So much for that.

I haven't posted for a few days, and I didn't make it to the Sketchcrawl. Instead, I've been sitting in bed with that 'oh-I'm-getting-a-virus' feeling and a very great tiredness. I'm starting a new job on Monday, and so it's been top of the list to get well and not to fall asleep on my desk on the first day at work. Sometimes you need to be disappointingly sensible, right?

Anyway, in the absence of drawings of the animals (I was so looking forward to drawing the animals!), here's something I prepared earlier.....


Remember this sketch of village houses?


It became a stencil and got three doses of paint.


Red, we love red:


Blue, and green.

And now it's a village again!


I'm working on a whole series of farm and village stencils, with a wall hanging or small quilt in mind. Here are one or two of the others:




I think the bluebird needs a branch, but nothing too big or heavy. And a bead for his eye, of course!

I've got drawings ready for a couple more animals and flowers, and then I'll start thinking about a little quilt to put them in.

B

Calling all sketchers...

... and scribblers and dabblers and photographers and just plain interested people.

There's another Sketchcrawl - this one's THIS Saturday. (eep!) This one's down on the farm.

I hadn't expected another one to come along so quickly, but it's a great location, so I'm going to hop on the trusty rusty Mathilda (my bike) and cycle down to the Collingwood Children's Farm. Pigs and children, people and market stalls: this could be good!

If you're wondering what a Sketchcrawl is, check out my report of the previous Sketchcrawl, and the Melbourne Sketchcrawl blog - or if you're international, the Worldwide Sketchcrawl site.

Date/time: Saturday 8th November at 11AM
Place: Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers Market & Abbotsford Convent
End of St Heliers St, Abbotsford. 5 mins' walk from Victoria Park station. (MAP)

Meeting Point: End of St Heliers St at the large wooden gates to the farm.

Not sure you can find us? Check out the details on the Sketchcrawl blog, or drop me an email and we can arrange to meet there.

cheerio!
B

On my desk....

This week, the desk's a jumble of projects all vying to be finished. I've got a growing collection of stencils on the retro farm theme, and the latest additions were a sheaf of wheat, a strawberry, and a very sweet little hedgehog who, I am told, needs a 'shiny black button nose'!

At the back, the drawing for my latest Posted Stitches quilt, on the myths and legends theme. A kimono hanging up has since been finished and is being used. And I'm still reading that gorgeous French book....

More desk delights can be found over at Kootoyoo.

B

A little pumpkin goodness

Some time ago, I ordered a bag from Japan from Shinzi Katoh. When it arrived, it had this little postcard tucked inside:


I have no idea what it says, but I love the colour and the crinkly-paper effect. It's pretty sweet!

B

Fast forward

I was sitting at the sewing machine this afternoon, idly tuning out the sounds of revelry from both gardens either side of us as Melbourne Cup parties are in progress, and then I tuned back in as the sound subtly changed. "Hm," I thought, "I wonder who's sitting in the garden going Umminnanni Umminani umminanni umminani..." Hm, that would be the race commentator, dear. We may have been here four years, but I'm not a Melburnian yet.

Even if I don't understand horse racing, there are some Aussie obsessions that I do understand and love: Photo by Mr. Tacc.

Last year we spent a very cheerful Cup Day at our friends' place, where somehow I ended up teaching a bunch of the neighbourhood kids how to make patchwork stars. Champagne, sewing machines and seven year olds, stars and a big scrap bag. Everyone was happy, especially my friends the parents, who quietly polished off all the champagne.

Today, I've been stitching and plotting and scheming. Due to constraint on the family purse, I'm going to be hand-making a few of my Christmas gifts this year. Some will be stencilled, and some will be stitched. I've got to get cracking!


How about this i-pod pocket scarf as a present for my Canadian commuter friends? (Pattern spotted in an Italian magazine). I suspect I'll be making this one up as I go along, not being fluent in Italian and all. It looks fairly simple, and velvet with Japanese fabric strikes me as a nice idea. Soft and snuzzly.

B

This is.... a favourite recipe I'd like to share

My goodness, there are so many!

I'm a bit of a cookbook junkie: I adore the good ones for real cooks, and love to work out how they have been 'pitched' and 'packaged' (that's the publisher in me), and why people buy them. Sharing recipes is one of my favourite things to do, and I appreciate the friends whose skill and taste is similar to my own, and who send me recipes to try.


It's been so hard to choose, but this is a recipe that was a surprise when I tried it and which I've come back to again and again: it will be my store-cupboard standby for adding a bit of glam and extravagance to a meal. If you have lemons, this is a gorgeous one for you!

--

Lemon Syllabub
from "A Year in my Kitchen" by Skye Gyngell

serves 8
200g caster sugar
200ml dry sherry
finely grated zest and the juice of 1 lemon
600ml double cream
(optional: 1-2 tsp finely chopped preserved stem ginger in syrup - * I've never added this)

Combine the sugar, sherry, lemon zest and juice in a bowl and stir well. In another bowl, very lightly whip the cream - just enough to thicken it slightly.

Gently fold the sherry mixture into the cream until just combined (the addition of lemon and sherry will combine to thicken the cream). If using, at this point fold in the chopped ginger and a little of the syrup from the jar.

Spoon the syllabub into small glasses (I use fancy little wine glasses). Refrigerate for an hour or so, to chill before serving.

--

I've discovered that this is a quick recipe that usually works beautifully. I've sometimes dropped a raspberry on top of each one at the last minute. Don't be tempted to serve it with anything else, such as biscuits or cake - it's so rich that it deserves to be savoured and eaten slowly with no distractions. No-one will want anything else, I promise you....

B

Thank you to Three Buttons for hosting "This is". Just click the button to the right to visit her blo0g and see who else is playing along.

Barking at Frogs.... the chronicles of grumpy

I missed the last day of Blogtoberfest: will you ever forgive me? Yesterday was a wonderful, jam-packed race-around crafty day of fun, and yet at the back of my mind, I kept thinking "Oh, will I get five minutes at the computer to wish all my best to all of the Blogtoberfesters?"

Well done you lot. Three cheers, fireworks and a fly-past by the Queen for Big Cat, who deserves lots of kudos for coming up with the idea and infecting everyone with her enthusiasm! What a community of super-stars you've woken up, and how everyone has run and run with Cat's idea. zzzooom, there goes the Queen in her jetplane; you're all heros!

Last night I went to an all-night craft-a-thon, pyjama party food and Halloween stitchery. It was great! Seven lovely crafters and one baby all piled into the house of Jo and her truly generously accommodating family, for a delicious meal and craft chatter.

We kicked the boys out of the lounge (thank you boys!), and took over..... There were needles clacking as socks got made, crochet-borders of lovely cream on a blue and green alphabet knitted blanket, beautiful cross-stiched versions of night-time photographs of the city, the bright stripes of more knitted goodness, baby bibs, christmas decorations, and more, as the night got later and everyone gradually slid down into the cushions on the sofa. Life, not wine, was the cause! (So we say)

I managed to quilt at least four squares - miniscule progress, but there was a lot of chatting and chocolate going on as well. And then a snuggly snooze on the mattress in the playroom, half under my mostly-finished quilt (I say it's good luck to sleep under it when you're quilting it!), and pancakes for breakfast, before a trip to Amitie. What more could a girl ask for?

Apparently I am grumpy today, to which I replied - I am NOT! - hm. Despite a Nana-nap and tea, I feel like this dog at the farm, cross and hot and bothered and barking at the frogs.

Wrarf! Wrarf! Grump, grump. I'm sorry I missed Blogoberfestivities and the end of the month - I hope you will understand that it was all in the name of terribly important craft activity!

I am now going to roast a chicken, and as we all know, a good dinner makes everything better....

B