A Few Recently Made Things

These few things are all recently made gifts. The flowers in pinks are appliqued onto a pink patchwork quilt made with a jelly roll. The blue fish were also appliqued onto a blue jelly roll quilt and the delicate flower on a batik quilt is a picnic blanket. The wall hanging is another attempt at a 'four seasons' panel inspired by an item in the book "Material Obsessions" by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke.

Penne Pasta With Sundried Tomato Pesto

  

Pasta With Sundried Tomato Pesto

We eat lots of pasta in our house. It is quick, cheap, easy to prepare, and can be very healthy. This was a late night snack yesterday
.

Ingredients:

Penne pasta
Sundried tomatoes in olive oil
Handful of basil
Handful of pine nuts

Method:

Cook pasta in boiling water until 'al dente' then drain
Place all other ingredients into liquidizer and pulse until fairly smooth
Mix two together and enjoy!

Yum, Yum, Yum!

Pink Geraniums

Pink Geraniums

The geraniums in my garden are looking so delicate and beautiful this year. I searched for a poem to go with this pretty photo and the only thing I could find was a nonsense poem by Mervyn Peake, which I had never heard before.

THE TROUBLE WITH GERANIUMS


The trouble with geraniums
is that they’re much too red!
The trouble with my toast is that
it’s far too full of bread.

The trouble with a diamond
is that it’s much too bright.
The same applies to fish and stars
and the electric light.

The troubles with the stars I see
lies in the way they fly.
The trouble with myself is all
self-centred in the eye.

The trouble with my looking-glass
is that it shows me, me;
there’s trouble in all sorts of things
where it should never be.

Mervyn Peake

Emma Bridgewater Pottery

Bridgewater Pottery

I had a lovely message from Angela in America asking for more information about Bridgewater Pottery. She was fascinated by the look of the pots and wondered how easy they were to get in USA. She also asked for some clearer photos of my collection. Emma Bridgewater ships all around the world so should be fairly easy to buy - also it is often seen on Ebay, but these may be the seconds, so be careful.  I just love this pottery and am entirely happy to give it as much publicity as possible. So ... here they are in more detail!

http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/

Mini Fish Quilt

I saw this lovely mini quilt on Etsy and was not surprised to see that it was by 'OhThisNose'  in the USA who appears to do some very imaginative quilting and applique. This one is on sale at 15$. See the link here to her work.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ohthisnose?ref=seller_info

Again, not being particularly artistic I used this mini-quilt as inspiration for my own. My first is not at all inspirational but I aim to work on this idea to do a series of mini quilts for a fishing friend. Below is my fairly poor copy, which I have titled 'Not Very Fishy!'

I have used a compliment of batiks, which lend themselves very well to this kind of patchwork picture and used a 'quilt as you go' on the panels before I joined them with a simple overlock stitch. The backing is the same batik as on the binding and the panel is filled with wadding to give a little depth to the quilted picture.

Hampton Court Flower Show 2010 - Midsummer Night's Dream

... "hand in hand with fairy grace, will we sing and bless this place" 

Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare

This lovely garden won a Silver Award from the Royal Horticultural Society at the Hampton Court Flower Show 2010 for Jayne Thomas Garden Designs. It was also awarded People’s Choice For The Best Small Garden in the Flower Show 2010 on Sunday.  
Congratulations to Jayne!!

Patchwork Cat Mat

Black Cat Coaster.

A friend emailed me this morning to ask if I had any coasters with animals left. This lovely black cat was inspired by another Etsy find. I have now copied twenty of them ... people just love cats. This is now winging its way to my friend as a gift for yet another cat lover. I do hope the black cat brings her some luck!

Baked Chicken With Honey, Ginger & Vegetables

Last Nights Dinner
Chicken Baked with Soy Sauce, Honey and Ginger

Simple dinner of chicken baked with honey, soy sauce and ginger with seasonal vegetables. The dessert was a lovely summer pudding bursting with strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, with home-made yogurt. Unfortunately we ate it before I managed to take a photo!

Stieg Larsson - Eva Gabrielsson - Injustice

I have recently read three wonderful books from The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson:


STIEG LARSSON, 1954-2004

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played With Fire
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

Perhaps you have read them too? If not then do ... they are a wonderful read and in recognition of them two posthumous awards - The Glass Key Award For Best Nordic Crime Writer 2005, and The Best Swedish Crime Writer 2006 have been awarded since his death. He has now also been shortlisted for the Crime Writers International Dagger Award 2010, and would be a worthy winner.

These wonderful books encourage us to think about injustice to women, and in the form of Lisbeth Salander they confront many unjust issues and situations applicable to women and in particularly women who do not conform to the norms of society. They are detective novels of the highest order, which have been so well received that already over fifty million copies have been sold worldwide. I loved them, although in the past have had little time for this type of book.

It was, therefore, something of a shock to hear that his common law wife of over thirty years, now the widow of Stieg Larsson, had received not one penny from the huge riches that have accumulated due to this enormous success. Because the couple never married the whole estate has been passed to his previously estranged family and even the small apartment they shared for over thirty years does not now belong to her.

There is a site now set up to support Eva to try and right this wrong, especially with the help of donations towards a legal fund ... do read about it here and leave her a message of support:

http://supporteva.com/us/

Patchwork Coasters

Coasters for friends.

Whenever I go to a coffee morning I take along a little home-made gift. Sometimes chocolates, often flowers, but occasionally some little coasters. They can be quickly made from scrap fabrics, embroidered or appliqued and made in a short time. These are made from scraps of Moda fabrics and are padded with a heat resistant filling. The edges are just oversewn but can be finished with a simple binding if preferred. The designs are all of cups, mugs, spoons, teapots and sugar bowls but could be anything. Recently I have made several with different coloured cats for friends who adore their moggies!

Quilted Wall Hanging

'Facing Circles' by Oh This Nose!

I came across this unusual black wall hanging on Etsy and really fell in love with it. The colours are so vibrant and the decoration of beads and embroidery really inspired me to try and come up with something similar as a gift for a friend. See the listing here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/10213586/facing-circles .

I decided to use it for inspiration and am now in the process of making one of my own in paler tones. I am not particularly artistic and find this a wonderful way of producing my own quilting by being inspired by others. I should love to credit the artist but her profile on Etsy gives no clues to her name. She is based in Eugene, Oregon, USA, and produces some really lovely pieces. This one costs 200$

My homage to 'Facing Circles' is being made using the paler peach, green and turquoise tones of 'Chez Moi' fabric by Moda Fabrics. I love these fabrics but have difficulty tracking them down as they only sell directly to the trade. Luckily I had these as a gift from a very dear friend.

http://www.unitednotions.com/un_main.nsf main?openpage

I am in the process of decorating each of the squares with embroidery and beads and buttons and have quilted each square individually directly onto the wadding. My aim is for a wall hanging of around one metre square. I haven't yet decided upon the edging and backing colours and would be happy for some suggestions from the more artistic among you as to how to finish it!

Hampton Court Flower Show

A Midsummer Night's Dream

This post is purely to wish my friend Jayne 'Good Luck' with her beautiful garden at Hampton Court Flower Show at Hampton Court Palace. The beautiful whimsical garden is designed on a Shakespearean theme and is titled 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. I shall post some photos of it shortly and let you know how it did in the competition! See more information here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampton_Court_Palace
http://www.rhs.org.uk/

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;

Oberon
Midsummer Night's Dream
William Shakespeare

Small Cosmetic Patchwork Bag

This is a small cosmetic bag that I have made this morning in readiness for a meeting with a friend. I wanted to give her a little gift and thought a bag with a few toiletries would be a nice gesture. (Her feet have been causing her pain so it is filled with gel foot pads and some lotions and potions for her feet!)
 





I pinched the idea from something I saw on the net and adapted it to the size I needed. The thong sandals are padded, as is the bag, and it is backed and fully lined and quilted with a smaller pink and white dotted fabric.

I do hope she will like it!

Eight Days Of Love Notes

I came across this lovely card over at Typepad and found it a very cheerful freebie.
Why not copy and print it yourself for someone you love?

Copy Print Cut

Download Here.

Thank You Typepad!

Spaghetti Bolognese

Last Nights Dinner

Easy Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients:

1 lb steak mince - serves four
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 red pepper
8 oz button mushrooms
1 can kidney beans
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
Olive oil
Chopped parsley

Method:

Finely chop onion and garlic and fry in a little olive oil
When slightly browned add the meat and fry until golden brown edges
Add can chopped tomatoes
Add can drained kidney beans
Add 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
Slice red pepper and mushrooms and add to the mix
Simmer gently for 10 - 15 minutes
Sprinkle with chopped parsley

Serve with boiled spaghetti ( I add a little crisp onion and sliced tomato to the top of this dish). Also excellent with rice or over a jacket potato. This is the recipe that I also use for Chilli Con Carne - merely adding one or two fresh chopped chillies and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to the mixture. I really love this dish as it is so easy and is the perfect thing to have in the fridge for those late night snacks - quickly microwaved with rice (also prepared in advance in the fridge!)

NOTE:- See those lovely dishes. They are part of a collection of pottery by the UK potter Emma Bridgewater. She does beautifully individually hand-painted pottery, all on the same shape and style of cream earthenware. This means that a huge set can be amassed with no two pieces being the same style or colourway. I love this look as it makes for a wonderful country feel and can be bought one piece at a time and a collection got together over a long period. See her site here:




This is my collection.

http://www.emmabridgewater.co.uk/

Home-Made Yogurt & Raspberry Verrines

 
I came across verrines recently in France. Basically they are small desserts to be eaten at any time of day - just a small mouthful of goodies, which should not leave a guilty feeling even when on a diet. These are in small shot glasses and comprise of raspberry coulis in the bottom layer, vanilla yogurt in the centre, raspberry yogurt on the top and topped off with a raspberry. They can be made with anything that you have handy and can be either sweet or savoury.

The yogurt is home-made and very easy:

Ingredients:
Any amount of milk (I use a litre)
Tablespoon of milk powder
One small organic 'live' yogurt


Method:
Warm milk until skin forms and edges bubble gently
Remove from heat and cool until hand heat
Add milk powder and stir gently
Add 'live' yogurt and again stir gently
Pour into cool container and stand in warm spot for four to six hours or overnight
(I stand on a trivet at the back of the Aga, but an airing cupboard is just as good)
Cool in fridge for one or two hours
Fresh fruit can be added at this point
Enjoy!

Quilt As You Go!

Simple squares to be cut to accurate nine inches.

I am trying to teach myself a simple 'quilt as you go' method. I have a lovely jelly roll of Heather Bailey's 'Pop Garden' and am aiming for a single quilt for my niece. I love the colours they just 'zing' out at you! It is simple - just a log cabin design sewn directly onto the backing fabric until the desired size is reached. Then a top quilting stitch (I have used a simple line about a quarter of an inch apart). Make a big pile of these squares and then trim them all to the same size (I am using nine inch panels) before joining them together in strips and eventually into a large panel before backing and binding. This method means you can quilt on a simple domestic sewing machine and it lends itself very well to small designs. I shall try to be more adventurous with the quilting in subsequent pieces.

Here is a lovely tutorial   sewtakeahike.

Quilted Parcel Tags

I came across this wonderful idea for making present tags using scraps of fabric. This is my first attempt so not particularly wonderful but I shall persevere and perhaps make the tags on a white background and try to match personality or present to the design. This is how I made them:-

1. Find a scrap of fabric for the background an inch wider and longer than the tag. 2. With tiny pieces build up a design and and attach it to the backing fabric. 3. Quilt through the fabric pieces either by hand or machine until pleased with the design. 4. With an adhesive iron-on behind the designed and quilted fabric attach it centrally to the tag. 5. Cut the edges of the fabric in line with the tag. 6. Overstitch the outer edges. You can now write your message on the plain back.

Voila!

Baked Hake With Pesto, Courgettes & Sweet Potato

Last nights easy dinner - baked hake on a bed of herbs with pesto and tomato and orange, lemon and butter.
Fried courgettes and boiled sweet potato and squash.

Yummy!

National Quilt Championships - Sandown 2010

A lovely piece by Stephanie Parker from Cornwall. A truly stunning work of art! Rightly deserving the rosette (not sure of the title or which rosette it was awarded - sorry).

Herd Mentality. By Ferret at Ferret Fabrications.
Awarded First Place in Computer Aided Design.

I recently visited The National Quilt Championships at Sandown Park, UK. It was a lovely event and I came away realizing that I am a real beginner who has a long way to go. The two quilts above really shone out as inspirational.

The first by Stephanie Parker of Cornwall was a huge wall hanging with eyes that seemed to follow you around the room. I just loved the composition and the colourings.

The second, the herd of cows, was huge and a tremendous work of art by long arm quilter and artist Ferret at Ferret Fabrications.

http://ferfab.blogspot.com/

Do look at her site and be inspired. These two quilts, in particular, really made me re-assess -

JUST WHAT IS ART?

Balsamic Roasted Peppers

Balsamic Red Pepper Salad

My main interest in life is food. I love to grow it, source it, buy it, prepare it, cook it, feed my family and friends, pass on successful recipes and suppliers, talk endlessly about it, drool over it, and most of all eat and enjoy it! Perhaps you do to? If so, then this is the blog for you. Today is a hot, sultry day in London. A perfect day for a cold platter and some chilled white wine. This evening we shall eat some lovely roasted red peppers with onions and garlic and basil . I shall serve this with a crisp green salad. The herbs are from the garden (all grown in pots), and the lovely red peppers, onions and lemon are from the local farmer’s market.

Ingredients

1 Red Pepper per person 1 Onion per person 1 Garlic Clove per person 1 Lemon per person Handful of Mixed Herbs Olive Oil Sea Salt & Black Pepper Dressing: Balsamic Vinegar dressing (vinegar, oil, sugar, mustard, lemon juice)…to taste. Handful of Basil to decorate.

Method

• Cut peppers into quarters, clean and de-seed.
• Cut onions into thin slices.
• Thinly slice garlic cloves.
• Slice lemon thinly and de-seed.
• Place all ingredients in deep bowl and mix with the olive oil, salt and pepper and chopped herbs until finely coated.
• Place on baking tray well spread out in a very hot oven
• Cook until slightly charred.
• Cool.

Dress with balsamic vinegar dressing and sprinkle with the basil . Serve chilled with a crisp green salad and some chilled white wine.

The Eden Project

http://www.edenproject.com/

This week I visited the Eden Project. This place is truly magical. It is a ten year old project to show everyone our connection to nature and our dependence upon it for all we need. There are magnificent Biomes, amazing plants, art and architecture and scrumptious foods and gifts. The whole place is so environmentally friendly and the visit has inspired me to come back and work harder at producing our own food and recycling and re-using as much as possible. Do join me!

Be Green.

Blue Skies

Beautiful blue skies.

This is a pic from my kitchen window this morning.
Isn't it lovely?