Weekly Bake-Off Challenge #4

For those of you just joining us here at Sew Appetising, "The Weekly Bake-Off Challenge" is run by Amy...she is trying to work her way through all 100 of the bakes in the Mary Berry Book..."100 Cakes and Bakes"...and as Amy is such a sharing person, she opened her little challenge up to all of us...so anyone can take part if they just contact her first...This will be the 4th Challenge I have taken part in, and this week it's a tray-bake...

Quick and Easy Quinoa "Salad"...

...Not sure if this actually qualifies as a salad...but It's very similar to those ready packaged little boxes of so-called 'salads' that supermarkets sell...you know, the ones alongside the couscous salad etc...

Sweet Pea Seed Sowing...

...as I said yesterday in my post, I received my free seeds from Thompson Morgan in order to support the British Bloggers in Support of British Flowers Campaign...so today I decided to get a move on and plant some of the seeds...

British Bloggers in Support of British Flowers...

Remember last week I mentioned this campaign started by Vanessa over at her blog Goddess on a Budget?

Well I've joined the campaign, and my free seeds came today from Thompson and Morgan...

I got sent 2 variaties of Sweet Pea...

Anniversary...

...and Sweet Dreams...

...and Cosmos Sweet Sixteen

How pretty are they? 

The idea is to grow our own posy of flowers, rather than buying imported flowers from the shops and supermarkets...I can't wait to get mine planted...in fact my sweet pea seeds are soaking as I type...(Did you know they had to be soaked before planting? I didn't!! Apparently the seeds sometimes have a very hard coat, and by soaking you can aid germination...) Anyway, mine will be sown tomorrow...and you will have to wait and keep a-watching to see how they grow...xx

Emily's Quilt...Chapter 2 and a half!!

...in which I finish the centre piece!! Yay!!! This is really just an "add-on" post to yesterday's...as I ran out of time to finish it off...So this morning on managed to squeeze in a bit of sewing...

...As I was joining the rows together I found it easier to manage by rolling the fabric and pinning...this way it was easier to manoeuvre through the sewing machine...

I know the finished item is promised to my daughter...but I am loving the colours in this one...so vibrant and "spring-like"...Next step is edging...and then I need to read and learn how to layer my quilt...oh and buy the materials needed...batting and backing...

Plus I have now got together a pack of fabrics ready to start a quilt for my son...I am hoping he will like the colours and patterns I have chosen...I am toying with a hexagon quilt...like this one that my sister in-law is currently making...

All of the above materials were from Kate's shop M is for Make...aren't they fabulous!?! Well that's all on the quilting front so far...next up...side and top panels...keep watching and reading...

Emily's Quilt...Chapter 2...

...in which I actually get some sewing done!! I made the conscious decision to crack on with Emily's quilt this week...I knew we were going to be eating "Out of the Freezer" for the majority of the week (As in eating all the frozen 'other halves' of the meals cooked in the last fortnight or so...) which meant I would be freed up to sew!!

Rainbow Cookies...

...for the Small Ones, of course! These cookies have been on my "To Bake" list since February...which I know is only a couple of months, but that's  quite a while for something as fantastic looking as these...

The Apple Cake, Revisited...

After the cake that didn't quite make the grade last week...over here...I decided yesterday to bite the bullet and have another go at an Apple Cake...I was still after the type of cake that could be served either warm as a pud or cold with a coffee...and it had to be apple!!