Just a quick note ...

to let you know I'm still alive, lol!

This last month (and, really, the one before it) I haven't really been able to get any sewing done as, not only have I been struggling to focus on my uni (three assignments I need to work on due around this weekend ... one 1500wd by Friday, one 2000wd and one 2500wd by Monday!!) ... I have also been not very well.

Just briefly, as it either takes me a while to type, or is painful ... I started the month off with a bout of tonsillitis ... then I've been dealing with a hyperextension/overuse injury on my left wrist/hand (which means I have to be careful as to how I use it, and have to get up and away from the computer more often than I usually do, especially when doing my uni work!) ... then since this past weekend my wonderful immune system decided to not only pick up my daughter's cold - but then develop into a chest infection!!!  NOT HAPPY!!!  Basically, I have spent half this month so far on pain meds that make me really drowsy, and the rest of the month unable to focus for whatever reason!!!  ** If you are waiting on receiving a swap item from me, please know IT IS COMING ... it is just taking me a lot longer than I had anticipated to getting to it ... Hoping to get some sewing in as soon as I have these assignments finished and sent through!!**

I did, however, have the pleasure of celebrating my daughter's 4th birthday last weekend though ... thankfully before my cold started!!!  As I have made her cake every year so far, I couldn't not do one this year.  I did originally plan on making a castle cake ... but instead decided to use the Littlest Pet Shop figurines I had already bought to give to her (plus a few extra LPS accessories she already had that I raided), to decorate the cake ...

I used three White Wings cake mixes (1 x Angelic Vanilla, 2 x Strawberries and Cream), adding some extra pink colouring to a couple of the batters in an effort to get that graduating hues effect I've seen in those gorgeous rainbow cakes ... my daughter's favourite colour is pink, thus the LOADS of pink!!

For the icing, I did a version of buttercream, with roughly equal quantities of margarine and cream cheese, icing sugar to taste and achieve required thickness, vanilla essence for flavouring, and food colouring.  The 'flowers' and 'leaves' were piped on using the same icing.

So at least I have achieved SOMETHING this month!!

Finally some sewing .... yay!!

Last month I enthusiastically 'put my hand up' to join in with a few quilt block swaps.  Well ... with all that was going on last month and the first half of this one, I didn't get much done at all!  I must admit that I let the stress I was feeling just totally get the better of me.  Colour me depressed!  I did a bit of crochet work, though the sewing machine didn't get much of a look in ... until this last week!  [My FNSI didn't eventuate though unfortunately as I was trying to get things organised for my daughter's birthday ... more about that later]

I finished off two (yes ... two!!) quilt blocks, though admitted the the first frustrated me to (literal) tears, especially when I realised that I had cut the squares for the HST's 1/8in too small!  I couldn't believe it!  **To say I'm not convinced of the fabulous-ity of HSTs is an understatement atm!**  This made for a block that was too small.  After then trying to put on three different sized borders (gradually bigger each time) I finally finished it to a raw 12in squared.  The left over fabric was sent through to Cathy (my wonderfully understanding first partner) to finish it off to 12.5in if necessary, as I really was ready to throw it in and never do any more ever again!!!  Here's a sneak peek (I'll show the full blocks once she's received them)...

The second block felt much more my speed.  There were squares and rectangles ... and it just worked!  Although I did triple-check measurements, use a water-soluble marker to mark the 1/4in sewing lines, and ensured each piece of the block was exactly the size it needed to be once sewn together with its neighbour ... this one actually took less time, and I was Much less frustrated by the end.  I actually enjoyed making up this one! Sneak peek #2 ...

Cathy's request was for any block in autumn colours.  I really hope these work for you Cathy - looking at these fabrics evoked my idea of autumn, though as I've never actually experienced autumn I could be wrong.  Please let me know if these fabrics do not fit with the blocks you have already received!

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On a separate note, we celebrated my daughter's 3rd birthday last week, having a nice extended family gathering at home on Saturday night.  I started throwing these 'family' parties with the extended family in my father's line (my mother's side of the family lives down south) during her first birthday, especially as we'd lost my grandmother a couple of months earlier and the importance of family was of high priority.  We have enjoyed getting together for this little celebration each year with a kind-of 'Christmas in July' style dinner with roast turkey and lamb/pork with roast vegies for dinner and pavlova, fruit salad and cake for dessert. Yum!  This year I gave my daughter a choice of types of cake she could have (1st birthday was cupcakes decorated in one of four designs; 2nd birthday was a lion) ... she chose the cat.  So here 'she' is ....

Cake: Home-made butter cake (the very best sort!); one 23cm round and one 27cm round cake tin.
Icing: Chocolate (cocoa) home-made butter icing spread all over, sides included.
Decorations: grated milk and 70% dark chocolate, coconut, mini silver cachous, marshmellow (eyes), smarties and licorice.

Very yummy .... and there was enough that we still have half its head in our fridge, slowly working our way through it, though atm we need to zap it in the microwave for 10secs to soften it up as it is a little dry straight from the fridge.


Well, off to drop my big three year old down for a (very late!) nap before getting on to my 6in blocks for Monica, some vacuming and mopping, then some more overdue blocks to work on later tonight!  Thankfully I've already figured out the patterns to follow ... using mainly squares and rectangles till I get comfortable with them!