I've been making Chutney.....

The drawback to being home alone when you are cooking is that there is no one here to share the guilty pleasure of sampling the brew straight from the pot - while it is still hot...... ;-)   Their loss!

We have our Veggies delivered each week by the very nice Nick from Aussie Farmers Direct.  It is often a Mystery Box Challenge to make something special with the contents.  Last week I opened the box to see, along with the standard winter veggies,  an enormous Beetroot.
Now beetroot and I are Summer friends, I enjoy a slice in a salad sandwich and an Aussie hamburger would not be complete without some.  So what do you do with this salad veggie in winter?

Trawl the Internet for a suitable recipe!!

 I found this one at Australian Good Taste and although I didn't have the required quantity of beetroot it was no hassle to adapt.  I weighed my beetroot, found it was about 1/4 of what the recipe needed (I did say it was enormous) and then just quartered the rest of the ingredients.  I had already boiled it the day before, so jumped the bake in foil bit.

It proved to be very tasty on crackers with some vintage cheddar, and I can see it disappearing quickly once the rest of the family find it.

I think I may need a design wall.....

I have an Eye Spy Quilt in the design process at the moment

and not having much room to sew, my placements 

have to be done on the floor.

Which was perfectly fine.....

Until .....

Spike decided to help.

Being part of something special

Aussie Hero Friends
(I'm the one behind the camera!)

This week I have had the opportunity to meet and chat with Jan-Maree from Aussie Hero Quilts, over Hot Chocolate and Coffee when she was down in Melbourne for her MIL's 80th Birthday.

We stayed at the Cafe so long, enjoying several coffees and some very nice muffins, the waiter eventually asked if we wanted the lunch menu......or the bill!

It prompted my DH to quote his favourite saying - Hmmmm -
"Can I get you anything?  Tea?  Coffee?  Hats?  Coats ???"

It was a valuable time to connect with Internet friends, and catch up on some of the finer details of Aussie Hero Quilts that don't get into print.

I have been working on 2 special request quilts over the last week or so and finally have sent them off to their new homes.
One via Jan-Maree and one is in the post today.  It was a challenge to get what was a Fat Quarter Bundle into a quilt without chopping through the pattern.  My DH suggested it would look good if I could quilt it so that it had tractor tyre tracks running over it.
Hmmm - maybe I should teach HIM to quilt!

QAYG - Attempt No 1

QAYG = Quilt As You Go.  Well, it certainly has been the theme of this week!
It is that time of year when Monash University hosts their annual Computer Games Boot Camp over in their Clayton Campus, which means A LOT of going and not much quilting, as I play Chauffeur for DS#2.  (900 kms since last Thursday morning with another 4 days to go, and no souvenirs to show for it - I am mighty tired.)

 - BUT - when I was not going I was Quilting (and, OK I admit - snoozing).
I was able to turn my QAYG Challenge piece for the Janome group into a quilt for an Aussie Hero and do something worthwhile with what would just end up as another quilt for the pile.
The challenge for me was to try a method that I had never done before and QAYG this Quilt without any sashing/joining fabrics.
It worked out OK, I don't think I will bother with doing it this way again, unless I had a lot of left over batting to use up, as I think it was just as long to quilt as the conventional way.


The block, for those of you who may be interested
was a 12" block called 'Squares upon Squares' and you can find it at www.quilterscache.com/S/SquaresUponSquaresBlock

Getting the hang of it....

It's grey and white and so am I..........
so it must be mine......... yes?

Sorry Spike - no it is not for you, but I am glad that you have finally realised that there are responsibilities to being a Quilters Cat!