Easing back into Quilting - - -

This year I hope to be able to complete the "One Toe Out of the Box" challenge -  intended to better acquaint (members of the Janome 6500 Challenge Group) with our Janome machines.
We have been set a Theme for each month and for January the theme is "SNOW".

After scratching my head for a bit I decided I would try my hand at some raw edge applique.
I found a wonderful Christmas print called 'Funny Santas' by Wilmington Fabrics which suited my idea of doing a Snow Globe. (Poor Santa is bailing out his sleigh after being marooned on a desert Island)

And just to 'keep on track' with the theme I also added a Snow Globe with beautiful golden snowflakes.

Another Wedding - A Perfect Day ???

17th January 2014

Temperature 46 deg Celsius (that's 114.8 F) 

The suit alterations had not been done ... 

And "all we had to do" - 

was to get him to the Church on time! 

The Bridal Party sat when they didn't have to stand

and Iced water was handed out with the Order of Service ...

The Groom had his own "Fan Club"

(not content to just sit and fan themselves my gorgeous Great Nephews decided everyone else needed cooling too.)

... now Husband and Wife.

Parents of the Bride - seem happy with the proceedings

(they don't know about the suits).

Then outside into the heat ...

Where we all scurried into the Sunday School Hall to try and cool down.

And the Best Man found he had other duties,

doing his best to keep the Maid of Honour cool.

The photographers decided to "work with what they had" and do some shots in the hall.

So Very Formal

But fitting to their "Retro" Theme

and not so formal

a bit more relaxed

Our Bridal Party.

Then On to the Reception where - - -

The Cake was cut...

The meal enjoyed

(especially Dessert)

They Danced ...

and danced some more...

Then time to say "Goodnight"

and Drive off into the "Happily Ever After"

Thank you for sharing their day.

How with Prayer and Perseverance it can be fixed.

Last week was one of those "Once in 100 years" weather patterns that seem to come around with remarkable frequency. A whole week of above 40 deg. C temperatures with no relief in sight until Saturday.

Our DS#1 was getting married on Friday and I still had to finish his wedding cake.
They wanted chocolate so making it well in advance was not an option.


The bottom tier, which was to be cut at the reception, still had to get it's 2nd coat of fondant.  I didn't have any option but to ice it very early before the temperature rose any further.

The flowers were finished and the first posy placed carefully on the top tier which was sitting securely on the 2nd tier, these layers were dummy cakes so I knew I could finish them beforehand.


I placed the cake carefully on the footed stand and decided I could assemble it at the reception venue.
Packing it into a box and then into the car we then set off for a 48 km trip. There are several roundabouts on the way and after going around a particularly tight one, I started hearing some odd noises from the back of the car .
I decided to pull over and check.

OH NO!

The cake stand had tilted with every right turn and righted itself when I straightened up only to do it again and again for every roundabout we drove through.

The scene that greeted me was heartbreaking.

The icing that was way too soft because of the heat, was mashed into the cake where it hit against the top tier of the cake.

Flowers were broken - some beyond recognition, and the feature flower had 3 main petals broken. The pieces embedded in the bottom cake or scattered around the carton.


(At this point in time I was a wee bit overwrought!)
I had a little bit of my kit with me but not nearly enough to rectify this kind of damage, fortunately, we had pulled into a Bunnings car park and we were able to buy some super glue, artist brushes and a packet of coloured chalk.  Now to get to somewhere cool so I could work - and the only place close by was the Bride's home.

Should I say at this point she had NOT SEEN her cake?

We pulled into the drive - the outside temperature was stifling -
A cool drink, Empty table, a pair of Tweezers, Cornflour and some space was all I needed.
This is where the Prayer comes in - but then I think the Good Lord already knew I needed His help.

Cake Decorators have the same saying as Quilters -
If you can't fix it...
Embellish it!
or hide it - whatever works!

I was able to 'plaster' over the dent, glue one petal back together and hide the rest of the damaged flowers by taking a bit of Gypsophila from the second tier posy and placing it over the broken petal.


I had decided to wrap the cake in "Rustic Twine" - yes STRING of all things (to fit in with their country theme) and that saved the day to mask any other dents in the icing.

So here we have it -
In place in front of the Bridal table
with strategically placed posies and all wrapped in string.




And what did the Bride and Groom think when it was all finished?

I think they were pretty happy!


... and no one else knew anything had happened at all!

Scatterdays Postscript

For those that have followed my blog over the past 12 months you will have come on a journey with me that spanned the alphabet and 117 photographs.
It saw me blogging from Melbourne to Michigan and back again.


Of all the folk that started - Just 4 finished all 26 letters.  Coincidentally 2 of us live in Victoria Australia and the other in Victoria BC - (Canada)
Today I had the opportunity to meet and catch up with Vireya (Aus) and Cathy (CA). Our 4th member Pauline, unfortunately for us, lives in Sydney.

It was a wonderful afternoon of song, laughter (and yes, some tears) with Cathy Miller (AKA  The Singing Quilter) and her DH John at the AIDS Memorial Quilt Making Weekend at Altona.

Cathy showed off some of her wonderful quilts and
regaled us with her stories.
It was good to get together before the show and discover that each one of us have had an intense year and Scatterdays was a welcome distraction.

We will miss the fortnightly posts.
But - you never know - maybe one of us will come up with something else to chase with our cameras for 2014 !

Making Progress

I can barely credit it has been over a week since I uploaded my last post and looking back I didn't have much to show for a Wedding cake that was required in just 2 weeks.

I am pleased to say that the flower sprays are finished and the Cake Dummies have their first undercoat of icing .  I have no idea if you are supposed to do two layers for these dummy cakes or just one thick one - but I prefer to err on the side of treating them as if they were REAL cakes.
(I still have to bake the actual cakes - a small problem as the Bride wants chocolate and they can't be made in advance like fruit cakes.)

As far as the flowers were concerned - I was given the list from the florist who is making the bouquets and left to work out what "Seasonal flowers which MAY include ..." actually meant.
I have gone with posies that include Alstroemeria, Blushing Bride Protea, Billy Buttons, Blue Gum, Gypsophila, Berries and Gumnuts. And if the bride arrives with a bouquet made of all the flowers on the list that I didn't use ...
I think it will still work - it is a Country Wedding.
(Now is not the time to try and learn how to make Spider Chrysanthemums!)

Goodness - Is it really Wednesday?

The days over Christmas and New Year tend to moosh into each other and it is difficult to know what day of the week it is - but as I have just been reminded - It is Wednesday and the challenge has been set to post a WOW post today.


Our New Year's Morning ritual is to have breakfast out.  Today we introduced DS#2 to the newest trend creeping into the Melbourne Coffee scene - *Cold Filtered Espresso which went beautifully with his stack of Pancakes, Icecream and Maple Syrup.

*This is Espresso Coffee that is drip filtered over a period of 8+ hours then served chilled over ice or with milk.  Being extracted with cold water, the coffee can't get burnt so has all the subtleties of the blend. I personally think it would make the BEST Iced Affogato if served over perfect vanilla bean Ice cream, and very much worth the wait!

I am now back home and getting stuck into making the Sugar Flowers for DS#1's Wedding Cake. Now that the calendar has been turned over to the new month - I see I have just 16 days left before it is needed.
So with that I had better wish each and every one a Happy New Year and get back to it!



PS - My fingers are just itching to get back to my Quilting - Just a couple of projects that I need to finish off first before I can start something new!

Cheers Wendy.