On Sunday 14th July I had a coffee morning with all of the members of my quilt groups who could make it. I had a wonderful morning and from the feedback I have received in emails and comments, I wasn’t alone. It’s great to be able to relax together and enjoy each others’ company without the pressure of deadlines for work to be done.

Now that Daf and I have gone gluten free, I have taken a new look at baking. On the internet I chose three recipes to try: Carrot Cake, Lemon Drizzle Cake and Pear and Chocolate Cake: they all feature ground almonds and eggs, with no flour, although one has mashed potato in place of it! They were easy to make, and to eat – I think, on balance my favourite was the Pear and Chocolate Cake which I made with 90% Lindt!

I cut the cakes into small slices to encourage everyone to try all three without embarassment – you know how sensitive we women are about being seen tucking into huge wedges of cake, let alone coming back for more!

Luckily, there are no photos of any of us eating – much kinder that way.

But there are images of our ‘show and tell’.It’s always wonderful to see what everyone has made and even though I see everyone in one group or another, I can still see new or unknown work.

We don’t only produce textile work either – Anneli, one of the younger generation of quilters produces beautiful work both in textiles and wood, but I think her next production will be her best yet. Anneli’s baby was due to be born on the very day of the coffee morning but she made it to the end without going intcident. There were plenty of volunteers to hold her hand and we even had a midwife, Rachel, on hand, but her skills were not required. It would have brought a different meaning to ‘show and tell’ though, wouldn’t it!

I musn’t be too long arranging another coffee morning, quite a lot of people couldn’t come to this one and we all love informal ‘get togethers’ – and an excuse to find new cake recipes. Perhaps we’ll have our youngest ever member at the next one.