Hello, hello and welcome to another beautiful Spring day!  The weeks are whizzing by and we seem to have already started on the rounds of ‘end of year’ functions.  Eating, drinking, nice restaurants and barbeques…now that doesn’t sound too bad!

As a means of trying to instil a little Christmas spirit (of the warm and fuzzy kind) I have been working on this little table topper using some of the new fabrics from Anni Down’s new range Under the Mistletoe.  This little quilt (29” square) uses the panel from the range, cut up and interspersed with the 16 patch blocks.  This kit is $58.00 and includes everything for the quilt top.  This pattern and others are available as a free download.

http://www.henryglassfabrics.com/collection/under-mistletoe/

We also have a limited numbers of the panel only ($18.00 each).  These are reasonably scarce and I have purchased all the remaining stock of these from the supplier, so be in quick!

Also new in this week are the new Frivol kits from Moda.  This is basically a quilt in a tin (albeit a very cute tin), with fabric, pattern and extra ideas for inspiration.  These are also in short supply and are just $82.00 each.

Now, for no other reason other than that I should not be the only one tempted/punished by amazing opportunities, I thought I would share this one with you.  A 12 day Mediterranean quilting cruise with Quiltmania and three of the most amazing tutors, (Di Ford, Sue Spargo, and Reiko Kato), this could be it.  You can drool/check it out at

www.worldofquiltstravel.com

On to the recipe.  I love a good stir-fry, especially at this time of the year when there are lots more delicious fresh vegetables coming on stream.

Beef and Black Bean Stir-Fry

• 400 gm thinly sliced beef or schnitzel
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic
• 3 cm fresh ginger cut into match sticks
• 1 chilli, sliced
• 2 tbsp black bean sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ¼ Chinese rice wine
• 1 tsp cornflour

Mixture of freshly sliced seasonal vegetables such as capsicum, carrot, asparagus, snow peas, celery, sprouts and whatever else is in the fridge and appeals to you!

Toss the beef, ginger, and garlic together and then cook in a large wok in the hot oil until just cooked.  Add in the black bean sauce, sesame oil and rice wine before adding in the rest of the vegetables.  Mix the cornflour with a little water and thicken the sauce if needed.

Serve with rice.

Just before you tootle off…I am looking for another part time staff member to join our team at Annie’s.  If you feel you would like to work in our busy little shop, are customer focused and enthusiastic, please email or drop your CV into me outlining your experience and relevant skills.  (Some weekend work is involved).

Happy stitching,

Rachel