Australian Bush Fires Appeal for Fabric

Hi everyone,

I have sent a fat quarter of fabric to this appeal as it is for such a good cause. You can read about it here on Jenny Bowkers blog. Basically a lady called Alice has lost her home in the fires and she is a quilter. So if you can spare any fabric suitable for quilts it would come in handy to keep her active in the next few months, she is also planning to share fabric with a group of other ladies in Buxton. This is the fat quarter I sent.
I know she lost a quilt she was making for her daughter in the fire and it was in blues and pastels, but really any spare fat quarters or fabric for quilts will do. I love the idea of a 'phoenix quilt' group, rising from the ashes too! So dig deep ladies and the address is on Jenny's site if you follow the link above.

More Dollies

I have just received another two piccies of dollies for the workshop from Gill Reid, so I might as well include them today and then you have them all, so first up is this cute little dolly.....



I just love the sweet little pink bow in her hair, and speaking of hair if you decide to make the cute dollies as opposed to the 'weird' fairy type of doll then you will need to remember to add some wool for her hair to the list of items needed for the workshop. Gill recommends about 50g per head of hair.

So next up is cute dolly number two....


I think dolly number two looks like a bit more of a swot.. I expect she will be liked by little girls or big ones who have ambitions. Love the freckles too. So now you have seen all of the options for the workshop, please don't forget to let Pat Knifton know if you are going to attend. It might also be a good idea to let Pat know which type of dolly you might be inclined to make as well.



BREAD (Kenwood Mixer style)

I have been making bread for many many years, probably over 30, and I always use my trusty Kenwood Chef as I started long before bread makers were invented or sold. The Kenwood does more than bread of course but its mainly used for that function and so here is my foolproof recipe.

Place in the mixing bowl one sachet of yeast, the type you buy for bread makers and then 1lb 2oz of flour. You can vary the type of flour as much as you like but if you use more wholemeal you may need slightly more water. So for instance you can use 8oz of wholemeal and 10oz of white, or something in equal proportions. I sometimes take an oz or 2 of flour out and add instead nuts and fruit or seeds or a mixture, even cheese sometimes. Next I measure out olive oil (usually 3 tablespoons), but sometimes 4 if I want a very flexible dough say for pizza and mix in with the dough hook. I leave this whilst I go and pour boiling water into a glass jug up to the quarter of a pint mark and then top up with cold water to the half pint mark. This is poured into the bowl and then mixed thoroughly and kneaded for a few minutes, this always depends on time but I find it does not alter the bread much, so usually for approx 4 - 5 minutes. That's it, you should end up with a dough which leaves the sides of the mixing bowl clean, if not you can add a little more flour and then mix again, but remember you should never add more water after the first amount so if it's too dry you may have used too much flour.

I leave this to stand in its bowl just covered up with a damp clean T towel until doubled in size and then I turn the machine on again briefly to knock back the dough. Once ready, you just place onto your tray, or into your bread tin or whatever and leave to rise for the second time. (Do oil the tin.) I usually bake this one loaf for 35 minutes, the oven must already be at temperature and that is on 210c fan assisted oven. You can divide the mixture into rolls and then they take approx 15-20 minutes. Tap the bread on the bottom and if it sounds hollow it is cooked.

Of course you can mix this bread by hand and sometimes I have had to or have added a couple of minutes kneading to the initial dough just for the sheer pleasure it brings. Nothing beats kneading a bit of dough for bread, all those frustrations can be put into good use ;-)

Bye the way, the lovely bread roll holder was made by Val Osborn, she knows a thing or two and if you want to know how to make it, just ask.

Hello Dolly

Well I now have some photos sent on by Gill Reid ready to inspire you all for her March 19th Workshop called 'Head Cases'.

There are various views of the same doll and here is number one a close up of her face...

















Another view shows us her back with her very dainty wings.....





















And here she is showing off her embroidered? waistcoat.......














So if you have not booked this workshop yet it might be an idea to let Pat Knifton know you want to attend. (Please note that I do not put phone numbers on this blog.)



I have just been looking on the web for some more supplies of silk waste for making my own silk paper and I found a site called Stef Francis which deals with everything to do with dyed threads so I now know where to buy them. I have added her to the list of websites in the sidebar on the right of the blog if you want to go take a peek.

I will be adding more blogs and links to this site as soon as I find some which I think will be good to include. You can see that I have upgraded the list of blogs by showing a picture when a new post is made and I have also added Ferret Fabrications to the list she is the quilter who made 'Herd Mentality'. This is a photo I took of this award winning quilt at the NEC in the summer.



Did you know that Ferret is running a workshop on Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th June in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire? It's called 'Art Quilting with Ferret' and the price is £90 for the 2 days plus there is accommodation available. So if anyone is interested, please let me know and I will pass on the details, I am certainly interested.

Labor Omnia Vincit

Well, that was a mouthful, but if you know what it means you will understand why I used it for this posting. It's been a long day, literally, I awoke about 4.55am and nothing I tried would get me back to sleep, so I did the usual and made off for the kitchen to put the kettle on; back in bed with T for 2 and Bella snuggled between the sheets all was cosy. That's when I went through my mental list of all the jobs I have to do between now and Rheged. Don't know why I focused on the Regional Day but it was as good as any other. So I have made a start and number one is the Carpet Bag! Yes I finished it a couple of days ago but had not found time to take the photos, so here are some shots I took this morning.If you remember our ladies were given this lovely Turkish furnishing material by my special friend in Rosthwaite. So I just had to try and make the bag using the best angle on this lovely flower, I think its a poppy. The clever bit is that this fabric is reversed, i.e. I used the back of it not the front as it looked thicker and more lush.




The design I made up myself after studying bags on the internet for a few days I quickly came up with an idea for a bag, then all I had to do was make the pattern and see what happened; like a voyage of discovery. Well it took a few turns here and there but I am so pleased with it, here's an inside view of the red linen material I used for the lining and the little ties and zipper pull.By the way if you click on the photos on this blog most of them come up much bigger so you can really scrutinise the interior of this bag. You can see I made one large horizontal pocket which I sewed down the middle to make 2 (this is the real side of the fabric) and in the background you see a cord with a swivel bolt snap on it for attaching keys or even a purse. Then on the front side you see a long vertical pocket which is useful for glasses or anything long like pens or pencils to take to embroidery class.

But the real beauty of this bag is that it expands...... yes if you undo the side ties and undo the zip all the way (it's open ended) then you have a much bigger space for all that junk you need to carry about. Hey presto, when finished, you do the ties up again and its back to the smaller size. Here's a photo of it fully expanded.I turned it round too so you can see the vertical pocket better. So now if you would like to make this bag yourself, please post a comment. I would be quite happy to make a 2nd one and take photos of each stage and post on this blog, but be warned I cannot be responsible if it does not work out for you, as I am pretty nifty with my hands and sewing machine.
So I can't help you basically and its only my pattern not a commercial one. Also, I used a ring binder folder (thick clear plastic type) for the base and 4 little side 'bones' to make it stand up so you need to be able to cut up plastic safely. I know I could have bought a bag bottom, but I wanted to see what could be done with what I had around.

Here's a side view











March Workshop
This is with Gill Reid and the subject is 'Head Cases' but I am assured that if we are fast we will make more than the head for the doll, so all being well she will come away with a body too.... Not like the photo....
Now you will need the following items to bring to the workshop if you are going to make the doll. Bye the way you need to book this workshop and as usual that means contacting Pat Knifton as she has a list.

½ metre closely woven cotton fabric (flesh colour or cream) - cotton percale sheets are ok
Strong thread to match
Pipe cleaners (optional)
Dress fabrics & trimmings
Yarn for hair
Stuffing
Sharp pencil
Colouring pencils - water colours - acrylic paints - oil pastels - gel pens - fabric paints
Long sewing needles
Paintbrush (very fine)
Cotton wool buds
Any embellishments you like e.g. feathers, beads, shells, silk flowers, foliage etc.
Lastly, a sewing machine will be useful but not vital.

Gill will bring along some cotton fabric and some stuffing if anyone cannot bring some.
If you do not have everything don't worry too much, someone will lend you theirs I expect as friends usually don't mind sharing.

Well that is that and now for something completely different......................................Yes its a sneaky peak at the Wall Hanging, with Lesley's lovely woodland scene at the top, next is Sally's Ruskin Lace and lastly the Fairtrade sign as Keswick is a Fairtrade Town. More photos like this next time.

Dogs and Blogs

I thought you might like to meet Holly, I know its a bit late for Christmas, but Holly is pleased to meet you all. She was supposed to accompany a posting on issues to do with the festive season but somehow I did not have the time as I was out for quite a few days taking people up mountains.




Most of the time they were not very hospitable places, I kid you not.. I did take my dog Bella and I can confirm that she did not like the summit of Pike O Blisco very much. This is what it was like, so can you blame her?




It was all the poor doggy could do to stand up without sliding all over the place because the ice was so slippery and she also was shivering, so I grabbed her and put her coat on. Well that is something Bella hates, she hates being turned into a coat wearing dog; Border Terrier pride takes a lot of beating...I would call it the sulks, infact the big sulks. This was a 'sulky' moment when she was a pup.










But to return to Holly for a moment, she is owned by Marilyn who is doing the feltmaking workshop at Threlkeld in February and the good news is that so many of you want to make felt that the workshop is positively bulging. No more room for any more feltmakers at all, so please if you have not booked, don't expect to find a place. I am going to be working on the Banner with Sally and we have been placed behind the dustbins or somewhere...

More good news is that another 2 ladies have joined our Branch so we are expanding, infact so many people were in the Quaker Meeting House room we hire on Thursday that I began to wonder if we needed to move out into the corridor. Our little competition (DMC thread donation) that we ran at our Christmas lunch had 11 entrants too and our guest tutor Janice Nott was asked to judge the entrants. Well we were hard put to find a place to show them off so in the end they were placed on the table which some of us were working on. So thanks to those ladies who had restricted space for a while. Meanwhile, I expect you want to know the results, so here they are in reverse order.

Third Place - Gloria Walker

















Second Place - Sally Evans (Sorry the photo is a bit washed out but I had to obliterate a flash spot)


















Winner - Lesley Rutherford




And now the moment you have all been waiting for.... yes its recipe time!






CAKE WITH TOMATO SOUP

7oz Caster Sugar
1oz Margarine
1 tspn Mixed spice
1 tspn Cinnamon
8oz Plain flour
1 tspn Bi Carbonate of Soda
4oz Walnuts
6oz Sultanas
1 295g Tin of Tomato Soup (Heinz has been tried and tested)

METHOD
Heat oven Gas 4, 350F or 180C
Grease 7-8" Cake Tin
Cream sugar and margarine, sift in spices and fold in flour with soup,
then add Bi carb and beat well. Mix in fruit and nuts.
Place in tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Now I have not tried this one but I may give it a go this weekend if I have time and that might be difficult as my friends at the B & B are in Mexico having another holiday whilst Mum in law and me hold the fort. Which means catering for about 12 on Sunday morning. Then again I am needed on Friday and Saturday next week when a hoard of men are coming to take over the place.... Probably Wainwright baggers. So when oh when will I have time to make the cake and the 2nd batch of marmalade. Well I should not grumble because our treasurer blithly let pass a comment about her 8th batch of marmalade on Thursday, apparently hubby eats at least a jar a week.

So its back to the kitchen for me.. but I am planning some sewing too and if it works out I will show it to you.

Happy New Year

Well Christmas is now over and we can begin to stitch again without Robins and Reindeers getting in the way! Having said that I did enjoy making a robin this Christmas and here he is with a few friends.

There comes a time around here when I am glad to be sitting in front of my computer with a cup of tea and a warm glow from the wood burning stove behind me, and that time was at approximately 1.45pm on Saturday afternoon on the top of Pike O' Blisco in Langdale. It was simply freezing with a terrible wind and the hoar frost on top of the summit was lethal. I was up there with my Border terrier Bella, my husband Pete and a lady from Germany called kira, I know that she sometimes reads these blogs so if you are there, hello and Bella says thanks for the doggie food from Germany yum yum....Speck Snacks - mit Wertvollen Vitaminen from Pet Bistro - more please says Bella!

So my thoughts are turning to sewing again and this very week I have been busy trying to procure more fabric for the ladies to sew into carpet bags. I managed to get our ladies interested in making bags with this wonderful Turkish fabric just before Christmas and low and behold they now need more.... So I am trying ladies.. I bet the bags will be simply wonderful when I see them and I will show them on this blog as soon as they materialise. Meanwhile, I feel lazy as I have some of that fabric too but have not started a bag yet so its time I produced something.....

Speaking of production lines, I spent yesterday afternoon making Seville Orange Marmalade. I had not made some for a few years and when I did I was surprised how easy it is, the only bad bit is all the messing around taking the peel off to start with and then cutting it up into small pieces. Anyway, it was proudly on display for breakfast this morning and it tasted good too, with no complaints from him who knows his marmalade and usually buys Tiptree.

I mixed up some homemade Calvados (no brandy) mincemeat before Christmas and made too much of that too so I also have plenty left over for the coming months. I prefer to make a larger 'pie' than the usual small ones although I always make some of those too. So here is a photo of the lattice pie with my mincemeat in it.




















I once made some mince pies based on one I had at Mire House just outside Keswick, it was a really deep pie and they took the lid off it and filled the space on top of the mincemeat with Cumberland Rum Butter and then popped the lid back on and served it with whipped cream, oh that was lovely; very good when the pies are warmed first.

I am becoming so hungry with all this patter about pies that I have not mentioned the real reason for posting to the Blog and that is to remind all of you that in March our workshop is with Gill Reid and the subject is Head Cases and incase you don't understand what that is, here is one...



She is a gorgeous dolly, I can't wait to make one of these, I just love the little feet and the red bow in her hair and her pretty face and lips! Gill sent me an email last month and said she would try and send me some more photos so I will post them as soon as I receive them. Meanwhile, I also should remind you that this very week we are going to make Fabric Jewellery with Janice Nott. Now this is interesting as I have no idea what to expect but I did receive these beautiful fabric beads at our Christmas Lunch swop of pressies. I think I did very well indeed. So I hope to see you all on Thursday when we should be making more goodies...