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Buttontree Lane is where it's now at!

Update your readers! A giveaway is coming soon.

Will we have rainbows day after day?

Since last we spoke, I:

* have made quince paste and quince jelly, and I only burnt my hand, arm, forehead and foot** with the volcanic quince paste brew. I was expecting much worse.

* discovered that paying only $8 a kilo for regular mince from Coles is not worth it when there is so much fat in your bolognese sauce that no one can eat it, even with straining. It didn't look at all fatty when I bought it. Damn you, Coles.

* received not only the Saffron Craig fabric, but some lovely wooden stamps from a Japanese seller. Soon there will be photos.

* had such a longing to make a quilt, it actually hurt. Please, please, please let me have some time off work soon.

* had a job interview ***

* baked bread using the Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day book.

* discovered that I'm a fan of the smell of baking bread, but the smell of fermenting yeast not so much.

* crocheted one sock but not sewn it up.

* bought a paper shredder to make disposal of financial papers from 1991 a little easier.

* had absolutely no time to read blogs, and now I have 239 to deal with. Nope, make that 241.

* have bought air tickets for not one, but two mini holidays away.

* planted lots of bulbs in the front garden so that I can have my own mini Floriade in spring.

Between now and when we next speak, I may have:

* recovered from the sore hamstrings I sustained from planting millions of bulbs in my front garden

* changed the name of this blog

* decided whether to bake or buy a birthday cake for Mr Quiltingmick's 40th birthday dinner.

* designed a quilt.

* eaten a bit too much quince paste.

* seen at least one performance at the Canberra International Music Festival.

* applied for at least one other job.

* finished shredding the last of the papers.

* wished the Aunty Chelle Admiration Society a happy third birthday.

* relaxed.



** I burnt my foot because I took my slippers off and cooked barefoot. I took my lovely new slippers off because I didn't want them damaged by boiling, shooting quince paste. I really was not expecting the paste to shoot that far away from the pot, obviously.
*** While standing at the stove and dealing with boiling quince paste, I was also reading my job application in preparation for the interview. When I got to the interview, I took my application out of my handbag ... and the pages were stuck together with little dots of quince.

Loot, Glorious Loot - Days 2,3,4 and 5

Well, that was a bit disappointing, wasn't it? A nasty back strain on Tuesday became a big neck pain on Wednesday became a sore left knee on Thursday became a flare-up of my usual foot problem. Nice. Thank heavens for lovely massage therapists and my old pal, Mr Ibuprofen!

So I'm behind with my lootage reportage. Here's days 2 and 3, and you're going to have to be happy with this lot for the rest of the week.*



On one of my trips to Melbourne this year, I popped into Readings at Carlton (as an aside, is there a better store than Readings Carlton? That, and Mary Ryan in Paddington Qld, Kinokuniya in Sydney and Powells Books in Portland Oregon would rate as my top four bookstores.) Anyway, I popped in and popped back out again sometime later with a hop in my step as I'd found and purchased my fifth Kaffe Fassett quilting book to add to my collection.



I love Kaffe Fassett quilting books. They are a total riot of colour and appeal to my "break the rules" quilting methodology. His guest quilt designers, like Mary Mashuta, are quilters that I have always admired. I love the stories that go with the quilts. And the photography is always top notch, probably because Kaffe is the art director as well.



I went to a lecture that Kaffe gave in Canberra a couple of years ago, existing Kaffe books in hand for signing. At one point he mentioned that he didn't sew quilts and there was an audible gasp from the adoring quilters. But I didn't care - the man has designed the most stunning fabric, and put together a collection of really amazing publications. Plus he is very good looking. He doesn't need to sew quilts as far as I'm concerned.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Let's now pretend it's day 3. This was the day I was going to tell you how much I love buying stuff from Japan. The packaging is always amazing, you often get little extras, and there always seems to be an aura of friendliness and joy that pop out of the envelope when you open it up!

Case in point:



I bought some fabric from A Little Goodness on Etsy, and what I got was fabric, cute paper bags, some fabric tape and reusable paper wrapping. And the cutest little note.

To top it all off, the fabric I received was pretty nice too!




* Today I may have bought some Saffron Craig fabric online. Then a couple of hours later I may have gone back and bought some more. It's for a quilt, for me. And maybe a bag too. I haven't decided yet. But I will share (photos of) the loot when it arrives, hopefully next week.

Loot, Glorious Loot - Day 1

A fair whack of stuff has come through my door in the last few weeks (I think I'm hoarding for the imminent UBC (unemployment by choice). Either that, or I just can't help myself. I'd wager a bet on the second reason, actually.

So I'm joining in with Tinniegirl on the-showing-of-the-loot. Unsurprisingly, most of this loot has been craft books. Oh stop it. Don't look so surprised.



I love felted goods, but the idea of me felting doesn't appeal. But I have been interested in the goings-on of Betz White regardless. Her second book, Sewing Green, has just been released to much fanfare, and having just obtained it I think the fanfare is justified.



A couple of the projects aren't to my taste (and this is my opinion only), but only a couple. The rest are very clever. Interspersed with the projects though are the best bits of the book - hints and profiles and examples of other crafters 'doing it green'. It's certainly an inspiring read, especially as I think every day about what I can do to live a little greener.



My favourite project is probably these aprons made from old men's shirts. Would love to make one, but that's another issue - too many craft books, not enough time!

And by the grace of God we will be in Massachusetts

In October and November 1996, Mr Quiltingmick and his Mrs (that's me) went to the north east of the United States, and spent five weeks travelling on the train from New York to Montreal, Canada, to Boston, to Washington D.C, and back again.

One of our stops was Amherst, Massachusetts. We had never heard of Amherst until we decided we needed a stop on the train line between Montreal and Boston - a stop that meant we could experience a New England town in fall. The guidebook revealed that it was a college town and the hometown of Emily Dickinson, and this just sweetened the deal. We splashed out on some lush B & B accommodation and arrived into the arms of a very welcoming hostess and a very beautiful town.


We spent a few days walking around Amherst and nearby Northampton, checking the book stores and the cafes, the cemetary, the college campuses and the Queen Anne Stick style architecture. It was all new and exciting and so very 'New England'. Mr Quiltingmick still reckons he'd like to retire to Amherst and make pocket money by chopping wood.

Not being familiar with the concept of an enclosed porch, we were captivated by the one at our B&B. We were encouraged to enter the house by way of the porch rather than the front door and it certainly felt more welcoming. Because we were there in fall, the porch smelled strongly of the over ripe apples that were kept in boxes on the porch. It was an amazing smell and very heady. Whenever I think of Amherst I think of that strong smell of apples. I don't think I've smelt anything like it since.



That was until today, when I brought 5 kilos of quinces into my house. I'd read of the amazing fragrance of quinces, but didn't believe it until this morning. It is a magnificent fragrance - slightly sickly sweet, strongly perfumed and so much like the smell of over ripe apples. I am going to make Quince Paste, and Quince and Orange Jelly. It might take me days to make these things as quince takes a long time to cook, but with a smell like this pervading the house I really don't mind how long it takes me. It's taking me back to Amherst, Massachusetts and that can only be a good thing.

All boxes and points

Buttontree Lane update, originally uploaded by quiltingmick / michelle.

I used to be so scared of putting in zippers. Over a hundred sunnyboys and boxes for sockses later, and I don't think I'm scared anymore, Toto.

I spilled the ink across the page trying to spell your name

Thank you so much for all you lovely comments on the re-stocking of the shop! It appears the boxes for sockses are pretty popular - I'll be making some more and putting them in the shop in the next couple of days. Hopefully soon I'll have a break from work (I'm calling it "unemployment by choice") so that I can put more effort into Buttontree Lane. I have missed it so much. And I have heaps of new ideas (and heaps and heaps of fabric to make things with. Shhhh.)

My latest pick-up put-down project has been stitching some hankies. I just love handkerchiefs and being a chronic hayfever sufferer I never stray far from home without one in my pocket and a couple in my handbag. Call me old-fashioned, but there is nothing like a clean, freshly ironed handkerchief to pull out of your pocket when you are about to sneeze. Handerchief ironing is the only ironing I love - it's always been that way, from when I first used to iron Dad's handerchiefs when I was a wee thing. Shirts? Not so. Hankies? Bring it on!

I think we can blame my short attention span, for that!



I find it a little difficult getting nice white ladies' hankies which are suitable to stitch, but I discovered some pretty coloured ones in a boxed set from David Jones a couple of months ago, and I've been keeping busy prettying them up. As usual I've used Sublime Stitching patterns. They really are fantastic to use - cute, sassy and with a sense of humour.



I'm currently reading Molly Wizenberg's book "A Homemade Life". Molly is the author of Orangette. This book is beautiful. I love nothing better than really well-written stories. Really well-written. I have laughed, and cried, and read every word of the recipes and loved how she words them. Have I made anything yet? No, but I might. Can I put this book down? No! And I'm not looking forward to finishing it either. How will anything else compare?

Only two days to go until the weekend. I'm already scheming - planting bulbs, swimming, sorting out the vegetable seedlings and sewing. If St Kilda were playing on free-to-air TV that would just make the weekend better than perfect.

Listen to me - having a great weekend before it's even happened.

Seasons change with the scenery

A couple of days before the Anzac Day long weekend started, the weather bureau predicted strong winds, lots of rain, and a lot of shivery coldness.

I couldn't have been more delighted.



Because I had something very important to do.



The shop has reopened* for business.


* Buttontree Lane was never actually closed - it just had no stock.

Getting the crafting groove back

It seems that lately I have struggled to find a real passion for crafting. In fact I think I may have lost my crafting mojo. Crochet held absolutely no appeal, and except for Pip's book keeping the pilot light burning, I could have just given up sewing altogether. I just didn't have the passion anymore.

Which is such a horrific thought that I may look back on these words in months to come and give myself a firm talking to.



On Saturday we had our third Brown Owls meeting, and this time we made felt brooches. One of the other prefects made up the kits (and a very clever job she did of them, too) and I had the good fortune to spend the afternoon with cups of tea, some very yummy treats, and some felt, needle and thread. I made the brooch in the (bad) photo above. Making the brooch was just the icing on the cake, though. I was sitting and chatting with people who were so much more creative and clever than me, and they are the ones who helped me get my groove back. People who make teeny toadstool brooches like this one.



And this elephant (not photographed is the matching skirt and shirt that the little girl who owns him was wearing).



And so much more that I didn't get a chance to photograph. And so I rode home humming with excitement at being so inspired. And then I realised. It was back.

Since then ...







It feels so good.

Use it all up - terzo giorno

Morning, sunshine!

It's a beautiful day in Canberra and I can't wait to get into the garden and potter for the rest of the day. The last of the tomato glut has been donated to a friend with a kind heart who is cooking for another friend in need, so it's time to rip the tomato plants out and plant some snow peas, sugar snaps and silverbeet in their place. The eggplants and capsicums are still fruiting, so they'll stay around a little longer.

Last night I turned the eggplants into a fantastic meal which I am still thinking about. I have the leftovers in the fridge saved for dinner tonight, and it's all I can do to not abandon that idea just eat it for lunch instead. It was that delicious. It had a very Indian feel about it (hard not to with the garam masala) and it was so very fragrant whilst also being bloody fantastic. We'll be making this one again and again.

Spicy eggplants

Feeds 4.

You'll need:
Two large eggplants, or 6 Lebanese/Japanese eggplants. I used the latter because that's what I grow
Oil for shallow frying
2 medium onions, finely chopped
400g tin of diced tomatoes (I also added a chopped fresh tomato, just because it was there)
A squirt of tomato sauce
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 teaspoons of fresh grated ginger
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 fresh chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
4 Lebanese breads, cut into wedges

1. Slice the eggplants, throw into a collander, and salt. Let drain for 20 minutes or so, then rinse and pat dry. ( I know there are different schools of thought on this. Maggie Beer believes that eggplants these days don't need salting, as the bitterness has been bred out of them. I can tell you that I have tried both salting and not salting, and the taste is definitely different. I will salt each time, even for only 10 minutes, as I like the taste a lot better)



2. In the meantime, mix together the tomatoes, tomato paste and sauce, onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. Set aside.

3. In a heavy frying pan, heat the oil and fry the eggplants until they are brown on both sides. Do this in several batches. Remove eggplants and set aside.

4. If your frying pan is deep and has a lid, then keep using it for this step. Mine doesn't have a lid so I used a stock pot. Heat a little oil (or reheat what you have left from frying the eggplants) and add the garam masala and turmeric. Stirfry for a couple of seconds (don't do what I did and fry for longer, or your eyes will be stinging for the rest of the night!) then quickly add the tomato mix. Stir, and cook for 5 minutes. I added about a 1/4 cup of water this point to make the sauce a little less stodgy. Add the eggplants carefully and cover with the sauce. Turn the heat to a low heat and put the lid on. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes, checking occassionally to give a little stir. Check it for seasoning, but the only thing I added was pepper, as I found it was salty enough from the tomato paste and sauce.

5. Remove from heat, and serve with wedges of Lebanese bread. We ate the entire meal using the bread to pick up the food. It was divine. You could also serve it with basmati rice or garlic mash.



My only complaint with this dish was that the onion didn't want to cook all the way through and uncooked onion tends to upset my stomach. Next time I'll be cooking the onion first and then adding the spices and tomatoes after.

That's the last of my 'use it up' recipes. Hope you've enjoyed them, and if you use them I'd love to hear about it!