Did Someone Say Chocolate!

I still have so many photos to blog from my fantastic trip to Germany - here are the chocolate ones! Birgit collected me from the airport and then after driving past my dinner (a rotisserie chicken stand that we didn't stop at as I didn't realise that was my dinner lol) we went straight to the Ritter Sport chocolate factory in Waldenbuch.

The factory shop and museum is housed in a beautiful building...

We had a little look around, a little taste and a little shop :-)

I should have taken a pic inside the shop, it is very colourful and very full!
This was a poster outside...

On the way back to Birgit's we stopped at a bakery for Brezeln. (Big soft freshly baked pretzels - delicious with butter!)

I saw these in the bakery and would have loved to have brought them home for the boys...

Later during a workshop Birgit and I introduced Bonnie to the delights of 'Mon Cherie' (cherries in liqueur covered in dark chocolate) and 'Mozart Kugeln' (marzipan and pistachio in chocolate).

I look a bit like a hamster in this photo (this tends to happen if someone takes a photo of you with your mouth and cheeks full of chocolate!)

Wordless Wednesday

I have never seen a double-decker train before!

Cathedral Stars Workshop

Cathedral Stars Workshop with Bonnie Hunter:

What the tables looked like... It was so nice to have the space and such good light as well as

everything on hand to just sew, sew, sew:

Here Bonnie is holding one of my blocks:

The view from my table:

Some of the blocks that I managed to get done on the day in my way (i.e. they may not be quite as directed lol):

Our group and a sampling of the blocks that we created:

Later that evening we went for an amazing meal at Hotel Reussenstein in Boeblingen :

A fantastic day and night! No wonder I have come down with a cold, I'm shattered!

Bonnie's Trunk Show

I have over 300 pictures from my Germany trip including the workshop/s, the chocolate factory, my old town, my friend's farm etc, etc, but I'll just start with the amazing evening I had when I was very honoured to be able to attend Bonnie's Trunk Show evening at the Schoenaich Quilt Guild (thank you Birgit!) and so without further ado... pictures, pictures, pictures...

Here Bonnie explains her stash organisation techniques:

An amazing quilt called Perkiomen Daydreams, where even the 'ugly' fabrics can find a place to hide :-)

'Oklahoma Backroads' from Quiltville.com

Loved the purple patchy back!!! 10.5" blocks were used to make a backing:

Bonnie's name in fabric:

'Crabapples' from Bonnie's book Adventures with Leaders & Enders:

How much fabric in this shirt?:

'Star Gazing'

The backs were often as fun as the front:

'Goose in the Puddle'

'Tumalo Trail' - another quilt from Scraps and Shirtails II:

:

'Bricks in the Barnyard' - love that quilt with its solid red!!:

'Smith Mountain Morning' - yummy browns and blues:

Birgit did an amazing job as translator!:

'Bricks in the Barnyard' - up close and personal:

A pile of Quiltville quilts that we were allowed to admire at first hand - thank you Bonnie!:

All I can say is it was a wonderful evening and I loved meeting Bonnie.

She is just like her quilts: even better in real life!

Quiltville Quilt-love!

What can I say?

I got to meet the lovely Bonnie Hunter and I got to see and I got to touch the scrumptious, luscious, amazing, awesome Quiltville quilts!

The Quiltville trunkshow is an amazing experience, Bonnie is a master!

Will life ever be the same???

All set, just one more sleep...

Passport: check
E-ticket: check
Euros: check

Camera: check
Toothbrush: check

4 patches: check

Whenever I travel, I always feel like I'm forgetting something. This time it's the boys, it's a wrench I can tell you. We're a team and I shall miss my team mates. But for the very reason I am no longer a member of a quilt group, I have to leave them behind: Kids and quilting and sewing machines and rotary cutters and pins and long days mindlessly sewing don't mix.

I am so looking forward to my trip, to meeting Bonnie and to sewing up a Cathedral Star (lap) quilt. Thank you to DH for looking after our boys. Boys thank you for being so good! :-D

ps. If you can guess how many 4 patches I have sewn, I'll bring you something back from Germany. Clue: I am not doing the quilt full-size and I made a few more than I needed so you can't technically work it out, but you can try and guess...

The winner is Andrea! She guessed 198. I needed 195, but made 205. I will shortly be popping a little parcel in the post to you Andrea!

3 more sleeps...

Not long now and I leave my children behind *sob* to meet someone I have admired from afar. Here are my quilts following Bonnie's patterns to show my admiration and to say thank you for such wonderful quilt inspiration...

My first Quiltville Quilt: Pineapple Blossom


The 'bonus triangles' produced a quilt for my Mom (after design input from DH)

My first Quiltville Mystery: Orange Crush (or in my case 'Red Berry Crush')

My second Quiltville Mystery: Double Delight

And my first Quiltville UFO: 'Jared Takes a Wife' blocks (done in super-size)

And here's a space for my Cathedral Stars course quilt LOL

Black and White all over

This is a little quilt top I have made for a friend's baby. I had no plan so it's not very structured, but I hope it works. Now I just need to baste and quilt it...



We woke up to snow this morning...



It's already melting thankfully.



Gluten-free sponge cake with cherry jam filling - perfect for a snowy day!

Playing with Hearts

I wanted to do something with my pile of applique hearts that I had made while convalescing from my last leg operation, so a while back I tested one heart block setting it on point in a square in a square block. I used some of the fabrics I had left over from my rose hexagon quilt for squaring the heart block up and thought it looked quite fun so I have sewn a few more.

Here are the blocks that I have made so far, most of them 'squared' up today - I can't help it, 'I sew when I'm upset'* and I am upset that my hospital visit for this morning got cancelled just as I was about to set off :-(

* This is a reference to Kung Fu Panda where the 'big fat panda' says: "What? I eat when I'm upset" :-D

Anyway, this is just a temporary layout and I will probably make a few more blocks, plus those setting triangles are for my Cathedral stars course so they are just to give myself an idea... although I do like those murky greys and browns of the setting fabrics as they bring out the brights very nicely, they are 'Evening Mist' by Moda and were from a swap with the Happy Wren - thanks Nichole, they are gorgeous!

Just a few more sleeps...

Homework

I don't want to say too much because I am so excited and so nervous about a quilt course that I will be attending in Germany, but in preparation I needed to cut my strips at home to be ready in class. The quilt needs 305 Four-patches, but I am making it smaller so I don't have quite so many as 305 , but I do have those I need (plus a few extra in case :-D)

As I am so looking forward to the course and meeting the course-giver I thought I'd just make my four-patches ahead of time in case I am paralysed by all the quiltiness which will surround me in a room full of quilters, fabric and sewing paraphenalia!!!

Happy Valentines

I'm a happy Valentine...

Love my flowers (thank you DH!)

Also love the new blinds in the lounge and kitchen! (thank you again DH!)

Onion Marmalade

I was going to make this Wordless Wednesday, or if I'd posted it yesterday it could have been Tasty Tuesday, the day before that could have been Marmalade Monday (think the vinegar fumes have gotten to me LOL), but anyway I have been making more of this great recipe and it needs words, in fact it needs the recipe!:

RED ONION MARMALADE WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Ingredients
Makes about 600g

2 large red onions (about 550g) thinly sliced
120g brown sugar
125 ml red wine vinegar
50ml (about 3 tbsp) balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper

Method
In a large, non reactive saucepan, combine the red onions and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar and cook over moderate heat for about 25 mins or until the onions begin to caramalise.
Stir in the vinegar and the rest of the sugar, increase the heat and stir often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and pot in sterilised jars.
Keeps for 3 months.

You can get the original recipe here.
Courtesy of pickleandpreserve.co.uk