Old & New

Here is the new quilt top. Now all I have to do is get it backed & quilted. I have made the whole quilt top from my stash. I have had the green fabric with bugs & butterflies for a while now. I had to hide it, because SG became obsessed with it, & wanted to play with it every time he saw it. I think I will use it for the backing too, as I have plenty of it. It was a bargain find at a garage sale, & I had intended to use it somehow for SG.

This next pic is of the first larger quilt I made SG & he loves it. I used a pattern of Ruth Buchanan's -again! I find her quilts are so friendly & have enjoyed making every one I have done. Her original quilt was called Aunt Ena's Quilt, I think, from memory, & was featured in one of the excellent Aussie quilting mags- either Patchwork & Stitching or Australian Country Threads. I like those mags, & they have been rich sources of inspiration for me over the last few years.

This pic is a bit dull, but the quilt is really bright, & I drew the insects, children etc myself. It can be used as an I Spy quilt too, as I put as many little picture fabrics into it, as I could find.

Now I am planning my next 'adventure', & am thinking I might do something with stars again. I have such a large variety of scraps, - GOM says I could make quilts till I die, & still never use them all. (I am assuming he is thinking I will live a long life?)

We still dont have our car, & so I might be calling upon DJ later in the day, for a lift to the shops. We have run out of potatoes, & so I cooked Buttered Wine Rice for tea last night. I love rice any old way, but GOM is not so keen, though he does like the wine rice.

I dont have a pic, but here is the recipe.

BUTTERED WINE RICE.

90 g (3 oz) butter

1 medium Onion finely chopped

1 cup rice.

2 1/2 cups of hot water.

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 chicken stock cubes

Salt & Pepper to taste.

Saute chopped onion gently, until onion is golden brown.

Add rice, stir 3 minutes.

Dissolve stock cubes in hot water.

Add 1 cup of chicken stock to pan & stir until nearly all liquid is absorbed.

Add remaining stock & wine, bring to boil, reduce heat.

Simmer gently, covered for 10 minutes.

Season to taste.

I usually use basmati rice, or a long grain rice, but short grain rice makes a more 'gluggy mix' if that is what you like.

School is back for most of the children today, so I hope all you 'first time' mothers dont weep too hard.

I can still remember the empty house, & the cry I had once I got home again, when my last little 'baby' went off to school. They looks so ridiculously small, dont they? You want to rush back, & take them home with you. It all seems too soon!

But in the blink of an eye they are grown, with babies of their own! And your heartstrings tug just as much when the first grandchild goes bravely off to school... well mine did!