Zipped up!

I am sure those of you who go on pinterest have seen these lovely little zipped purses! I decided to have a go and I try and make two at once that way its easier to iron out any little problems that may occur!

They have one outer zip and then inside they have three zipped compartments! In this one I used a different coloured zip for each one, my thinking behind this was it might help to aid the memory of what was where? but now I am not so sure, although it does look fun.

I love this fabric I think its may be Irene and Lewis but I bought it a few months back in Edinburgh at The Knitting and Stitch show, which I thought was a great show! 
So if you would like a challenge and don't mind fiddly things, have a go! I think its well worth it when its finished!
Have fun!

 

Sticky Situation

At this time of year the fruit and vegetables are great, so I like to make the most of availability and make sauces, chutneys and relishes so we can enjoy them later in the year. I am seriously trying to reduce the amount of plastic used in our house, and preserving in glass jars certainly helps! I found this great blog Food in Jars where there is endless information. So I used their recipe to make Small Batch Strawberry Plum Jam!

The recipe seemed clear and didn't use masses of fruit, so I thought, perfect for me. I remember my mum making jam and it all being rather stressful, however my first venture into the world of jam making was great fun!

This is when I wish we had smell a vision, at this stage the smell was amazing! I really didn't have a clue about making jam, and in this recipe she said to put fruit and sugar in pan and leave for 15 minutes to draw the liquid out of the fruit! Fascinating!

The only thing I was unsure about was how long to boil it for, the recipe didn't say a rough guide for this, so then I was a bit worried would it set. I used my canner to seal the jars so that it didn't need to stay in the fridge and it will keep for up to a year. (If it gets a chance too?)

I got four pots, and when I checked it this morning by tilting the jars it seems to have set! Happy days! In the photo above you can see I also make some Bengal chutney, which is the closest thing to that well known pickle, so it was a successful day I think! It wasn't a sticky situation just a fun day preserving!

Quilting

I found this fab fabric in my local store, a colourful range from Moda. I just couldn't wait to start working with it! 

I decided to make a quilt, so after finding a pattern on the internet I set to work. I find sewing so relaxing and totally absorbing, you can switch off totally.
I bought 6 fat quarters to make this quilt and I didn't want to cut the fabric too much, as I loved all the patterns. To complete the quilt I bought some yardage of the blue and cream plus the orange border fabric.

Here is the completed quilt, it has a lovely contemporary feel to it, I haven't decided who I am giving it to yet but I know a few people have their eye on it!

This is the Moda fabric I used, and I am now working on another quilt for a wedding present using a few charm packs!
It is certainly the weather for picnics here so may be I will take my new quilt and have a wee picnic!!!

Drying roses

Hello! I can't believe it has been so long since I posted! I do have a couple of good excuses!! I became a Granny, my daughter had a baby and my son got married so it has been a very busy but fun time! Both events went well and I thoroughly enjoyed the wedding and am really enjoying being a granny!
I thought I would share with you how to dry rose petals as I dried some for confetti for my son's wedding.
Above are some  beautiful cool water roses that I had in the house, so gently pull the petals from the head, separating from the stem.
                                                         

I then placed them onto a piece of kitchen roll and put into the airing cupboard or dark dry cupboard! I don't usually leave them intact like this, this was purely for a lovely pic!!

The tray on the left are the dried ones, whereas on the right are some I popped into the airing cupboard today! They will be dry in about a week it depends on the heat.
I hope you are all enjoying this spring it seems to be a spring filled with blossom, I hope that is a good sign!

                   Confetti action shot of bride and groom complete with dog!!

New Year, New Ideas!

 Hello! I hope 2017 is going well for you! In January I tidy, (I do tidy other times of the year but always feel in the mood in January!!) so while I was tidying my cupboard I found this little sample of nuno felt, I love the colours. The wool is from Treetops in Australia, Nancy who owns tree tops has an amazing eye for colour and puts together the most amazing colour combinations all inspired by nature.

I have recently acquired some embroidery threads from a friend, so I decided to put them to use! My sister embroiders but its not something I have really done a lot of and I certainly don't know if what I am doing is correct! But I had tremendous fun and to me that's the main thing and I will endeavour to learn the technique!!

I decided a simple pattern was probably best to start with, and it proved to be very relaxing, I chose similar colours to those which were in the piece of felt!

This is the wrong side and here you can see the piece of silk fabric on the back, which the wool is felted into! I quite like this side too! I am probably showing off as I think it pretty amazing to have it so neat! Lol!

I haven't decided if I will leave it like this or whether to add some tiny beads to it, what do you think? Its may be hard to tell from this photo,what would be the best option. However as an experimental piece I was very pleased and it has put me in the mood to do more of this type of work!

Christmas Cranberry Chutney!

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2016 has flown in, and it seems no time since I was making my 2015 door ring! Above is a photo of this years door ring. It is filled with spruce , eucalyptus, pistachio, eryngium, hypericum and cones. No sparkle this year and no bow, which is a pleasant change! 

Our family loves Christmas, getting everyone together and sitting together playing games or watching a good movie, sadly as they children have grown we dont always have everyone home, and this year is one of those times.

I have taken a real notion for making chutneys so I thought I would try a recipe for Cranberry chutney.

After getting all the ingredients together, I set to work.

 I tried really hard this time to chop the pieces smaller as I thought the end result would be better! The smell was amazing as it cooked on the hob, and it didnt take as long as some of them to be cooked well enough.

I poured the warm liquid into the sterilised jars and screwed on the tops, not completely tight, then I popped them all into the rack in the canning pot! I thought this photo was good as it made it all look very professional, even though at the time I was terrified as I had never used this before! It brought back vague memories of a pressure cooker exploding in an HE class at school a very long time ago!! ( It wasnt my pressure cooker by the way!)

However my anxiety was unfounded and all went according to plan, no explosions or drama I am delighted to say!!

 If you are making chutney I would advise you to label and date your chutney, nothing worse than opening a jar and it not being what you expected!! So this will be ready to eat in time for Christmas, even though one person in this house would like to try it now!

Hello again!

Time is flying by at top speed, and I have started to make some Christmas presents! I am allowed to say the C word as Halloween is over, so the official countdown is on! 
I made two of these lovely table runners using Just Jude's pattern for half hexies I really enjoyed making these as they were a bit of challenge getting the corners to match up.

I bought two charm packs of Moda's Cookie exchange so I could make a red and green table runner and a more contemporary blue and grey one! The patterns in this pack are gorgeous, I love all of them.

I will posting the red and green over to my sister soon for her table at Christmas!

I loved the way Jude had quilted her runner so I decided to do the same with the one above! What fun!