Maybe in Oz

When I was in the US last year I saw a quilt class being offered in Melbourne in October and had to sign up.  It was to learn how to make the Meadow Quilt, a pattern by fabric designer Lizzy House .  The catch with the pattern is she doesn't publish it; the only way to make the quilt is to take the class. So I signed up. I've been sewing for 20 years and have never actually taken a quilting class before.  I knew I wanted to use fabrics that were a little different than the meadow quilts I had seen, but I also didn't want to go broke buying $24/meter fabrics in Australia when I knew I get the same thing for $10 in the US.  It was right before my mom and I went to Bali, so I decided to keep an eye out for fabric there that would work.  On the days we went batik shopping in Denpasar I found bundles of the perfect fabrics for $2/yard.  I bought way more than I needed just to make sure I had enough.  With all of the batik factories we went to on that trip...

September 12 2015 Bali was fun in its own peculiar way.  Thanks for inviting me to go with you.  Now we have to get busy and sew all of those fabrics!  The Lion King was fabulous today.  What a lot of work that was to produce.  Now I'll have to watch the cartoon version!  See you next time -  Mom I had a lovely restful week after George and I had a difference of opinion and he tried to remove my left thumb.  Hopefully I'm not bringing some sort of contagion back to the US which will land me in quarantine for 90 days.  The trip to Marysville was great! Dad Going for a walk Reading the Wombat Goes to School Snow at Mt Donnabuang Redwood forrest near Warburton My dad hiking with Glenda and John My dad and Glenda at Stephensons Falls Hiking with Glenda - after a week being sick from my stupid cat's bite, this was the only day of fun he got to have while we were in Bali My mom at our hotel in Bali In fro...

The last day of our Bali tour was a free day, and also happened to be my birthday.  A few of us decided to go see some more sights with the guide who took my mom and I around on our first day in Bali.  What a perfect way to spend a birthday - exploring a new country with my mother and a great group of new friends.  We started the day off at Elephant Cave Temple, where we walked around and explored the grounds. Elephant at the entrance to Elephant Cave Temple Entrance to the cave Such beautiful painting This used to be a giant Buddha statue Our guide Nata Fun group of crazies!   Next we stopped at a coffee plantation where the famous Luwak coffee is made.  A guide showed us the many plants they grow there and then walked us through the Luwak coffee-making process.  The animals eat the coffee beans, then once they poop them out they are washed, roasted, and made into coffee.  It was a bit strange to think that pe...

We had a choice between a Balinese Spa Day or a Balinese Cooking Class so my mom and I chose the cooking class.  We started off at a traditional market and walked around where the locals shopped. It was interesting to experience the sights and smells of the traditional market compared to the ones in more touristy areas. Balinese fruit stand  Offerings for sale beautiful colours of flowers for the offerings Then the teacher took us to her family's compound where she handed out recipes and walked us through a feast of delicious food.  We first made a a base curry sauce that we ended up using in most dishes.  It had so many different flavours, some familiar to us and some new.  We chopped, ground, sautéed, and soon we were enjoying a delicious feast for lunch.  The cooking class was a great way to try some local dishes that we wouldn't have necessarily tried in a restaurant. how to ground chicken Bali style Hard at work chopping The ...