and other things

Making a variation of the Banana, cranberry & pecan muffins in Julia Thomas's book Cake angels - gluten, wheat and dairy-free baking of delicious wonderment + Listening The harrow and the harvest by Gillian Welch + Reading No one belongs here more than you by Miranda July. You might remember her from her film Me, you and everyone we know + Watching Tomboy

Wishing you a safe and happy Christmas

Greetings from Darwin

I've made another tea towel bag. This one is linen and has Australian wildflowers on it. The colours are lovely - really vivid. I've lined it with a navy blue ticking stripe.
I find these cloth bags really useful. They fold up quite small so are easy to stash into your bag - perfect for that unplanned visit to the library. Also good as market bags.

One week to Xmas

If you're in run-down to Xmas panic mode, have a quick read of Nuno Magazine's online holiday mini edition. It has some interesting gift wrapping and decoration ideas using re-purposed materials as well as good general gifting advice - including some wisdom on giving handmade gifts. Time spent with paper + scissors + glue has to be good for you. At any time of the year.

Friday favourites

Liking: Rifle Paper Co. I love Anna Bond's art work. Naive yet clever.

Reading: Blue nights by Joan Didion.

Listening: Does anyone remember this from the 1960s musical Hair? Listen carefully to the lyrics. They are mystical. Gribby gloop gloopy .... nibby nabby noopy...

Ta-dah!

Here is the cot quilt - finished! I'm pleased with it. It has lots of straight rows of hand quilting so I got in plenty of practice. It probably could've benefited from a contrasting coloured thread for the quilting but I wasn't confident that my stitches were up to such scrutiny. It feels great to have finished such a big, time-consuming project. I started this in May.

I like this simple style of quilt. I'm wondering about making one with no piecing at all - perhaps using a solid on one side and a patterned fabric on the other. And maybe using a bobble trim instead of binding - a bit like this. So many possibilities ...

Friday favourites

Making: White Christmas slice using a very easy recipe from Australian Women's Weekly The cake stall. I made this for a shared morning tea at work and it was a big hit.

Watching: Beginners. Oliver (Ewan McGregor) comes to terms with his mother's death, his 75 year old father "coming out" and his own relationship issues.

Reading: The knitter's life list by Gwen W. Steege. This is not a book of patterns but a book of possibilities - techniques, inspiration, challenges, resources.

Listening: Wounded rhymes by Lykke Li.