The Sewing Dilettante

And all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. In fact, hubby and I are tucked up cosily on the couch, recovering from yesterday's excesses and anticipating D(elivery)-day tomorrow. Who knows when I might have a chance to post again, so I wanted to share a few festive photos before wishing you all the very best for 2013 and signing off for a little while. First off, my Christmas cake went down a real treat yesterday! I was concerned that it would be dry in the middle, but it was perfectly moist all the way through! Despite the dark exterior, the crumb was surprisingly light, both in colour and texture, and the marzipan and icing were just thin enough to add a little almond-y sweetness at the end without overpowering the cake itself. Yum! We cut slivers of cake to have with coffee right after Christmas lunch, even though we were all stuffed to the gills, and after a much-needed brisk walk, managed a bit more. I mustn't have been the only one to sneak...

Yesterday, hubby and I decorated the Christmas cake . We cheated a little bit, using ready-made marzipan and ready-rolled icing, but, hey, we're novices. Plus, we were both in agreement that this was not the time to faff about making our own marzipan and icing! Still, I'm pretty happy with the end result. I had some fun with PicMonkey 's Christmas effects.... As you can see, we kept the decorations simple. While I learned how to make sugar roses in my abortive cake decorating course recently, I never got to do anything remotely Christmas-related. I suppose hubby and I could've experimented a bit, but once again, we opted for simplicity and ease, if only for sanity's sake! As we decorated, we nibbled on the bits of cake I sliced from the top to give an even surface, and they were delicious, even if I do say so myself! Rich; fruity; redolent with cinnamon, cloves, and a touch of whiskey; and exceptionally moist! Here's hoping that's true of the whole ca...

I don't have a picture to show you today, but I do want to share a couple of links, which, when followed, will more than make up for this post's lack of visual stimulation! You see, I forgot to mention yesterday that this past Saturday was our final Bee Blessed meeting of 2012. Fueled by some warm mince pies topped with dollops of seriously strong brandy butter, and festive mulled punch (thankfully non-alcoholic, or else we would've all had to stay over night to sober up!), we managed to work our way through an impressive amount of cutting, piecing, sewing, and quilting. You can check out photos of what we got up to over on Judith's blog . I quilted the fantastic blue antique tiles quilt, and there's also a lovely pic of the finished rail fence quilt I mentioned a while ago.  We're taking a break now for Christmas but are back together again come 5 January. Obviously, I'm not sure if I'll be making that first meeting of 2013, but I'm looking forwa...

Yesterday was my first day of maternity leave, and, while I managed to stay in bed until almost 11, I also realised very quickly that relaxation isn't my forte! Especially when there's nesting to be done! The nursery is all but ready to go, and we've got all the necessaries laid out in their appropriate places, but what we don't have is a freezer full of food to feed us in the first few hectic weeks after Baby H's arrival. Naturally, I had intended to prepare a variety of delicious and nutritious freezer-friendly meals over the past few months, but life got in the way. The best laid plans and all that. Yesterday and today though, I managed to bake a couple of batches of biscuits - one chocolate chip, one white chocolate and pecan - to pop into the oven straight from the freezer when friends and family call around. I also threw together a lasagne and a few other hearty, satisfying casseroles, and am now smugly patting myself on the back. Such self-satisfaction, I sus...

Well, the ECV last Thursday didn't work, and another scan this morning showed Baby H is well and truly comfortable the wrong way around! I've actually been scheduled in for a section now, and though there was talk last week of this taking place before Christmas (i.e. next Friday!), it's actually going ahead just after Christmas, which is a bit of a relief. I was starting to panic about the idea of the baby arriving so early! And, plus, it means there's still plenty of time for a somersault!  In the meantime, though, I'm frantically nesting and trying to tie things up so that I'm both mentally and materially ready for baby's arrival. This week, therefore, I've finished hand sewing the binding on Frankenblanket , wrapped Christmas presents, done about a thousand loads of laundry, and put up the Christmas tree!  Ikea's finest.... the house now smells all lovely and balsam-y! Today is technically my last day of work, and, luckily, I've mana...

For the past couple of months, Baby H has positioned herself like a little Buddha across my stomach, with her head cradled by (read: jammed into) my lower left ribs and her backside down in my right hip. Until fairly recently, it hasn't really been an issue, and the consultant has seemed pretty willing just to let nature take its course and hope baby flips of her own accord. I've tried to help things along, of course, following a few suggestions from the midwife - I've crawled around on the floor on all fours for longer than I care to remember, bounced like a madwoman on my exercise ball at all times of the day and night, and lain with my hips elevated above my heart whilst watching tv (no mean feat, that). But, baby seems well and truly comfortable exactly where she is. As hubby cleverly quipped, 'The lady's not for turning' .  Since baby is so stubbornly refusing to turn, and since we're already halfway through week 36, we've been scheduled for the E...

I can hardly believe it's already December! You know what that means, right?! Only a matter of weeks/days before Baby H arrives! CRAZY! Yesterday, my lovely friend, Kristin, threw me a fantastic baby shower, and we're now materially, if not mentally, prepared for the baby's arrival. Exciting times!  Thanks to a fairly un-ambitious sewing to-do list last month, I have a couple of things finished and ready (or nearly ready) to add to the pile of beautiful baby clothes, blankets, and accessories given to us by our super generous friends and family. That includes Frankenblanket... And two little throw pillows for the nursery... Truth be told, I'm not sure how crazy I am about these pillows. They certainly don't seem to go together... the first is too busy for the second, which definitely seems to require some buttons or applique or something. But then, the rocking chair is really too small for both pillows together, so maybe it's no bad thing that...