Category: Uncategorized

Summer Meadow Quilt

7 Comments
It is done, finished, completely finished.
And my how it has grown.  I am glad that I decided on a quilt rather than place mats, it is much more substantial for a 75th birthday present for my Mum. 
 If you notice that the fabric surrounding the green squares is placed so that the different colours are on the diagonal. And there are flowers in the centre’s of the fabric that surrounds the square (terribly English Mandy!). 
 It has taken 23 days of sewing or cutting out every day.  Most days I spent a minimum of 2 to 3 hours on it, some days I spent nearer 8.  If I had to guess I think the quilt has taken 80 to 100 hours. 
 A closer look. 
 I love the flowers in the middle, although I couldn’t get them to sit right and they become quite blowsy, although I forgave them as they reminded me of poppies in full flower having been beaten by the wind and summer rain drops. 
 And in some ways this flaw gives the quilt character. 
 A closer look at the pattern. 
 I added this little strip of fabric, although fiddly I love adding it, I love the flash of a strong colour and how it adds texture to the quilt.  This is becoming my trademark. 
 Mainly the quilt is quilted with stitch in the ditch but in the centre squares I free motion stippled. I love the centre flowers, they are made with a fold of fabric and rather cleverly they then make tiny pockets which is great fun.  You could leave little messages in them, or the odd boiled sweet (wrapped of course) for later. The free motion stippling, which I am getting much better at, makes the flower pop out from the background. 
 The green border I free motion quilted with flowers, and again my technique improved as time went on. I quite enjoy free motion quilting now. 
 And I finished with a border of fabric that was in the flowers.  Stitched on the top, hand sewn on the back, which took four nights and more hours than I had imagined, I dragged myself to bed at 2 a.m. one night/morning. 
I made a label to tell of the name of the quilt, who it was for and why and who made it when and where. So if anyone should find it stuffed into the corner of an attic in a hundred years they will have something to start with.
And just in case they find this blog, well you never know!  All the fabrics are cotton, it was quilted with cotton, pieced with Egyption cotton and the batting is also 100 % cotton.  

Malvern Quilts 2012

2 Comments

Hubby and I went to see the quilts at Malvern on Saturday.  Well, when I say We I mean he took me and then happily sat and waited for me to finish, he is deeply involved with the sock knitting machine at the moment and is determined to learn kitchener stitch with the sock inside out,  (working the purl bumps) and thought this would be an ideal opportunity.  Even though I could take over he has listened to and watched my instructions and will not let me anywhere near his little pile of socks that need sewing up.  So he sat happily in the car kitchenering and winding up sock yarn from previous sock knitting attempts which was lightly interspersed with coffee and cakes whilst I gallivanted around the show and enjoyed a couple of workshops.  He seemed quite happy when I got back, almost jubilant with success one might say, learning kitchener stitch will do that to you every time.

Firstly I did a little light shopping, this is some fabric that I saw at another show at the end of the day when I was all shopped out. The memory of it has haunted me ever since and in that time I had found the perfect project for it.  I have a large orange bag that I use for shopping at quilt shows now that rucksacks are banned and this bag was a freebie at another show and is slowly falling apart even though any holes are sewn up.  I’ve never found the right bag to replace it and I came to the conclusion that it was time to make my own.  And I think this will be the perfect print. It is printed on a canvass upholstery type weight.  

and then I had the greatest fun,

searching out suitable liner, handle and accessories for the bag.

I had hoped to find some more Christmas fabrics for my stash.  I was very lucky to find two packs,

and love how pretty they are. 
One of my workshops was with Maggie Davies who taught us how to make Kanzashi Flowers.  I am startled that I have made something so pretty, especially as it was the first attempt.  I may make more.
 
I’ve printed this out so that you can see, I am in love with this quilt, they had run out of patterns, I will be buying one.
 
It is the funniest thing to see all of these quilts together, I met other women who were as giggly as I was at seeing them all.  We came up with the idea that we should buy a hotel and have a different quilt on each bed, wouldn’t that be wonderful!
All I can say is enjoy.  

 I had a thoroughly good day and am really looking forward to the quilts (and the shopping)  at the NEC.

Tasters.

2 Comments
Son no.2 had a craving for Aubergine Harusame, Yo! Sushi style and promptly walked into town to buy the required aubergines to make the dish.  When he returned there was quiet contemplation in the kitchen and the delicate sound of careful slicing interspersed with loud yells asking me what the ingredients are for the sauce.  The ingredients are garlic, ginger, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and sesame oil.  It can be put together in a trice, just a little light grating and then whisking with a fork.  The taste does not belie how little effort goes into it.  
Soon son no.2 presented me with this and his delicate use of the ingredients made it very delicious. I was most impressed that he was able to obtain such a good balance of flavours, having left the measures of the ingredients up to him.  It bodes well for his cookery capers in the future. 
 

I finished the piecing of the quilt for Mum this evening and have pinned the layers together, quilting starts tomorrow. Eeek!

Day 20 of Sewing for 30 days.

2 Comments
The challenge is going very well in the sense that I don’t mind sewing every day.  I’ve missed two days so far both of which were because I was working out the quilt and cutting out.  My maths and organisational mind on geometric shapes are not my strongest of points so it probably takes me far longer than most to apply myself to the task in hand. Also I don’t have a right angled triangle with a 45 degree side so I had to use the lines on my ruler, which is fine for the first few sections but occasionally you lose track of what your doing and you can feel your brain begging for time out. 
 As you can see I decided on a quilt for Mum’s birthday rather than place mats, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  
 As did adding an addition detail of a flower in the fabric outlining the squares. 
 There are faults galore, and I am seriously thinking about ripping open one of the flowers as it is very baggy, and I am not sure why.  Some of these seams have been ripped open and re sewn four times. 
 You’d think with that sort of dedication I would be able to manage to get nice clean points on my flowers, nope not a chance.  Whats that?  You heard a comment from a blind man astride a galloping horse and he said it was fine. Well at least it will keep my Mum warm, it looks like she’s going to need a summer quilt. 
I am just over half way on the piecing and then I am not sure how I am going to quilt it, ideas much appreciated.  I know I am going to leave the triangles in the centre of the squares as they are doubled over in fabric and each one is a pocket, I just like leaving them open. 
Fortunately there was sustenance, we happened to be in Wing Yip  in Birmingham, (who we have been going to for twenty four years) stocking up on our Chinese ingredients when we came upon a very large shoulder of pork with the bone in weighing over 6kg and costing only £12.99  If there is one thing the Chinese know about its pork, so we heaved it into the trolley.  Today hubby cooked it very slowly for six hours and then crisped it up at the end, the crackling was heavenly, the meat you could cut with a spoon and the flavour was rich and concentrated, it is the best pork I have ever had.   Son no.1 arrived, the four of us ate our fill, sent Mum and Dad a foil container full of meat and gravy and still have enough to feed us three for a good few meals yet.  Hubby and I are seriously tempted to have this again for Christmas dinner, it was that good.  

Golden Fields of Rape.

1 Comment
I pass this farm every few weeks, it is not on my daily route anywhere and when I do I am always interested as to what they are growing mainly because my Father used to help work the land nearly 70 years ago.  In years gone by I’ve noticed that the farmer has grown Rape but this year he has really outdone himself.  I’ve never seen Rape on such a grand scale (it must be getting a good price) I came across it at its peak.  The brightness of the yellow hurt my eyes, even though it was cloudy. 
Both sides of the track to the farm, yellow as far as the eye can see. 
 And then we thought we would pretend to be Japanese tourists. 
They would love this farm. 

Pikelets.

5 Comments
One of my earliest memories is having Pikelets for tea.  I remember Dad standing guard over the Pikelets as they toasted under the hiss and splutter of the eye level gas grill.  When they were nicely golden brown and as hot as molten rock he would flip them onto a plate that was on standby and flick another eight Pikelets under the grill as five pairs of eyes watched him hungrily.  Mum would be buttering as fast as she could and dished them out to the hungry crowd. I always remember his authoritative stance on calling them Pikelets.  I never knew what a crumpet was, I had no idea and it took me until well into my teens to work out that they were one and the same thing.  Well they were for us. I am sure there are numerous versions that are with yeast or without, cooked with the aid of a ring to make it stand proud or without to let it come to its own level. But to us, the crumpets that came out of the packet were mislabelled and were intact PIkelets.  Sometimes we would have extra treats such as a grating of cheese or a dollop of jam but often they were just served with butter and to me they were the finest of all treats.
Son no.2 has been bringing them home occasionally to have as a snack.  I’d completely forgotten about them, what with all the other treats available to us today and toasted one, buttered it and when I tasted it was instantly transported back in time to tea time taken in the kitchen in the 1970’s complete with working coke stove and bright orange wallpaper identical (I think) to this one. (which may explain why my hand drawn daisies have such a hippy five petalled element to them) I know I loved the wallpaper and was very sad when it was changed.
Wallpaper aside, this morning started with torrential rain, and I am sorry to say the cat and I were very comfy as we pondered whether we were going to venture forth.   The cat decided to stay in bed, I started to get ready and then decided that it was just too wet and I would be better staying home.
I doubt my parents ever made Pikelets from scratch, Mum being more of a cake, pastry, fruit crumble and strawberry trifle kind of girl, whilst I don’t mind dabbling with the art of yeast bakery.
My first two pikelets.  I soon learnt that you really need much less batter per pikelet than you may think. 
All pikelets cooked
It was time for my brunch, they were absolutely delicious. 

A cold and wet weekend.

2 Comments
I blame the chickens, its all their fault, the reason why my Kenwood Chef has died, which was the first Kenwood Chef that was made in 1953 has departed from this world with quite an explosive pop.  The first time it happened we changed the fuse and she came back to life for a couple of minutes but soon decided enough was enough with a bang and a flash of light and just a little bit of smoke.  I quickly unplugged her whilst hubby went off to reset the fuse box again.  At the moment she has her guts hanging out whilst the engineer takes on a diagnostic role, the trouble is her motor isn’t made anymore.  I may need to have a nurse wipe my fevered brow whilst I contemplate life without her.  We were good friends the Kenwood and I and made many people happy when we whipped up magnificent Pavlova’s and cakes for parties, let alone the number of times she was brought into action for simple mixes for pancakes and drop scones, and I will be at a complete loss when it comes to mixing my Christmas cake.  

It all started with those pesky chickens who have been laying like the clappers, if you want reliable hens buy White Stars, their productivity is quite astounding. So first of all I made a couple of quiche’s with the eggs, a piece of Stilton I rescued from the back of the freezer and the first of the asparagus.

And one with a few tomatoes that were lurking in the fridge which was popped into the freezer. 
And a few jam tarts that were made with the rest of the pastry.  Actually the flour that I used was self raising not having any plain in the house which made them quite puffy and soft, which was quite nice and the jam is a blackcurrant jelly that I made from our own bushes last autumn. 
The quiche was very tasty. 
And then hubby found more eggs so I made a Queen of puddings from left over bread in the freezer  more of the Blackcurrant Jelly. 
Not quite authentic, but very good. 
And realising that I wasn’t going to get to go to Wonderwool because the weather was going to be very bad on Sunday, I cast on a sock in Opal, hand dyed.  I am loving it and it was just the sort of pick me up I needed, as I was a little bit sad that I wouldn’t be going.
On Sunday I played with pretty fabrics, 
I am well on the way to making Mum’s quilt (it was place mats!) for her 75th birthday. 
And then the chickens laid more eggs and I was able to make a Chocolate cake. 
With a chocolate frosting which is boiled and then whipped until it is cool where upon it takes on a fudgey consistency and is absolutely gorgeous.  But which proved too much for the Kenwood. 
Apart from the Kenwood (did I mention the Kenwood?!) I’ve had a lovely weekend playing with ingredients to get the best out of them and not going to the shops once. Today we had pigs cheek casserole that was left over from Friday with a few fresh vegetables and mashed spuds, it was yummy.  Not bad for a make do and mend weekend.  (lets hope hubby can do the mending bit of this equation) 
I am off to knit a sock. 

Day 6 of Sewing for 30 days.

2 Comments
Sewing everyday is far easier than going to the gym everyday, but you knew that.  What have I been up to, well, I am making placemats for  my Christmas table and at the same time making Mum some as well.   They are going quite well,  and I am really enjoying making them. 


Did you notice those points, well just in case you couldn’t quite see,

not bad.  Mind you, I haven’t shown you the previous two, they are not as pretty as this one.

Anyway, I ran out of black fabric yesterday and needed some more to finish these placemats so I took myself off to Warwick to visit Anita at The Quilters Den, to spend a very enjoyable hour and a half choosing fabrics.  I’d only popped in for a couple of items when an idea that had been ruminating came to fruition after having seen these fabrics.

I think they will make very pretty placemats for Mum to use in the garden and will become the perfect 75th birthday present that I have been searching for.  I’d best get crackin’ .

What I learned today..

Leave a comment

In the scheme of all things related to the sewing machine, items that require a ten digit code to verify that you do indeed have the right part to use, to do the job you wish, an item that will work on the machine that you have safely installed in your home,  never trust shop assistants.  I have just found to my cost that I have been sold the wrong free motion bobbin for my machine.  It is like a game of snakes and ladders, and I have gone back five spaces.

Secondly the reason that these little jobs on the sewing machine take so long is because of the designer of the machine.  You see the way I see it in my mind is that all of the little feet are stored on the top and all of the bulky feet with attachments are stored in the nicely designed draws at the back and front of my machine.  Simples, so when I looked for my free motion quilting foot, I found it wasn’t there.  I checked my machine three times, searched the room, scrambled under the desk amongst the bits and pieces of fabric that had fallen there, imagine my happiness when I did find a foot, not the right one, but a foot it was, I must be on the right track.  I came back out dirtier but without the required foot.  Then checked my machine again, opened the draws and glanced over the top, nope the free motion quilting foot wasn’t there.

Then I thought have I put this foot in my older machine.  Managed to unearth it under a pile of magazines, pillows (stuffing to you and me) and fabric only to find that it uses a completely different foot and no the foot I was after wasn’t there.  Cursed under my breath and considered buying another foot whilst desperately trying to think of a way to get this under hubby’s radar.  He would blame my housekeeping abilities which we know are well down on the list as to why he loves me.

I decided to search downstairs, just before glancing once again at my machine. And then, just out of the corner of my eye, I see the large quilting foot I want, perched safely in its hidey hole that the designer has so carefully placed on the top, next to the small feet.  It shouldn’t be there at all, it should be tucked into one of the draws, any self respecting seamstress knows this.  Mandycharlie quickly checks her peripheral vision which is fine and can only determine that it all stems from a knock on the head sometime soon after birth.

Manic mode, averted, it would have been ugly.