The Quilter's 30th Birthday Dinner Party

Channelling both Julia Child (& Martha Stewart where need be) the Gardener and Quilter prepared for the Quilters Birthday Dinner Party.

The table was prepared (with menus)...

The Menu included...

The Entree...Warm Mediterranean Stack with Green Leaf Salad

Followed by a Lemon Lime Sorbet to cleanse the palete before the main...

The main...Julia Child's Boeuf A La Bourguignonne - cooked exactly to the recipe!

The Dessert...A Croquembouche tower with white and milk chocolate accents...

The finished croquembouche....

A close up...

And finally, the Birthday cake! (chocolate with white chocolate decal of course!)

A great night!

Love, the Quilter xxx

Afghans were the treat for the day!!

With the cold winter nights upon us the Gardener felt it was time for some baking.

Afghans were the treat for the day with lashings of chocolate icing and walnuts on top.

Super yum and sure to make a tasty addition to winter lunches.
XX The Gardener XX

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!! - 2 Months and a few years late!!

Finally Mum's Birthday Cross Stitch is finished!! I chose this cross stitch for my Mum’s birthday as it has everything that represents her hobbies, sewing, quilts, knitting even an African violet.

I won’t let on how many years it took but let’s put it this way it took Julia Child 7 or so years to write her "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and I put just as much care and attention into my cross stitch masterpiece for my lovely Mum!!

The cross stitching took lots of summer holidays with so much fine detail.

Every inch seemed to add another aspect to the picture.

Finally it was on to the back stitching.

Check out the fine detail on this Quilt.

Hey quilter do you think you can make one of

these for mum's wall. :-)

Check out the real tassels "How Neat is that?"

Tiny little charms just add to the charm!

So pleased to have it finished for you Mum! You are worth every single stitch!

Hand lacing took most of the afternoon and now it is off at the framers.

Can't wait to give it to Mum.

Lots of the Love

xx The Gardener xx

Noodle Roll for Quilters!

This is a quilt roll I made in my quilting class. It has a felt side underneath which you place your unfinished blocks on so you can roll them up and protect them in between working on them. A close up of my quilting blocks - I got this material in a little bundle from the

2009 Sydney Quilt Fair...

Close up of the body of the roll...

Here are some little ladybirds and butterflies with button heads...I made the tassel as well with twists of embroidery thread so that the colours would match right...


Love the Quilter xxx

CHRISTMAS BAKING 2009

Better late than never is the Gardeners motto so the Christmas baking is finally going on the blog. A traditional Pecan pie made from scratch and baked on Christmas eve was just divine.

A 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate Torte with Fresh Raspberry Coulis was amazing! One of the best desserts I have ever made. It also froze well and is quite delish eaten frozen!!
xx The Gardener xx

CHRISTMAS LUNCH 2009

Christmas was a beautiful hot day and perfect for a summery feast.

Handmade bagels

Asparagus Rolls and pretty club sandwiches

Supreme Cheese Moon

Summer fruit platter

Home made Fruit Cakes and Mini Chocolate Cakes to top things off!

xx The Gardener xx