Liberty fabric hospital stay at RMH

Term 2 has been a long one.

A week to go before the school holidays. I have plenty of sewing to do and tidying to do. Also a week in Canberra to watch Big Niece play in the Kanga Cup. Little Niece and my sister might also turn up at the end of the week.

I will take my sewing machine, so we can spend some time sewing together at night.

In the middle of the term, I spent a week in Royal Melbourne Hospital and spent most of the week sewing my Liberty Stars fabric quilt. Normally I might finish one block in a week.
14 finished in under a week.

I had better get on and finish the quilt now.
Although I have been an Out Patient since 1995, I have never been
an In patient and I am planning not to be admitted ever again.

Lesson learnt. Pack lots of sewing, night gowns and coffee in a plastic jar.
Paper piecing easier to do with an AV drip than knitting or crochet.

Liberty fabric Rose Star block party

Liberty of London Fabric - Rose Star Block Party

Yes, I should be getting ready to go back to school next week. Normally, after Australia Day on the 26th January, state school teachers in Australia are back at their desks getting ready for classes after our summer holidays (pupil free time).

In my down time I have been spending a bit too much time 'surfing' for Liberty Fabric projects. 

The little pile of fabric has grown. Yes, I had a short vacation in Sydney and a longer 'staycation' at home in Melbourne.  

Then I came across Selfsewn's Rose Star block tutorial. from the Sumerfete blog.

Could I attempt this block and join in. 

After drafting and cutting out my set of paper pieces for English piecing,  I settled on  a 2 inch hexagon as my template and then I, set about choosing fabrics from Liberty of London. I love pink and red at the moment. 

We are quite lucky in Melbourne to have several retailers who sell Liberty Fabrics. I think I have visited them all, including Calico and Ivy in Sydney.

I changed the final design from this colour combination. 

This piece was finished in a couple of days and will eventually become a cushion.

Still not sure what colour background I should use?

I found this project super fast because I have used Sewline paper glue sticks from Sue Daley and Busy Fingers Patchwork. Other retailers also sell the glue sticks and refills.

More Liberty fabric experiments in the school holidays. Destined to become a quilt.

Most of my English piecing projects are created this way. You can buy directly from Busy fingers patchwork  or Amitie in Gardenvale. Amitie also have a super range of Liberty Fabrics. 

I also highly recommend these Milliners Needles in Size 10. 

Liberty hexagons - Sunday snippets

Liberty Fabric Hexagons - Framed. 

Close up - paper piecing 1/2 inch size. Finished and hung in place.

WIP - Deborah's winter quilt. Top Paper piecing - started 6 years ago and recently completed.

Flanel backing, spotty binding and cotton/wool wadding. Ready to quilt.

WIP - One of 6 Liberty Fabric Stars, I have completed. I have purchased more fabric to go with it. 

I usually work on this project on Thursday night at Perle 8's or Brown Owl's  Southside. 

Sunflowers in the garden.

Yet another finger infection. On the mend but it slows me down big time. 

Now cleaning for the Lunar New Year. Well, my father was born in Shanghai. He celebrated three New Years - Western, Chinese and Jewish. 

Families all over the world are cleaning up in preparation for a fresh start for the New Year. 

Happy New Year, Birthday and Anniversary

Today, Sally and I have been a team for 10 years. 

Beautiful Dahlias.

the garden is looking just lovely and coping well in the sweltering heat.

Bill Granger in Melbourne - Yummy treats

Mango Rice Paper Rolls

I have been very busy and tired. Year 12 have finally left the building. Well until their exams are finished. Yes, Food Technology is the one of the last exams. 

Fish cakes

Chinese custard tarts

Serving food to his guests at the book signing.

Bill Granger

The soup was served on wooden paddles

So, back to the food.
Tonight, the lovely Bill Granger from the cafes in Sydney, Japan and London and the TV shows and books was in town.
His latest book is Bill's Everyday Asian. This is a lovely book with simple and easy recipes.
You don't need thousands of essential Asian ingredients to make the recipes.
I have always loved his simple recipes and they very rarely let me down.

Chicken and sweet corn soup

Howard's End - DVD & Simpson's on the Strand London

Howard's End  Recently re-released on DVD in Australia. 

What a dream cast. 

I have always loved E.M. Forster's books and  Helena Bonham-Carter has been in several Merchant-Ivory productions.

This is the new cover. It includes the original movie and making of the documentary. I have always loved this movie and I am really pleased it has been released.

 The wonderful Simpson's-in-the Strand is featured in the book and of course the movie. 

I was lucky enough to have breakfast at Simpsons-in-the-Strand in London in the Divan room in December. London was cold and was still recovering from the snow storm.

Kippers for Breakfast - the tiny tomato on the side was an extra  £1.50

Have you ever travelled to a place just because you read about it in a book, saw it in a movie or heard it in a song?

COMMENTS 

Grumpy

Finally, it is hot in Melbourne. The class room was hot, I taught the noisy class and then later the nice class. I lost my temper with several boys for fighting. The kids could not stop talking. They all enjoyed making Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Triangles.

Sticky Date Cupcake from Great Cakes at South Melbourne Markets

I could easily have consumed this and bought a bottle of wine. Instead, I bought a Kensington Mango and some Red Bean Buns for dinner. Now I feel better. Better get on with the Wedding Bunting.

I promise to show you the finished results on the weekend. 

Back to the gym tomorrow and back on the healthy eating plan. 

The Chihuahua and me are on a diet and the weight is slowly coming off.

Thank goodness, I can do something nice tomorrow for myself and recover on my day off.

Sleep soundly in your bed tonight Gilad.