Pink Penguin: Envelops and Mailbox Block for Ringo Pie

Ayumi at pink penguin has made up the most awesome of  quilt blocks you must go look at it.

Pink Penguin: Envelops and Mailbox Block for Ringo Pie: "Remember I told you that May is my month in Ringo Pie bee ? Seriously, you have no idea how excited I am about receiving everyone's blocks..."

Ayumi I love how your brain works!

Why I love this... ever since I was a child to get a letter in the mail was always so special. I loved the post cards from places I could dream about and the letters from pen pals that I wrote to from childhood into adulthood. Even now as a woman who spent over 10 years across an ocean from friends and family I appreciated the convience of our modern time of texts and email but cherished the letters that come via the post. I think this is one of the reasons I am enjoy the flickr quilting community with their swaps & bees, it is for the childhood thrill of what is being sent and what is to come via that red box.

Ooooh the birthday cake was a total success ! Now I will tell the extra healthy sneak that I had to do, I used 1/2 spelt flour as I didn't have enough plain. You couldn't tell and my hubby and daughter are usually the first to sniff out when I have ' healthed up' a recipe. Firstly I think starting with the great recipe helped. I love Cooks Illustrated / America's test kitchen, ever since I read my first Cooks Illustrated way back when I was hooked. The explanation of why the recipe works and how they came about to the best way to make something,  brilliant.  Their low fat carrot cake does not disappoint and unlike some recipes that are a bit gummy from the substituting of fat for something else, in this case baby food carrots, the cake had a nice crumb. And whoever thought of using marshmallow fluff and cream cheese for the icing awesome! I was worried it would stay loose but the top kinda dries a bit and I think it helps seal the cake as it was still as moist on day 3 as it was when we had it the day after it was made. I will be making this again !

As well I am in a Flickr embroider-bee and have made my squares for my hive members, now to get on with the embroidery.

Sorry I have been absent for a bit but back now !

Much has happened, today finally I am making the Carrot cake recipe I have been wanting to try. Hubby's birthday tomorrow so it is for his big day! So far I think the batter is pretty thick for a cake, we will have to see, the proof is in the pudding as they say. I hope it is rich enough to feel like a birthday cake and not too 'healthy' tasting.  I have to say thank you to my lovely friend around the corner Nathalie who kindly lent me some parchment paper as I only realised we were out after the cake batter was made.  You know when you meet someone and you instantly feel like old friends, that is how it is with her, I am so very glad that we have met !

My little sewing machine ( very inexpensive plastic variety bought from our local Canadian Tire ) has kicked the bucket, well it still kinda works,   it has stopped winding my bobbins .. and you can't sew without bobbin thread it was all very sad ... what was I going to do? Mom to the rescue,  I was telling her I saw an old one at a thrift shop and was thinking maybe I should get it, when she suddenly remembered that there is an old one at my Grandma's house. It was the machine she learnt how to sew on, it had been her older sisters (so we are talking old here folkes). She brought the Kenmore home and my dad got a new belt for it and cleaned it and oiled it .. it is awesome ! It is so solid and quiet compared to my little plastic thing, wow ! It also comes with an open darning foot so I can try a little free motion quilting ! Awesome but the new machine needed it's own table, it weighs a ton and I couldn't be picking it up and putting it on the kitchen table every time I wanted to sew, now could I ?  I am afraid the girls have lost their old craft table from the basement ( they hardly used it ) and it now lives in the corner of our living room I have claimed as a permanent sewing station ! Yippee. I will take some pics of the beauty and the cake later today . 
And maybe let you see some of my other stuff I have been doing, hmm think I need to learn how to link my flickr photo's to my blog.
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