Design Wall Monday

I had high hopes for this weeks output. I knew time during the week was short but had a whole weekend stretching ahead of me with no plans.

Saturday dawned and I finished this sow-a-long block.

Taking a quick break before tackling the next one and oh no - horrific pain in my lower back. I do have back problems from time to time but have been relatively pain free for a while. Certainly put a dampener on my plans for the weekend.

I did finish another Just Takes Two block during the week but can't find the image at the moment. At least I know I have something for next week. Next week should also see a finished quilt as I have nearly finished sewing down the binding. It's an oldie that I'm glad to see finished.

A Cake a Week

Inspired by this post I am going to bake a cake a week. I have always wanted to be able to bake but most of my attempts leave a lot to be desired. So once a week I will bake a cake and record my progress here.

My first step this week was a little online shopping here.

I bought this



and this

Unfortunately they did not arrive in time for this week. Not to be stopped by small details I forged on regardless.

My choice for the first cake.

 A classic and my baking friends assured me quite doable.

 First step was to assemble my ingredients. I have to get everything out and measured before I can begin the mixing process. I am told in time I may not feel the need for this step. But it does give me an excuse for some shopping this week. I want some of those lovely glass bowls you see on all the cooking shows.

Next up I was instructed to grease and line the pan. Having grown up with a baker who never used baking paper I decided to throw caution to the wind and just grease the pan. Time will tell if this was a smart choice.

So first three ingredients into the bowl of my lovely Kitchen Aid.

I then mixed till it looked right.

Barb no need for heart palpation here. I remembered your advice so mixed it some more. That does look better. Another discovery at this moment. While we do own a gazillion wooden spoons not a spatula in the house. Another item for the shopping list.

Rest of the ingredients added and mixed and into the prepared pan they go. My spreading skills will surely improve.

Out of the oven after testing with my gorgeous purpose built skewer.

A little cracking and not sure if it was cooked too long. Next test - will it come out of the pan as I have not used baking paper? Yes it does. Yeah!

A sprinkling of icing sugar and how does it taste? Delicious is the consensus.

I'm a happy camper. One last item for the shopping list. A square serving platter

Merry Merry Snowman

It seems to me a ridiculous title for a post when we have had one of our warmest summer days. The post title refers to a Block of the Month I have signed up for. It was love at first sight when I saw this pattern - I dream of a house filled with Xmas quilts and I love the French General fabrics it is made with.

My confession is I also have the entire Block of the Month of another Xmas Bunny Hill design again using French General fabrics that I have never ever opened. So to prevent the same thing happening I have set myself  a challenge. Every morning before I leave the house I have to work on this project. Doesn't matter how little the effort is - the important thing is to keep moving forward. I will report progress every Saturday as being accountable tends to keep me focussed,

So what did I achieve this week. A pile of squares cut and starting to be marked. They will ultimately be square in a square blocks.

Design Wall Monday

Minuscule progress on anything this week. The rain and lack of summer is getting to me I think.

First up an almost finished Just Takes Two block. For some reason I keeping making mistakes with these blocks even though they are not hard. Lots of unpicking has been going on.

The centre of my next Grandmothers Hexagon Star block is cut. I'm loving fussy cutting stripes at the moment.

Design Wall Monday

I finally made a start on my Sue Ross Block of the Month from Material Obsession. It's a lovely quilt that will be a while in the making.

I also finished two Just Takes Two blocks.

I love the Robert Kaufmann organic fabric I'm using but have noticed it does fray more than regular cotton.

Farmers Wife Sow-A-Long

Several of my friends have made Farmers Wife quilts in the last year. There has also been a quilt-a-long that has been going for some time in blogland. I have always thought I would make the quilt and when Randy announced her plans for a sew-a-long I was tempted. In her first post she said only six blocks per month. I thought I can do that many surely. So resistance is futile and I've jumped on the bandwagon.

Here is my first block.

 I'm making mine in a controlled colour way of creams, pinks and browns.