Treating myself

I made a bag or two. It's been ages since I had some real quality time on the machine and making bags is such a good way to use up a bit of stash. I promised myself that I'd get back to making the lunch bag from Pink Penguin. I love this free pattern, there are no zips, no hardware and the steps are oh so simple to follow.

The hardest part is stopping at one, it's so much fun thinking of different fabric combinations.

For my second bag, I thought I'd change it a bit and make a bigger size that would accommodate my knitting. It worked out so well by just adding a couple of inches to the height and width and making the handles a little longer. I kept the trim at the top the same width.

There is one change I make to the pattern and that is to overlock or zig zag the side seams of the drawstring cover. If you don't, the seams inside have raw edges.

You can see the size difference when they pose together. You can never have enough bags you know.

We had a glorious break from the wet weather yesterday, it was so sunny and warm that we used the opportunity to go for a drive.

The car pointed itself towards Balmain near Sydney where we stopped to pick up some treats from that Masterchef star, Patissier Adriano Zumbo.
Really we went to treat ourselves to the tarte au fruit de la passion. In English, that's a citrus passion fruit tart which you can see on the platter in the middle. It's to die for, that's all I need to say.
I kinda got carried away and decided to get some other equally famous goodies for the freezer although I'm not sure they'll make it that far. The blueberry and almond tart is not my favourite.

I have been ruined, who knew food could taste this heavenly. Healthy eating plan starts next week.

The  V8

8 layers of vanilla

Vanilla crème chantilly

Toasted vanilla brulee

Vanilla water gel

Vanilla ganache

Vanilla macaron

Vanilla dacquoise

Vanilla chiffon cake

Vanilla almond crunch

The happy birthday

Flourless chocolate biscuit,

chocolate sabayon mou,

ultimate chocolate brownie,

caramel mouse,

milk chocolate chantilly

cocoa nib nougatine with a White chocolate and Passionfruit glaze.

Next stop was to Quiltsmith where I got lost inside the store because I have to look at everything you know. I did get some some green fabrics and this little pile which are for a quilt in my head that is nagging at me. I've been overloaded with inspiration lately and have sewing mojo to spare. Does that happen to you too?

Thankfully, these treats are calorie free.

Despite fighting the urge to start something new, I'm trying to keep the blinkers on and have been nibbling away at this simple hand piecing project. It's nearly a quilt top.

My apologies if I didn't reply to all comments on my last post, some of my emails have disappeared and I can't get them back.

Until next time, thanks for dropping by, Janet