Hi there, well I am back from Melbourne.  Yes, it was wonderful!  Balmy summer evenings, a vibrant, arty, truly multi-cultural city with so much to see and do, not to mention the amazing restaurants and colourful markets. Ohhh…send me back please!

By the way, the Quilt Market was good too, and I managed to max out the full luggage and hand luggage allowance for us both with heaps of wonderful books, patterns and fabrics with more parcels to follow in the next week or so.

For those who just can’t wait to see the new ranges from Moda, I did bring back some 5” charm squares packs of “Bon Voyage” by French General, “Sticks and Stones” by Laundry Basket Quilts, “Union Blues” by Barbara Brackman and “Gardenvale” by Jen Kingwell Designs.  I have a limited number of each, as more of these charm squares, jelly rolls and metre-age of the fabrics won’t arrive in New Zealand until next year.  However it is a good opportunity to grab a charm square pack and be able to plan ahead for your next projects.  You can also see swatches of the individual fabrics at Moda’s website.   www.unitednotions.com

The other exciting news is,  that after a drought of many, many months, we now have really good supplies of the new improved, wider and better than ever “Steam a Seam Lite 2” by the metre.  Because this is something to celebrate, at Annie’s we are offering you a great (not to be repeated) price on the 24” (61 cm) wide roll for just $15.95 per metre.  This is normally $17.50 pm.  There is a one metre minimum cut for this special price which will be held until this shipment runs out.  So be in quick, this is the time to stock up!

Well, that is it from me this week, as there is no time to waste now that my ‘to do list’ has had so many new projects added to it in the last week!

Last but not least, the recipe this week is a chance to make the most of the asparagus before it disappears off the shelves until next season’s crop.

Asparagus, Blue Cheese, Watercress and Pecan Salad

• 2 bunches of asparagus
• 100 g crumbly blue cheese
• ½ c toasted pecans or walnuts
• 1 bunch of watercress

Trim the asparagus and blanch in boiling salted water until just tender.  Drain and plunge into ice water.  Drain well.  Rinse and dry the watercress and combine the salad ingredients with 1 tbsp sherry vinegar with 3 tbsp walnut oil and freshly ground salt and pepper.  Serves 4.

Take care and happy stitching

Rachel

Annie’s CQS