The Memory-Keeper's Daughter

I know this is the name of a book,

I think I have even read it....

but when I cleared out my Mother's flat

and saw that she had kept EVERYTHING.

(Even my old love letters *blush*),

I knew that for me,

my Mother had been the Memory-Keeper

and I the Memory-Keeper's daughter...

This was Mom's Hexagon quilt.

Made many many years ago.... 

It was patiently handquilted

And the edges were finished traditionally...

Backed with a white sheet.

The little hand stitches are beautiful and even.

I used to love having it on my bed 

and looking at all the different fabrics.

I would pick out my favourites

and especially loved all the rose ones.

Hence the inspiration for my Rose Hexagon quilt...

*****

One of the things of Mom's I was desperate to have

was her recipe book....

Many well loved recipes are contained within...

And some surprises!:

"BANANA WITH HAM -

Wrap 1 banana per person in a slice of ham.

Cover with cheese sauce and bake in oven."

I can safely say this was not one of Mom's signature dishes!!!

Although we are talking 1967 here!:

This hot milk sponge chocolate recipe I made

almost to death -

It's fantastic !:

And my Mom always made an amazing Chicken Liver Pate:

But sadly her famous Broccoli recipe was not inside.

Luckily she had given it to me years ago and I found it again:

(Cecile's) Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:

1-2    heads of Broccoli

1      small Onion

250g   Sunflower Seeds

250g   Seedless Raisins

250g   Bacon

For the Marinade:

75ml   Lemon Juice

15ml   Sugar

5ml    Mustard

250ml Olive Oil

Celery Salt (optional)

Instructions:

Cut the florets off the broccoli leaving very little of the stalks. Then break the florets into smaller pieces. Finely chop the onions. Chop the bacon into small pieces and cook the bacon until very crisp. Lightly fry the sunflower seeds and raisins in the leftover bacon oil.

Mix the lemon juice, sugar, mustard and olive oil together (include the celery salt if needed). Place the salad ingredients in a sealable container and pour over the marinade. Cover and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, tossing the salad in the container every now and then to ensure that the entire broccoli is marinated in the oil.

Serve and enjoy…. 

Building Blocks

DH managed to put my Longarm quilting machine back together.

He described as playing with giant Meccano ;)

 And he did a good job.

It's all back together and it's even had a test run!

I made up a little quilt last night,

quilted it tonight.....

and will hopefully get the binding on tomorrow night...

Just in time for a very quick gift that is needed for

a colleague expecting a baby.

Not sure why I went for frogs,

but she knows she's having a boy

and she has such a cool design and dress sense

I thought she could 'do' frogs ;)

***** 

Here's a shot of my machine.

She's a big girl with a 24" throat on a 12 foot table.

The last time I sewed with her was the day my Mom died.

I have missed them both the last few months

but I'm ready to sew again 

even if I'm not ready to feel better about my Mom just yet...

 *****

I took this photo to show the quilted top,

the black spotty backing and the paper pantograph used

(stars and loops again - one of my favourites for a boy!)

*****

My parting shot is of the part of the living room 

where my sewing table used to live.

All my stuff (ok, ok most of it)

is out of the living room and in my 'studio' now.

It's Complicated....

... but finally my Longarm quilting machine

is 'home' with us!

We have sort of been between houses, deciding what to do

and so my Longarm has stayed where I was not until yesterday!!!

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have it back.

My new studio feels smaller as I have to share

with the laundry and the general garage stuff,

but the fact that it's pretty much in the house rules out all those minor problems.

I can use my limited time better now without having to drive to the old studio etc.

(And I can always do the laundry while waiting for my machine to warm up ;o) LOL)

*****

The two tractor quilts are now flimsies

and are waiting to be longarmed.... 

The quilting will really make them so much better.

I decided against borders as they are only lap quilts....

The one on the left is for a younger boy

and the one on the right for an older boy.

I'm raring to go on my Longarm so must dash and get myself sorted!

Happy Easter

Hello Blog My Old Friend....

.....It's time to talk with you again!

I don't quite know what's happened to me.

I've always been busy, but my life has reached new levels of busy-ness.

February just flew by with a trip to sort out my Mother's flat

which turned out to be a mammoth task...

We're awaiting a shipment of sentimentality soon...

[I was reading with Miss Kalico the other night

and she saw a picture of an aeroplane and she said:

"Mummy went on an aeroplane to Africa. It was sad" :'( ]

*****

I keep wanting to take photos of things I'm doing,

but the change in Seasons means that if you blink you miss photo weather....

(Spiderwebs get worked on now and again....:)

*****

The biggest change after my Mom passed away

was that I got a part time job.

I needed a job, the lack of sleep 

and the horrible flashbacks were making the days and nights very difficult.

I think Mom would have been pleased....

It's just a few hours a week with a lovely bunch of people

and a great boss (this may sound a bit creepy,

but when you've spent the last decade looking after your kids

you need a special job with great workmates 

and an understanding boss to break you back in ;o) )

Sewing has taken a bit of a back seat,

except I still sew pretty much every evening (as I always have).

I have been working on 2 tractor quilts....

And I finished my 'Luna Lapin' kit

from coolcrafting.co.uk

 I don't normally buy kits, but this one is so cute.

She's been adopted at work,

so I have made her a 'work' outfit:

 with fabric from our Spring/Summer ranges....

and tiny heart buttons on the back.

*****

There has been much Easter crafting in this house:

And Easter baking:

I love letting Miss Kalico decorate the cake herself:

And 'to the victor the spoils' so to speak

*****

I will try not to leave it so long.....

.....until next time xx

Sorting Fabric

I have been trying to sort out some fabric

as I move it into the new studio...

I had help with the little pieces...

"This one's my favourite" she said!

Then low calorie refreshments were served...

Before fabric was stroked, twizzled

and sorted....

 (Obviously) only after she went to bed

was any fabric order restored.

(And inspected!)

Butterflies & Boys. Befores and Not Quite Afters...

For some time now I have been appliqueing these butterflies

over papers and making them into cushions.

(2 such cushions got donated to the Village auction

in aid of school funds.)

I'm a real English Paper Piecing kind of girl

and that's how I like to applique too...

As usual, a few grew into many 

so I'll probably put them together into a(nother) quilt.

I thought I'd make a few blocks for quilts

for boys.

So I have been playing around 

with a tractor design that works well over papers....

I think this one should work.

Now to make a few more....

In the meantime,

my wonderful DH has been working on my new studio..

 Whitewashed walls, new floor....

I'll share the space with the utilities...

But there's plenty of room for my Longarm quilting machine.

(All 12 foot of it!)

and storage for fabric.

And the view will be very pleasing!

When we lived on the farm,

I always joked that I wanted to escape FROM the country.

I do love the country, but being in the village is so convenient.

Looking forward to being able to post the 'After' pictures of my studio.