilt Group friends gave me a bright lime green to back the quilt with.

I sewed a cross stitch labels and applied them to one of the blocks. The quilt pattern is 'Disappearing Nine Patch'. We love this pattern at our quilt group, since one of our members taught it to us we have made lots of quilts with this pattern.

I put two vintage Milly Molly Mandy books in the parcel. I have already given my aunt the first two books as she loves them. She translates them in to Swedish for her grandchildren as she reads to them.

There was a worrying day or two when I thought the parcel had got lost in the post but thankfully it arrived in Sweden eventually.

Phew!

Love Melanie x

Flower Corsages

2011-07-08T20:10:00.000+01:00

We made these fabric flower corsages recently at the Salvation Army day centre sewing group. Very Sarah Jessica Parker, n'est pas? They have a brooch pin sewed on to the back so you can pin them on your jacket or your bag.

The clients didn't want to make them at first when I showed them what we were doing. Sometimes there's not a whole lot of diplomacy amongst the homeless and vulnerable. Once we got going they enjoyed making them and the finished result though. We always show what we make to the two lovely volunteer ladies who do the catering on Wednesdays and man (woman!) the hatch. They are generous in their praise and admiration which is a real encouragement to the clients (and to me!).

Not many sessions until the end of term.

Love Melanie x

Cake Pops

2011-07-08T19:47:00.000+01:00

One of my Seven Sisters Quilt Group friends gave me an article about cake pops recently. Cakes on sticks! She knows I like to bake and she thought I would be interested.

I bought one from Waitrose reduced from £1.49 to 49p!

It was pretty and delicious.

Nice idea for a gift, I think I'll have a go at making some.

Watch this space!

Love Melanie x

Blackcurrant & Cassis Cake

2011-07-07T07:28:00.001+01:00

My friend Alison, who has green fingers, gave me a punnet of fantastic blackcurrants from her garden.

I used them to make the Blackcurrant & Cassis Cake from The Big Book of Cakes and Cookies by Hannah Miles.

Lovely marbled filling of mascarpone, icing sugar, crème fraîche, poached blackcurrants and cassis.

I gave it to my husband for a present and it tasted even better on the second day!

Love Melanie x

Strawberry Cloud Cake

2011-06-17T14:07:00.000+01:00

Made my first Strawberry Cloud Cake! Mmmmmmm.......... The recipe is from The Big Book of Cakes & Cookies by Hannah Miles who I think won Masterchef UK a couple of years ago. Here's how you do it; make a meringue shell in a springform cake tin.

Then make a strawberry syrup, let it cool and add it to whipped double cream with softened gelatine to make a lovely light pink mousse.

Put the mousse in the meringue shell, refrigerate for two hours and cover with more whipped double cream and strawberries.

I would happily fall face first in to one. It comes in a couple of other flavours in the book; Lemon & Raspberry Cloud Cake and Coconut Cream Cloud Cake.

This was for my Mum's birthday so I stuck a little fairy candle in it!

Happy Birthday Mum!

Love Melanie x

Gonk Babies

2011-06-09T10:12:00.000+01:00

I made gonk babies recently with the homeless sewing group at the day centre, the Salvation Army Stitchers (or SAS as I like to call them). They are made from lovely soft fleece, which one of my friends from Seven Sisters Quilt Group gave me, and they are stuffed with rice. They feel really squidgy. They are the offspring of the gonks I made before!

We have got in to a routine now at our wednesday afternoon sewing sessions, we alternate one week making a block for the quilts we are all making and one week making a project which the clients can take away at the end of the session. I have been using my gargantuan stash of fabric and craft materials, it's good to see it being used!

Gonk love

Melanie x

May Cake of the Month (only a little bit late!)

2011-06-04T08:41:00.002+01:00

Here's what happened with May Cake of the Month :-

It's May Cake of the Month time! A Rapture related question for you, how would you like to spend your last day on Planet Earth? Leave your answer below and you could win a fantabulous, rapturous cake (if I'm still here to make it!).

Winning May answer - If... It were our last day on earth I would like it to be my wedding day all over again.. all the people I love most in The world were there to share my day and make it as wonderful as it could have possibly been... it truly was the best day of my life owing to all the wonderful people who were there x x

Winner won an Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake recipe from Feast by Nigella Lawson.

Runner up May Answer - Oo it's all kicking off at 6 tonight (our time). Just in case, could you leave a spare cake somewhere I could find it? Thanks.

Last day on earth? I'd spend it in bed with L****** and R** eating Weetabix and watching Sopranos.

Runner up won a Malteser Cake recipe also from Feast by Nigella Lawson.

Well the world didn't end! There will be more cakes.

Love Melanie x

Royal Wedding

2011-05-28T08:50:00.000+01:00

I made a Royal Wedding care package for my Australian namesake and I can finally tell you about it as it has arrived. It took over a month! I thought it was lost in the post. The parcel contained union flag serviettes, small notebook and stickers and a tea cosy which I made.

I made the tea cosy from vintage cotton lawns which one of the lovely ladies in my quilt group gave me and ribbons and trim from my stash.

The metre of thermal wadding I purchased is lasting a long time, you can certainly make a lot of tea cosies from one metre!

Going along with the Royal Wedding theme April Cake of the Month was a mini Royal Wedding cake.

Ah April, tis a bittersweet month. I always thought if it didn't work out between me and Mr B I could always marry Prince William and be Queen but sadly I have to report that Lee and I are very happy and it seems that William will marry Kate.....sigh (BUT I WAS BORN TO BE QUEEN!!!!!). So April Cake of the Month will be a small wedding cake. If you were invited to the big shindig what wedding gift would you take for Mr and Mrs Wales?

My April answer! - I would give them a garlic press as I just got a very posh one from my in-laws for my birthday and it's very useful. Also, one of my favourite memories is staying with my good friend J*** C******, J*** P***** as she was then, in Swansea when we were students and saying to her "There's a garlic press on your bathroom floor" to which she replied "I know, it's been there for months".

Winning April answer No. 1 - Controversially, I hate garlic presses. They're a pain to clean and you waste garlic. I'd buy the royal couple a good set of knives. Every kitchen needs sharp knives- they have soooo many uses. Chopping garlic being one of them.

Winning April answer No. 2 - That garlic press stayed there for the whole year we rented that house. Never knew where it came from. I would give them a knitted dolly toilet roll holder like you gave me. Who wouldn't want one of those.

Winning April answer No. 3 - They are in Wales & called Wales ( but why not Windsor ? ), so I'd buy them a Welsh love spoon.

Congratulations to the winners of the cakes and huge congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (wasn't it a lovely wedding......sigh)

Love Melanie x

March Cake of the Month (a little late!)

2011-05-27T19:48:00.001+01:00

Here's what happened with March Cake of the Month : -

For March Cake of the Month I will make you something from The Whoopie Pie Book (which is new and I haven't even used it yet) if you can come up with the best answer to the following question; if a movie was made of your life who would play you?

March winning answer - I would be played by Kevin Costner (started well then went rapidly downhill) or Norman Wisdom (always falling down but getting back up again) it would have to be shot in grainy black and white. My biggest problem would be casting my wonderful wife, I think only Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffanys & Roman Holiday era) has enough grace and beauty to come close. Please feel free to reach for a bucket at this poiint.

More cake fun coming up!

Love Melanie x

Extravagant, Audacious, Outrageous, Amazing Grace

2011-05-21T08:50:00.000+01:00

This year the challenge I have given myself is to make, at least, three new banners for my church. The last series of banners were made in 1992 and are looking a little dated now. I am working on them at my independant study days with Committed to Cloth. I do the grunt work at home in between. I dyed and printed the cloth for this banner and machine quilted each segment differently. The community church I am part of rents a community centre to meet in so it's good to have banners as a pleasing visual.

Love Melanie x

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

2011-05-21T08:30:00.002+01:00

I have been working my way through Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, it has some great recipes for week night dinners. Not sure if I'm managing to do them in 30 minutes though, I think I fall down on the "First get all your equipment and ingredients ready" bit!

We are quite taken with the Catherine wheel sausages where you unwind a dozen linked sausages and squidge them in to one long sausage. Then you roll up the long sausage into a Catherine wheel shape, stuff some sage leaves in to the gaps, splash over some olive oil, season and bung it in the oven.

The sage and leek gravy that goes with it is made with cider and is really delicious.

The tray-baked chicken was scrumptious. Flavoured with oregano, paprika, rosemary and baked with cherribelle tomatoes on the vine, quartered lemon and pancetta. Mmmmm.

We had it with orichette and runner beans.

Looking forward to more 30-minute(ish!) meals.

Love Melanie x

Growing and Preserving

2011-05-20T17:08:00.000+01:00

I love snail mail! Nothing like getting a parcel in the post is there. So I got together a care package for my friend Alison who loves to grow stuff and is then great at preserving her produce. Alison and Chris's home-made wine is notorious, possibly similar to Tom Good's peapod burgundy in "The Good Life". The parcel contains some Lakeland jam jar toppers and labels, Eat Your Veggies badges, Jamie Oliver freebie basil seeds some cute veggie and jam bags I made and a Kasja Wikman postcard. Can't wait till she receives it!

Love Melanie x

Catch-up

2011-02-17T09:11:00.002Z

I thought we'd have a little catch-up as I didn't blog over Christmas I didn't show you some of the pictures I took. I was really pleased with this lobster stocking which I made for the last facebook giveaway of 2010. Here's the question: -

It’s the final giveaway and I am giving away a handmade lobster stocking with orange marabou trim and a treat inside if you can answer the following question. If it takes 12 eggs to make 2 Christmas cakes and 1 dozen gingerbread cookies, and 19 eggs to make 3 Christmas cakes and 2 dozen gingerbread cookies, how many eggs does it take to make one Christmas cake? Have a go, have a guess, phone a friend!

Did you get the answer?

Our good friends dropped this box of delicious muffins round. Mmmmmmmmm...........

I made 22 Matryoshka dolls in all. I gave them as take home gifts at my quilt group and book group Christmas parties and I made one for my Mum (an Anglo-Indian Matryoshka) and one for a friend's grandaughter.

I got the Peanuts fabric for this tea cosy from ebay. It was for the November 2010 facebook giveaway.

Here's the question: -

It's November Giveaway Time! This month I am giving away a Peanuts tea cosy and a trug of tea. To enter the competition please leave a comment mentioning your favourite tipple. If you're not sure what a trug is just ask someone from Sussex!

And the winner answered: -

Cappuccino made at home using the expresso machine my lovely kids gave me a few birthdays ago...ice cold ginger beer (Safeways own used to hit the spot, but sadly no longer)...Orangina because it reminds me of holidays in France...red wine ( for the same reason) and advokaat and lemonade (aka Snowball), the first 'grown-up' drink my dad used let me try at Christmas. I'm sentimental when it come to tipples

Here's a baby quilt I finished for a very special baby, I embroidered her name on it (but I've covered it with a handy duck!)

Looking forward to more making in 2011!

Love Melanie x

February Cake of the Month

2011-02-16T20:28:00.002Z

February Cake of the Month. Sorted.

Here's what happened: -

It's February Cake of the Month!! This month I am giving away cherry coconut brownies, they are limited edition as they are from an Australian Women's Weekly recipe and require one of my friends to send over a Cherry Ripe bar from Oz (thanks to Hannah currently living in Perth!). Ah February, when our thoughts turn to the romantic; did you ever have a crush on a teacher when you were at school? Spill the beans and you might win the brownies!

And the winning comments: -

My biology teacher looked like Tom Selleck (Magnum PI) .....thanks to him and those moustached good looks, that was about the only subject I did really well in!!

Mr Baird - wasnt he lovely ? Passionate about Macbeth to the point he lost himself, especially when he wrote on the overhead projector screen thinking it was a Nobo white board !!

I made an old school coffee and walnut cake as a runner up prize. It was as nice, if not nicer, than the brownies! Thinking up a question for March now.

Cake love

Melanie x

Valentine's Day Baking

2011-02-16T11:26:00.000Z

Baked my Beloved a big ole heart shaped scone for V-Day as we are 'esconced' together!

Added some Jersey cream, Bonne Maman strawberry conserve and a mahoosive fruit and nut Toblerone (now gone!)

Valentine's love

Melanie xx

Mmmmmm Breakfast

2011-02-08T22:27:00.001Z

Had one of my favourite breakfasts today, four minute soft boiled egg with asparagus dippy soldiers and sea salt. Delish.

What's your favourite breakfast?

Love Melanie x

Schiacciata with Mozarella and Bacon

2011-02-04T10:05:00.000Z

I made schiacciata as it is known in Florence and is what I would call focaccia. The recipe was from Nigella's 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'. I didn't have the gorgonzola or pine nuts it required so I used mozarella and bacon. As my eldest son would say "Nom, nom, nom".

Love Melanie x

Return of Cake of the Month!!

2011-02-04T08:05:00.001Z

I am happy to announce the return of Cake of the Month! Wahey!! I am doing it for my facebook giveaway fun this year and January's cake was a Chocolate Malteser Cake. The recipe was from Feast by, everyone's favourite, Nigella Lawson. Answer a question of my posing and you could win a cake.

I made two and here are the winning answers to the question; would you rather live in a wigwam or an igloo?

Igloo, lots of warm furry animal skins in the snow and ice... Skiing, making snowmen and other Pingu type high japery available outside the front door - fabulous!

could i not put a wigwam around an igloo and have the best of both worlds,even the multi-coloured tie dyed one.just a simple thought by a simple person xx

Already working on February's giveaway!

Love Melanie x

Stitching with Intent

2011-02-02T18:26:00.000Z

This year I am taking a different textile course, 'Stitching with Intent' which is run by Committed to Cloth. We have had our first session and we also had a pre-first session meeting both at Chequer Mead Arts Centre in East Grinstead. Chequer Mead is a great venue with a huge studio for us to work in and it has a cafe which serves the most delicious food, however, in March or April we will be moving to the brand new pupose built textile studio in the barn conversion at Bovey Cottage. Very exciting!

Here is my work in progress. This year I am making church bannners and the first one is based on grace. I am using fabric which I produced last year when I took 'Wet n' Wild' with Committed to Cloth. I am using the light box my husband made me to speed along the fairly time consuming job of tracing and cutting out letters. I wanted to use typography and I enlarged the words to 500 on the computer and printed them. Much easier than drawing and cutting out templates like in the old days!

Still got another two words to cut out.

Love Melanie x

Committed to Cloth - Session 10

2011-01-19T18:53:00.000Z

Here are the pictures from the last Wet n' Wild class which was in November 2010! I finished off some fabric I am going to use in the church banners I will be making in 2011.

I printed lots of lobsters from the thermofax screen I had made from my sister's illustration. So many that one of my teachers said to me "More lobsters?!".

Lobster love

Melanie x

Selvage Tea Cosy

2011-01-10T10:21:00.001Z

We've hosted a few afternoon teas lately. Scones, jam and clotted cream, cucumber sandwiches, a big family cake on a stand all enjoyed on our Royal Grafton tea service (which my husband was asked to dispose of during a site clearance but found it's way back to our house!). Now I've used the selvages I have been collecting to make a tea cosy. Thank you Pam from Seven Sisters Quilt Group for the bag of selvages. It really was one of my best Christmas presents :)

More tea Vicar?

Love Melanie x

More Snow!

2010-12-18T21:03:00.005Z

Made snowman finger puppets with the Salvation Army homeless day centre sewing group. As only one lady turned up we made one each, they were twins!

Keep warm!

Love Melanie x

Committed to Cloth - Session 9

2010-10-16T09:38:00.012+01:00

The penultimate session of Wet 'n Wild! We worked on our own pieces and I moved on my violet breakdown print, put some marks on my small discharge pieces (which I had accidentally left for too long in the Thiox vat!) and started two new pieces of fabric which will be used in a banner I will be making for church.

That year went quickly!

Love from Melanie x

Committed to Cloth - Sessions 7 and 8

2010-09-20T18:40:00.017+01:00

A bit of a catch-up with my Wet 'n Wild textile course. In July I fabric painted flowers on my tray dyed fabric.

As the weather was hot I attempted another breakdown print and was very pleased with the results.

We had August off and in September we learned the technique of paper lamination. Loved it!

I will take a photo of the finished cloth to show you. Can you pick out Bridgette Bardot in the work in progress?

Love Melanie x

Attack of the Killer Almond Cakes.

2010-09-12T07:42:00.005+01:00

I have been going through an almond phase. My Mum picked up a load of sugared almond favours which were left behind after a wedding she went to (I take after her I can't abide waste either!) and that started me off. I made my husband an almond cake for his birthday from a Nigella recipe (from the divine 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'). Then I made an iced cherry and marzipan cake from the leftover marzipan for the staff at my old clinic. The recipe was from jamieoliver.com. It was the most almondy cake in the world containing as it did; ground almonds, marzipan, almond extract and amaretto and topped with sugared almonds. Hopefully nobody there has a nut allergy!

Do you like almonds?

Love from Melanie x

Send the Fire!

2010-09-12T07:35:00.003+01:00

I made this card for my friend Caroline. We did the children's work together this summer at church and these scraps of fabric backed with HeatnBond Lite were left over from a banner we made with the kids. They really enjoyed making it and happily nobody got burned with the iron (they were heavily supervised!).

Happy Sunday

Love from Melanie x

A Bit More.............

2010-07-10T21:02:00.014+01:00

Thought I'd show you a few more things we made at our Wednesday afternoon sewing group at the homeless day centre.

Bow tie blocks made in to drawstring bags.

Bunting!

Purses embellished with yo-yos (or Suffolk puffs)

Haven't we been busy! And as a finale in the last lesson of term everyone is going to make a puppet, we're all looking forward to Wednesday.

Love Melanie x

Teaching Needlework at the Homeless Day Centre

2010-06-26T17:46:00.027+01:00

I have been teaching needlework at the Salvation Army Homeless Day Centre on a Wednesday afternoon for about two months now. It's quite a small group and so far I have only had four ladies at the most. We started by making felt lavendar heart-shaped sachets.

I teach one technique/project per week and I finish anything that needs finishing off at home. I wanted to veer away from sewing people had done at school where it could take a whole year to make an apron for domestic science! I keep things short and snappy. The ladies love their completed projects and are delighted to take their bags, cushions etc away with them.

As we sew the ladies talk about their lives and I listen. The creativity is good and it's something different from the difficult situations, mental health issues, substance abuse and housing problems that many of the ladies are dealing with. For the Auction of Promises I made my examples in to a cushion. The day centre is in it's early days it only opened on March 1st 2010 so the Salvation Army are raising funds to run more projects.

I'm so blessed to live in a lovely, warm house.

Love Melanie x

Violet

2010-06-26T15:35:00.007+01:00

Meet Violet! I made her for my June facebook giveaway. She has her own bag and a lovely dolly quilt to snuggle up under. One of my friends from the Seven Sisters Quilt Group gave me the little triangle blocks when she was culling her fabric stash and I only had to make five more little squares to complete the quilt. Using what you have is the true philosophy behind patchwork and quilting, isn't it?

The question to enter my giveaway is "What was your favourite toy when you were little?". Not exactly a toy but I did love my "Sail Away with Snoopy" bag. What about you?

Love Melanie x

Home Improvements

2010-06-03T07:42:00.017+01:00

Our building project has come on marvellously and it is quite fantastic not to be living in a building site anymore. We are well in to the decoration phase now. The car park at the front has been slabbed with beautiful Indian stone. It's immense! I got this tin bath from a second-hand shop. I've wanted one ever since I saw Kirstie's Homemade Home on television last year. My husband has painted the inside with Galvafroid paint and planted it up with pretty flowers. LOVE IT!!

I have been searching for a while for a huge gilt frame to turn in to a chalk board. Prohibitively expensive on ebay but I found one at the shop at my local council tip for £3!! I think it looks like it comes from The Conran Shop for at least £100. There was an oil painting, a pastoral scene, in the frame. My husband thought it might be worth a fortune but after some consideration we decided it probably wasn't and he painted it with blackboard paint. Hope it wasn't a Constable.

We have some flooring going down today. I will keep you posted.

Love Melanie x

Committed to Cloth - Session 5

2010-06-02T18:44:00.052+01:00

The month of May brought breakdown printing. We did this technique as it was a lovely, warm day and the screens need to dry before you use can use them.

Screen being prepared.

Dribbly screen.

Demonstration of breakdown printing.

Students screens drying.

My breakdown printing ready for batching, rinsing and washing.

Screen printing spirals.

Beautiful wisteria at the cottage where the studio is.

Pool room, where half the students work.

Screen print I made using torn masking tape on the screen.

Almost half way through the course and learning lots!

Love Melanie x

Gonks

2010-05-10T11:18:00.014+01:00

It all started with Gary the Gonk. I made him to go in the 1970s themed gift box I made for my April facebook giveaway.

Gary the Gonk

Here he is sitting on the edge of the gift box. Doesn't he look handsome?

We often talk to our kids about the 1970s; when you had four cardboard library tickets instead of a swipe card, when my Mum knitted my sister and me matching purple trouser suits on her knitting machine (and prayed it didn't rain!), when we took our lunches to the beach in a cool box and we were allowed one ice cream and I had a "Midnight Mint". So they wanted a 1970's gonk each. Let me introduce you to Darren and Kevin (fine 1970's names!).

Groovy, aren't they?

Love Melanie x

What Have I Been Up To Lately?

2010-05-10T10:43:00.036+01:00

I wanted to show you some of the projects I've completed recently. They've all gone off to their new homes now but fortunately I took some photos before they left.

Goodie bag I made for my March facebook giveaway, packed with tempting treats.

A bonnet I made as a tongue in cheek birthday present for one of my best friends. Sent off to Wales (and I hope she's wearing it to work every day!).

Do you like the colour we had our hallway painted?

An Easter banner for my Mum who likes to put some seasonal decoration in her porch.

Used the Carol Doak foundation piecing patterns for this.

A little sleepy bunny!

The back

I've been saving this folksy wire hanger for a long time, waiting for the right project to come along.

Completion is one of my favourite feelings. Have you finished anything lately?

Love Melanie x

Jennie Rayment Workshop

2010-04-18T20:05:00.028+01:00

I went on an excellent free machine quilting and machine embroidery workshop taught by Jennie Rayment in Emsworth, Hampshire.

We spent the morning learning some really fun machine embroidery techniques including flowers and grass.

Do you like my stone wall? Does it look like it needs pointing?

And here's Jennie herself!

I learned a lot and I think the free motion quilting techniques clicked with me. I am hoping to machine quilt some (most?) of my quilts as I just don't have the time to hand quilt them all.

At the end of the workshop I had another go at stippling and I think with lots of practice I should be able to get a good result.

So, loads of learning lately. It's been good.

Love Melanie x

Committed to Cloth - Session 4

2010-04-18T14:03:00.021+01:00

Session 4 was all about resists! We learned about using soy wax, washable PVC and freezer paper to mask off areas of cloth which could then be printed.

I brushed a piece with soy wax and then brushed on thin procion dye in scarlet and magenta.

I spent the rest of the day working on the pieces I printed last session.

Loops in red brown drawn with a needle-nosed bottle.

Next session we are going to start thermofax printing unless the weather is very hot and then we are going to do breakdown printing.

Love Melanie x

Bunny + Chick

2010-03-11T08:09:00.007Z

I made a couple of Easter tree ornaments from some fleecy scraps. I had to get them done early as I am sending them overseas. Hopefully if I send them today they will arrive before Good Friday.

Bunny has a tail!

Love Melanie

Coconut Bars

2010-02-20T12:10:00.005Z

Another winner from 'The Big Book of Baking. I wanted to bake something quickly this morning for my guys to take on their football trip and I had some sour cream left over which I wanted to use. I made the sticky toffee cake from the same book yesterday for my sister and nephews' visit but it was eaten before I remembered to take a picture. D'oh!

Here it is before I cut it in to bars.

Do you like coconut?

Love Melanie x

Committed To Cloth - Session 2

2010-02-19T18:30:00.020Z

At session 2 of Wet 'n Wild we did part 2 of the family dyeing. I am really pleased with the palette of cloth that this created; golden yellow, violet, purple, dark brown, twelve related colours in total.

The rest of the session was taken up with tray dyeing. For my single colour tray dyeing I used petrol blue and pleated the fabric.

Here it is rinsed and dried. There is quite a lot of white left and I think I am going to over-dye it.

For my dual colour tray dyeing I used acid yellow and turqoise to generate multi-coloured fabric with textural marks.

Here it is rinsed and dried. My sister says it looks like material from a wedding dress from "My Big, Fat Gypsy Wedding". I call it 'Bondi Beach Towel'. I am definately going to either over-dye it or re-dye it in a tray.

So, I am off to soda soak my fabric.

Love Melanie x

Hearts + Flowers

2010-02-19T18:21:00.011Z

I forgot to show you the flowers my Valentine gave me.

Aren't they gorgeous?

And I got him this hilarious piece of art.

Well it made us laugh anyway!

Love Melanie x

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T21:00:00.020Z

We had so much fun this Valentine's Day. I am having a giveaway on facebook every month this year and this month I gave away a cream tea at our house.

I made the marshmallow cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. They were very pink and glittery.

And Nigella's old-fashioned chocolate cake which is a sour cream chocolate cake. It's covered in Hershey's kisses and three heart shaped sparklers which I eventually managed to light with some persistence.

Scones, of course. I used the Mary Berry recipe and they were nice and light. We had Bon Maman strawberry preserves and Cornish clotted cream. Mmmmmmm

To my own Valentine - Love you more than Hetty Hoover loves Henry Hoover (and that's a lot!)

Valentine Love from Melanie x

Committed to Cloth

2010-01-19T15:20:00.029Z

This year I am taking a wet media course with the Surrey based textile artists Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan who together run Committed to Cloth. The first session was snowed off and re-booked for last Sunday. We learned about low-water immersion dyeing with demonstrations followed by hands-on work. I enjoyed myself immensely and learned a lot too. The teaching style is friendly and easy to understand. I still have a bit of a chip on my shoulder about art. Still rememember being asked to leave the artroom at school after being told my assessment grades weren't good enough for me to be able to take o-level art. A long, humiliating walk across the artroom in front of all the other kids. Well my old school I would like to say to you "Apparently Marc Chagall didn't take o-level art either!!!".

I dyed a metre of cotton sateen without urea to produce a crunchy effect.

Then I went on to dye 12 fat quarters of cotton sateen three shades (light, medium and dark) of golden yellow for the first part of family dyeing. We will do the next part in the next session.

We bagged our work up to rinse at home.

Voila! Rinsed and washed, I'm really pleased with my fabric.

The location of the studio is stunning and the other women seem really nice. I woke up this morning thinking about fabric, I'm looking forward to the next session!

Love Melanie x

Mr Pinchy Mini-Me Finger Puppet

2010-01-16T16:19:00.007Z

Mr Pinchy is having a giveaway on his facebook fan page. I love giveaways! In fact, my new year's resolution is to have lots more giveaways, so watch this space. I made Mr Pinchy a limited edition "Mr Pinchy Mini-Me Finger Puppet" out of felt. I used to make loads of felt finger puppets while I was waiting poolside for my youngest to finish his swimmimg lesson. Happy days!

In order to enter the draw Mr Pinchy's fans have to leave a comment stating their favourite disco hit. Everyone knows Mr Pinchy loves disco!

Love Melanie x

Happy New Year!

2010-01-08T10:24:00.017Z

Computer at home is on the blink and awaiting the lovely Amanda, computer engineer extraordinaire. Haven't been able to blog since before Christmas but I have battled through the snow and I'm at my husband's office downloading photos and typing. Don't want to let my readers (I mean reader - Hi Mum!) down. So, here is the last cake of the month club offering.

Nigella's Bûche de Noël

And here is Miss Billie in her santa suit!

The happiest new year to you all!

Love Melanie x

Happy Lactose-Intolerant Christmas!

2009-12-21T15:28:00.006Z

Made a Christmas cake today for my husband's secretary who is lactose-intolerant. Searching through the internet I found a recipe for Wacky Cake which seemed to fit the bill. The frosting cracked somewhat when I lifted it.

Decorated with (lactose free) candy canes!

Love Melanie x

Secret Santa Sorted

2009-12-17T14:21:00.009Z

I pulled the name, out of my work secret santa draw, of the one person at my clinic that I don't really know. I have made him a Christmas stocking with his name appliqued on and I am going to fill it with a bottle of wine and a Toblerone. Would you like that?

Fortunately, he has a very short name. If his name had been Sebastian I would have got him something else!

Love Melanie x

Pear, Pistachio and Chocolate Loaf Cake

2009-12-15T07:42:00.009Z

I've made two of these already this week and I'm going to make another one for my father-in-law's birthday tomorrow. The recipe is from 'The Big Book of Chocolate' - 365 decadent and irresistible treats. Only 364 more recipes to try!

Cellophane and re-cycled gift ribbon increase the glamour!

Love Melanie x

Proper Shop-bought Cake!

2009-12-12T13:14:00.009Z

My hubby bought me some cupcakes for a present. They look too good to eat, don't they? (But I think I will!)

Right, I'm off to eat a cupcake!

Love Melanie x

Snow-Topped Spice Cake

2009-12-11T18:22:00.010Z

I returned to an old favourite book today and made the snow-topped spice cake from Nigella's 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' for my practice manager's birthday.

I always try to get her a really naff, joke present and this year I got a real humdinger. It was a lurid, lilac flannel folded around a piece of old lady soap to form the shape of a handbag, finished off with a particularly unattractive clump of artificial flowers! Someone, who I hope isn't reading this, gave it to my Mum for a gift and we are both natural born re-gifters!

Love Melanie x

Strawberry Fields Forever

2009-12-09T15:45:00.020Z

I just finished, stuffed with presents and posted this stocking to the other side of the world!

One of my friends gave me a blue Cath Kidston off-cut with strawberries on and some white broderie fabric with strawberries on and another friend from quilt group gave me a strawberry fat quarter. I decided to use some of this strawberry goodness to make a stocking for a friend who is living overseas.

Difficult to take attractive pictures on a building site.

Just for fun, I unpicked a label from an old Cath Kidston apron which is due to be dropped off at the next jumble sale and sewed it on the stocking to make it look exclusive. I did confess in the card that it's not the real deal!

Finished off with a blue ribbon to hang it up with and a white strawberry button, both from my gargantuan stash!

Hope she likes it and hope it arrives in time :s

Love Melanie x

Hummingbird Cake

2009-12-06T18:52:00.015Z

Wow, look at this big boy!

I made my parents a traditional hummingbird cake for their Cake of the Month Club. I'm still a little behind as it is cake #11. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of a slice of hummingbird cake it is a little like carrot cake but the moisture is supplied by pineapple and banana. It also contains pecan nuts.

And it has cream cheese frosting.......Mmmmm........

Penultimate cake of the year.

Love Melanie x

Rejoice!

2009-12-06T13:27:00.003Z

Rejoice on your building site!

To Wales with Love

2009-12-03T14:21:00.031Z

I have been waiting to show you these projects for a while. I had to wait until they had been safely received as they were made for friends of mine who have emigrated to Wales. My friend sent me a large bag of fabric when she moved house recently and in the spirit of 'Ready Steady Cook' I took that bag of 'ingredients' and tried to make them in to something delicious.

I made a nine-patch lap quilt with this Laura Ashley fabric.

That will keep them warm on those cold, Welsh evenings!

For their daughter I made a doll quilt.

For their son I used some kichen curtaining fabric and I made 'Asparagus Man!'.

Don't you think asparagus is sorely under-represented within the realm of superheroes?

Here he is flying off to an asparagus related emergency. Split hollandaise! Never fear Asparagus Man! is here.

Love from Melanie x

God Jul

2009-12-03T12:14:00.008Z

Quickly made a God Jul (Happy Christmas) card for my aunt and uncle in Sweden. Just off to the post office to send it now. Hope you are all enjoying Advent!

Lycklig jul, förälskelse från Melanie

My Son, the Baker

2009-11-12T07:19:00.005Z

Look what my eldest brought back from school yesterday! A Dutch apple cake which he made in food tech, and it was delicious!

Very proud Mum!

Love Melanie x

Mr Pinchy

2009-11-07T22:41:00.015Z

I promised to reveal my mystery project to you and here he is in all his glory - Mr Pinchy!

He is a fairly big lobster puppet. I occasionally use puppets to tell stories, mainly at church. Mr Pinchy made his debut last Sunday in a story concerning him and his arch nemesis a jellyfish called Julyan.

Just spreading the lobster love

Love Melanie and Mr Pinchy xx

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November...........

2009-11-07T07:57:00.025Z

Well it wasn't quite the fifth of November (it was the sixth) but Guy Fawkes night was fun! Despite driving rain my husband and my Dad, father-in-law and brothers-in-law managed to light the bonfire, cremate Guy Fawkes and launch all the fireworks. Well done to them, I think a gallon of Paraffin was involved.

What a handsome guy! Made by my youngest son.

And here's some pictures of the food.

Tower of chocolate; red velvet cupcakes, brownies, chocolate fork biscuits.

Raspberry Pavlova

Wylie Coyote surfing across a lemon cheesecake!

Hummous and crudites, the healthy option.

A blazing good time was had by all!

Love Melanie x

Blueberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-11-04T20:17:00.012Z

I just delivered the October cake to my parents for the Cake of the Month Club. Yes, I know I'm a little behind but if I make them November's cake next week I will have caught up with myself. Well, hopefully..........

So there you go blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting, the recipe was from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

Love Melanie x

Quilt Group Catch-Up

2009-10-27T17:53:00.037Z

Went to Seven Sisters Quilt Group last night, a hotbed of creativity! Let me catch you up with everyone's projects.

This tablecloth is coming on beautifully.

Absolutely love the colours.

Very organised, this advent calendar is almost finished and it's only October!

A gorgeous scrappy Double Irish Chain.

The flower quilting is very effective.

Another lovely tablecloth, this time embroidered with crocuses.

This large hexagon quilt, made from shirt material is coming along really well.

This stunning nine-patch variation quilt is for a very fortunate nephew.

I like the use of matching buttons.

And finally, another sneak peek at my mystery project.

My deadline is Sunday so I hope to show you a little more tomorrow.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my friends projects, now you can see why I look forward to alternate Monday evenings!

Love Melanie x

Jelly Baby Cupcakes

2009-10-25T19:53:00.009Z

It was my friends' son's blessing today, he is a lovely little chap! I made jelly baby cupcakes with blue icing to take along for the buffet.

When we left my youngest son said "That was so brilliant!". It really was a great afternoon.

Love Melanie x

Dorset Apple Cake

2009-10-22T23:03:00.005+01:00

I forgot to take a photo of the Dorset Apple Cake I made my parents for the belated September issue of their Cake of the Month Club. Fortunately my Dad took this picture though. Yay!

Now, what shall I bake for October?

Love Melanie x

Can you see what it is yet? (in best Rolf Harris accent)

2009-10-20T17:48:00.008+01:00

Sewing in the Building Site

2009-10-16T14:08:00.012+01:00

Well, I think the rubble and dust have receded to a level where I can get my trusty sewing machine out of her case, and I have missed her. She is a Bernina Aurora 440 Quilter's Edition, quite the most gorgeous morsel of Swiss engineering you ever did see.

And here is my work in progress. Hmmmm, I wonder what that could be?

Watch this blog to find out ;0)

Love Melanie x

Matryoshka

2009-10-16T13:52:00.017+01:00

Love those Russian dolls. I made an appliqued felt postcard with Russian dolls on it for my parents. It turned out really cute!

And look at the postcard I bought from Paperchase for my friend who loves Russian dolls. I dropped it round her house today.

Here are all the girls side by side.

Love Melanie x

Ping Pong

2009-10-12T14:42:00.012+01:00

Look at the ingenuity of my sons! Forced to live in a building site they have fashioned entertainment out of things they've found lying around; a piece of old chipboard, some old wood, gaffer tape all balanced on two dining room chairs. Hey Presto, it's a table tennis table!

As lovely as it was living with my parents it's nice to be back home. It's still a building site but it's a much neater building site ;0)

Love Melanie x

Sorry for the Delay

2009-10-02T11:37:00.005+01:00

I do apologise for the lack of posts on my blog lately but my house looks like this

Yes, we are in the middle of a MAHOOSIVE building project. It's all very exciting but last week it got to the point where the kids and myself had to move out, just for a little while. We've moved in with my parents. Lovely, warm, clean house, breakfast round the dining room table every morning (this morning it was soft boiled eggs and soldiers)whilst reading the newspaper, packed lunch made for me everyday, delicious home-cooked dinners, laundry done, shoes polished and kids helped by grandmother with their homework and music practice.

I might stay a while longer!

Love Melanie x

Things I Like!

2009-09-16T12:42:00.023+01:00

Homemade onion bhajias............Mmmmmmmm............crisp, hot and fragrant. Considerably nicer than the solid, little cannonballs you can buy in the supermarket. Cheaper too :0)

Mr & Mrs Doak's Bumper Book Shop for Boys and Girls in Eastbourne has the most amazing window displays. They are changed regularly, I will keep an eye out and take a photo next time there is a new one. They have the sweetest tea room too!

The view of the South Downs from the back of my new house.

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight!

And Viakal! I adore Viakal, I am totally committed to limescale removal ;0)

What do you like?

Love Melanie x

Double Irish Chain Quilt

2009-08-23T16:13:00.013+01:00

My parents kindly photographed this double Irish chain quilt I made for my aunt whilst they were visiting her. I've only recently started to photograph my work so unfortunately I have not got many pictures of the things I've made. I'm very fond of this quilt which is made from small squares from my stash and also from a large amount of great fabric which my friend Sally gave me.

The quilt was a Christmas present for 2007 and the needlepoint cushion (pictured below) was a present for Christmas 2008.

I'm glad to have pictures of them!

Love Melanie x

Church Banners

2009-08-23T14:55:00.047+01:00

These two banners that I made for the church I'm part of both started life as group challenges at Seven Sisters Quilt Group. For the first one everyone made a couple of little blocks which I placed around the central panel.

Here is some detail from some of the small blocks. Look at Moses in his basket amongst the reeds.

Candle, star and stained glass window.

Log cabin

House, star and apple.

This second banner was only finished recently. The group members all made part of the fish who swallowed Jonah in crazy patchwork.

As you can see Jonah is really happy to get out of that fish. My sister drew his face and I transferred the drawing on to fabric using a light box. He has red hair as I've always loved red hair and my youngest son is a redhead.

You can see some of the detail on the fish here. There is a lot of symbolism in the banner.

I would like to make some more banners, if I ever get some spare time.

Love Melanie x

Fabric Care Package

2009-08-23T14:53:00.018+01:00

Look at all the fabricy goodness! A care package, not from the Red Cross but from my very good friend who has emigrated to Wales. I can hardly wait to get my scissors in to it.

Fabulous batiks too!!

And some hexagons, already pieced over papers.

Also there were some fantastic leaflets in the parcel as my friend lives near to the Minerva Arts Centre, home of The Quilt Association and a hilarious printout from an old 1950's sewing manuel. I love getting things in the post and this parcel is just great!

Love Melanie x

Quailicious!

2009-08-20T09:15:00.009+01:00

My eldest son is at camp so I have been having a bit of a treat week with my youngest son. I let him choose what we had for dinner last night and when we were walking around the supermarket some quail took his fancy. Probably because they were so cute!

Ok, I admit a put a few more chips, sugarsnap peas and broccoli on the plate after I took the photo. They were tasty little fellows and we very much enjoyed them.

Love Melanie x

The Seven Sisters Quilt Group

2009-08-19T11:42:00.037+01:00

Let me tell you a little about the Seven Sisters Quilt Group. Firstly, there's not seven of us and we're not sisters. We're named after a group of cliffs that you will find on the coast near to where we live. Make of that what you will. We have been sewing together since 1992 when the majority of us met at patchwork and quilting adult education evening classes which were run at a local school. We meet on alternate Mondays and we've only changed our venue a couple of times. We moved recently when the quilt shop whose workshop we used unfortunately closed down. Now we are meeting in a purpose built workshop in the Sussex countryside. It's rather swanky and the lighting is fantastic. It's situated between the two towns our members live in.

The workshop was originally intended for scrapbooking and there is a lot of interesting stock to look at.

Due to the fact that many people are on their summer holidays there was only four of us at Monday's meeting. We had a good talk and sew though, even though we were few in number. I'll take you round the table and show the projects that are currently being worked on.

Some lovely large hexagons, pieced over papers. Great shirt fabric.

Some fruity, summery Dresden plate blocks which are destined to become a gorgeous tablecloth. I'm not sure if I would let my family put their plates on something so beautiful!

A very, cute clown. Almost finished, just needs his arms!

Finally, I was working on a little adjustment to the banner I made this year for my church. I shall have a picture of it completed on this blog very soon. So there we go, that's where you will find me every other Monday. Being inspired. It's good to meet with other addicts and to be able to get support for my habit.

Love Melanie x

Oatmeal Pancake

2009-08-14T15:18:00.026+01:00

Another winning breakfast from Kath Eats Real Food. This oatmeal pancake was fun to cook and very tasty, I topped it with mashed banana and almond nut butter. Mmmmmm........

It's turned out to be another delicious day. I picked my kids up from my parents' house after work. I only worked the morning so my Mum invited me to stay for lunch. Here's what we had.

Salmon fishcakes, rather scrumptious!

On the way to my parents' house I noticed a great piece of guerilla gardening. Someone has taken over the disused piece of land next to the crossing gates at Polegate. What an improvement! And they're growing veggies too.

It's inspired me to go and pull up a random weed!

Love Melanie x

Spiced Pound Cake

2009-08-13T13:44:00.013+01:00

I am working my way through the recipes in the delectable Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. I made the spiced pound cake for my parents for the August edition of the Cake of the Month Club. I felt like baking something simple and flavoursome and this cake smelled gorgeous when it came out of the oven.

Porridge

2009-08-12T14:37:00.012+01:00

Not much baking going on here at the moment but I did make myself a very delicious breakfast of porridge topped with seeds, nuts, dried cranberries and a spoonful of almond butter. I had a huge mug of green tea to go with it. I've been inspired lately by Kath Eats Real Food. As her blog title says she eats real food and the recipes are fantastic, I love her breakfasts.

Went cycling with my sons on the Cuckoo Trail today which is our local branch of the SUSTRANS (cycle) network. It was so beautiful and I am kicking myself for not taking my camera. I did take a photo of the blackberries we picked when I got home. My youngest son is a very keen blackberry picker.

They are going to make a tasty blackberry and apple crumble tonight and I can't help being pleased with the fact that they are free!

Summer Holiday

2009-08-10T15:17:00.012+01:00

I'm back from Devon, typical British holiday with torrential downpours giving way to glorious sunshine. I did take a couple of photos of some guerilla art I saw when I was in Brixham.

And a lovely latte from the Lemon Tree Cafe, just before my husband drank it.

And the Winner is.............

2009-07-27T16:40:00.007+01:00

My Mum has won the Matryoshka dolls from my first blog giveaway as she left the only comment. I will pack them up and give them to her next time I see her.

Talking of my Mum, here is some lovely fabric she bought me when she went to Tunbridge Wells.

Pink Mini-Wedding Cakes

2009-07-25T08:22:00.014+01:00

Baking time again! It was Heather and one of the Claires birthday's last week at work and as it is wedding season I made these tiered mini-wedding cakes. I also made one for my parents as for their Christmas present last year I joined them to my own exclusive Cake Club and they get a one-of-a-kind, bespoke cake every month for the whole year.

My First Blog Giveaway!

2009-07-20T12:29:00.012+01:00

To celebrate the fact that I have had my blog for almost a month I am going to have my first blog giveaway! I have made three little Matryoshka dolls and a tote bag for them to live in. Their names are Masha, Dasha and Kasha but to be honest I can't remember which one is which. So, if you would like these little Russian dolls to come and live with you please leave a comment on this post. Make sure I can contact you via your comment. I will post worldwide. I will choose the winner with random.org in about a week.

Lilla Lotta

2009-07-18T11:17:00.015+01:00

A wonderful parcel of handmade goodness has arrived from France! I discovered you could buy beautiful and very reasonably priced custom tape at Lilla Lotta's etsy shop on Karen Griska's Selvage Blog. Isn't it fantastic. You will see it soon on a little project I am working on for my first blog giveaway. Incidentally do check out Lilla Lotta owner Anna Barrow's blog, her work is gorgeous. and very French and chic.

Heirlooms

2009-07-13T13:18:00.039+01:00

I read a definition of an heirloom quilt a while back, here it is: -

A heirloom quilt is a quilt which is too good for your family to use now but good enough for a complete stranger to take to the beach in one hundred years time.

Something that I think is a real shame about quiltmaking is that many of these beautiful quilts end up folded in a cupboard or stored under someone's bed. I am a big believer in actually using quilts. They are works of art which comfort and inspire. The downside of this philosophy is that sadly, in everyday use, quilts are sometimes damaged. I wanted to show you a couple of quilts I use everyday and their unfortunate wounds.

The first sampler quilt that I made. I gave it to my husband and called it 'The Shirt Off Your Back'. Can you see the rip? I should get round to mending it, shouldn't I?

This quilt was made out of a group challenge we did at quilt group called a 'Shoe Box Shuffle'. Everyone put the requirements for a project they wanted to work on in a shoe box and every month or so all the shoe boxes would be passed round to the next quilter until we had all completed part of each individual project. Did I explain that well enough?

I love the back of this quilt, Raggedy Anne and Raggedy Andy. I received it in an internet fabric swap. Aren't they cute!

And here is just one of the horrible inkstains my son's have inflicted on it. D'oh!

If you watch the 'Antiques Roadshow' the experts will tell you that your heirlooms should be kept boxfresh and in pristine condition but then I think you lose the everyday enjoyment of seeing and using your quilts.

Sewing Day with Mum

2009-07-11T09:35:00.025+01:00

Over the last decade or so, since the children were born, time spent with my Mum seems to have become hurried and harried. We grab rushed moments, make frantic childcare arrangements, we are both very busy. We decided to put some time aside and hang out together, yesterday we got together with our sewing machines and spent the day sewing and talking and it was lovely.

I took some fleece offcuts which my friend Pam gave me along to my Mum's house and made a really sweet little pram blanket. It's so soft and snuggly. I'll put it in my present stash for the next baby that comes along (my friends are always popping them out!).

My dog, Billie Bluebell Buttercup, loves quilts and takes any opportunity to sit, lie, roll around on a quilt. My Mum was putting the sides on this lovely, bright, quilt-as-you-go sampler quilt and Billie could nor resist temptation!

While I was at my parent's house I took a photo of the quilt hanging above their bed. Unfortunately, you can't see the beading which is one of my favourite parts. I think it was one of the first quilts my Mum made.

Little Houses

2009-07-09T09:19:00.005+01:00

I entered this doll's quilt which I called 'Little Houses' in to Quilts UK in 1995. It was the first big quilt show I ever attended and I remember travelling up to Malvern in a coach and being overawed with the shear vastness of the display and the quality of the work.

Holly Hobbie

2009-07-08T12:12:00.019+01:00

My friend Pam from Seven Sisters Quilt Group gave me some adorable Holly Hobbie fabric. She gave me stacks of fantastic fabric when she had a giant clearout recently. I think it might be from the 1970s, along with my Sweet April and Tiny Tears dolls I had a Holly Hobbie doll in the seventies. As I mentioned before I have a friend who is nuts about all things pioneer and homespun so I used some of the fabric to make two drawstring bags. I lined them with red gingham and used ribbons and beads from my stash. I made two as, actually, I have two friends who like pioneer style. I made them both Laura Ingalls bonnets a while back, I'm sure they've come in very useful.

I keep my beads in an old Sarsons pickled onion jar which gives the beads a pickled onion fragrance. I quite like it and fortunately, for others, it wears off pretty quickly. I have tried scrubbing the jar with bicarbonate of soda but that pickling vinegar is strong stuff!

My favourite bead is in the shape of a chameleon. It cost me 43 pence and I'm saving it for a special project.

Pink Princess Cupcakes

2009-07-08T12:05:00.008+01:00

Today it's Judith's birthday at work and I have made her some pretty pink princess cupcakes. I have left them on her desk so she will have a nice surprise when she pops in later. I hope she's not going to spend too long at work on her birthday!