Islay finds, makes and bakes...

My new obsession

So what if I've never tried it before? (This example, clearly, is not mine, but from the amazingly talented Diddis).

The backstory: As I may or may not have mentioned, when I find a new blog, I often read back a good year or two (or more...) into the archives. Never let it be said that I don't spend time getting to know people. So, when I finally (about three years after everyone else) made my way over to Tiny Happy, I inevitably came across her post on Sashiko. Of course, it took all of about thirty seconds' research and I was a little obsessed determined to try it. Sashiko (more information here) is basically a running stitch embroidery, using this one simple stitch to create amazing geometric patterns, traditionally with white thread on indigo dyed fabric. It can be used either decoratively, or as a quilting stitch to hold two or more fabrics and batting together.

How cool would that look on a quilt? And I'll thank you not to notice that I've never even hand quilted anything before.

Another thirty seconds research unearthed the pleasingly addicted-to-Japanese-textiles Kimonomomo, and her Etsy store, complete with everything you might want to get started with Sashiko. What do you think, complex maple leaf design as my first attempt?

I've had a bit of a fascination with all things Japanese since we visited for our good friends' wedding a couple of years ago - the elegance and beauty of so much of the Japanese culture just astounds me on so many levels, particularly given the general lack of these things in my day to day life, despite my attempts to frame my life in a sort of country-living-meets-Soulemama glow.

Anyway, as soon as I've worked out just how much money I can steal from the housekeeping budget from next month, I'll be placing a teeny tiny order with Kimonomomo (she even has Japanese craft books! Is there anyone in the world who doesn't love Japanese craft books?) and giving this a go. I am trying to resist ordering acres of her gorgeous indigo cotton to create with as well...

ps: thanks for your patience during my radio silence of the past week. My body finally punished me for my determined denial of illness (I'd been jollying along with a niggly cold and sore ear for weeks) by completely and utterly knocking me out with a horrible bout of sinusitis swiftly followed by a killer ear infection. Just as I began to put in a bit of recovery, Teddy came down with something - we haven't yet quite decided if it's teeth, a cold or a combination of the two, but suffice to say he is Not In The Happy Place. Hopefully he'll be back on top form in the next couple of days and we'll be up to a bit more.

The weekend in pictures and links

Probably if I was feeling on top of my game these things could all have had individual posts (or, in fact, I could have come up with one post that was generally better) but the illness of the weekend has temporarily stalled my brain, so I'm afraid you get it all in one big lump.

 

Am I the only handmakin' person in the world still using such a very dull apron? New apron is definitely on the To Do list. I'm loving this one, but would probably be more sensible to make something in hardwearing linen with nice big pockets. Maybe one of each!
 

That's an outtake. You see that blur? That's Teddy learning about stairs. Whoopee.
  
 Thrifting finds from last week. I've got vague ambitions to applique some pretty flowery fabrics to the top tablecloth, over the flower silhouettes in the damask linen. I'm not sure about the other one, as it's got a few stains, but I'm sure I'll find a use for it!

 Boot fair finds from Saturday morning. In hindsight I'm not sure that a vintage milk bottle and biscuit tin were worth getting up at 7am and turning my niggling cold into a full blown fever for. Even if they are very cute.

Gosh, I should probably be too ashamed to even show you that - it's my latest quilt design, by the way. Clearly, drawing is not one of my strong points. It's going to be lots of different blue-themed vintage fabrics, and then the plain half will be white cotton or linen, with the quilting done in blue thread (hence the blue scribbles all over it). I'm hoping it looks a lot more fabulous than my drawing skills suggest...

And the links... I spent a long time this weekend staring mindlessly at the computer in my mildly fevered state (have I mentioned I was ill? Yes? It's possible I'm not the best patient in the world), catching up on blogs I love (including reading right back to the very first post on more blogs than I care to admit to). The result of all this reading was a three page word document of interesting links, books I want to order and other bits and bobs of ideas. Here's some of the nice things I found:

1. Nice to see I'm not the only one who gets over excited about vintage pyrex (hard to get any nice sets in the UK). Although this takes it to whole new levels...
2. If you're in the UK and looking for fantabulous wooden toys, this site looks amazing. I haven't ordered from them yet, but I've already got plans to ask for contributions towards this for Teddy's second birthday present. Kitchens are OK presents for boys, right? Also we'll have to move into a mansion to accommodate it, but never mind...
3. I love gnocchi a lot, but have always been too scared to make it. Now I've found this idiot proof recipe, I'm tempted to give it a try...
4. We made Jamie Oliver's marmalade bread and butter pudding on the weekend - thoroughly recommended! Especially if you use homemade marmalade (I promise I'll post my recipe soon)
5. I have decided that I can't live another harvest season without an apple peeler, corer and slicer to get all the apples from my mother's trees ready for preserving. Plus it's so pretty!

There were more, but in the interests of not sending you to sleep with three pages of links, I'm saving them for another day.

Very much Not a breakfast of champions

 More of a dinner of the sick. I have been struck down by one of those annoying sinus/chest/throat/head cold things - too ill to want to do anything, not ill enough to justify huge amounts of sympathy. I never want to eat proper meals when I'm like this - nothing tastes terribly nice, and really all I want is a combination of healthy fruit and not-healthy sweet things. I've got ambitions regarding a tub of ice cream for this evening's meal. Luckily Adam is very understanding about these little foibles, and presented me with this tray while I lay groaning and sniffling in front of the TV last night.

Typically,  of course, I've fallen ill just in time for Saturday, which is my usual 'work' day (it's hard calling it work when it's so much fun), on which Adam takes Teddy to the swimming pool and generally keeps out of my way, and I turn our dining room into something approximating a textile fair. I love these Saturday work days, love having a few uninterrupted hours of peace in which to lay out fabrics for possible quilts or other projects, catch up on a few blogs, brainstorm new ideas (am playing around with some little parcels of fun projects in my head which I'm really looking forward to exploring a bit more if they still seem sensible when I don't have a temperature and have eaten something more substantial than cake for two days).

Hope that you're all feeling a bit better than me, and I look forward to resuming normal service (i.e. posts that make sense and aren't just about feeling sorry for myself) in a day or two!

(ps, apologies for the less-than-stellar photography - I took the picture up top on my phone after weighing up the odds of me making it into the kitchen to pick up the camera without also picking up another half-dozen custard creams. Forgive me, in the interests of my waistline?)

Achieving and not achieving

:: Achieving ::

 
- Getting 24 hour marmalade on the go, with a little help from Teddy and my sister (whisk not essential, but fun). Recipe to follow tomorrow (in 24 hours, see?), assuming it's nice.

 - Crossing at least some of the stuff of the never-ending To Do list

- Finding an old poaching pan in the charity shop to add to Teddy's treasure basket (an ever rotating basket of goods to keep him entertained when Mummy urgently needs to cross off a few more things from the To Do list)

 

- Piling up a load of stuff to sell on Ebay in advance of the anticipated house move in April (I really hope we find somewhere - our crappy rental agents want to put our rent up and charge us a whacking great fee for doing so) 

- Finally producing a loaf of sourdough after what feels like weeks of nurturing the weird smelling starter. (I am so sorry for that appalling photo. Never leave photographing for the blog till 9:45pm)

:: Not achieving ::

- Actually edible sourdough bread (so nice to know that I've spent 10 minutes of every day for the past two weeks in the production of something no one wants to eat. Back to good old fashioned normal bread for a while I think)

 - Getting a refund on the massive box of broken jars that arrived last week in preparation for the beginning of the 2010 preserving season (as always, the year is kicked off by the marmalade. I buy the fruit from Riverford Organic, who I get an organic box delivery from every week)

- Tackling any of the mounting pile of paperwork that accumulates when you're working for yourself. If you look closely you'll notice that 'do paperwork' hasn't even made it onto the To Do list yet. That's how much in denial I am

- Photographing or listing any of the Ebay stuff. Which mostly means that what I've done is create a junk-we-don't-want mountain in the middle of our (really quite small) dining room. Hmmmm.

Tomorrow is another day though. Possibly with another list...

A little bit in love

With this

 
The fabric is largely vintage, but with a few new fabrics mixed in to make the whole thing just a bit more punchy. One of the philosophies behind my work (I get to do this and call it work. How fab is that?) is to use as much vintage fabric as possible, but not to be shy about throwing in the odd new piece. Okay, so it's not as completely ecologically sound as using entirely repurposed fabrics (apart from a love of vintage textiles, one of the main reasons for my repurposing/upcycling obsession is to keep just a little bit from going into landfill), but it does mean that I'm going to create something that's (hopefully) just that bit more beautiful and interesting. Much better, in my mind, to add a little bit of new fabric into the mix than make something boring that no one wants to use, and that therefore gets ignored in favour of something new and prettier anyway.

 The quilt is going to form part of my next shop update, in a week or two (date to come soon, I promise, but I'm working on a couple of other bits too). I'm a bit heartbroken at the prospect of being parted from it, but it was always going to be to sell. I'm extra-specially proud of this quilt because it's the first time I've done quilt binding the good old fashioned way, hand finishing the back so all the stitching is invisible. Have to say, it turned out astonishingly well, all the corners are square and everything! I'm still deflating my head.

Now I just have to decide whether to wash this and pucker it (the way I like my quilts), or just give it a gentle, loving soak. Any thoughts?

Happiness, thy name is Bernina

 My trusty little Toyota sewing machine, bought on a whim from Argos (cheapy catalogue shop, for anyone not familiar) when I was 18. Which was nearly 10 years ago. Oh my goodness. Ten years? When did that happen? Anyway, the little thing has done remarkably well, despite my neglect. It's had all of one clean up (performed by my mother when I announced it didn't work any more. She removed approximately three kilos of dirt from its innards and pronounced it in perfect health, which it was), I think I've replaced the needle once, and it's stood up to making numerous dresses, a couple of quilts, and who knows what else.

However, I think the time is approaching to face replacing the Toyota. Mainly because of the quilting, if I'm honest. If I was just doing the odd bit of dressmaking or mending I'd probably easily cope with it for another ten years or so (although I'd still want to replace it for a swankier model, naturally). Although it does have a slight tendency to eat fabric when it gets overwhelmed (mostly by my excessive demands on it).

It took all of about 30 minutes research for me to forsake my Toyota. I am in love with a Bernina. The Bernina Aurora 440QE, to be precise. So many clever twizzly extra bits that didn't even exist on sewing machines when I bought the poor unloved Toyota!

Tragically, however, we are poor. The Bernina Aurora 440QE does not like poor people.

However, I have hatched a plan. I have a set amount that I have to contribute to the household budget every month so that we can do boring things like eat as well as pay our rent (it's not a very impressive sum, but it is important to our tight little budget). However, anything that I make over that sum is staying in my Paypal account, and as soon as it hits the crucial figure, the Bernina will be mine.

Come back in... ooooh, a dozen years or so, and that Bernina will be mine!

ps: you can expect a few extra shop updates fuelled by the Bernina-desire in the coming weeks and months. Enjoy!

Because, frankly, who doesn't need an extra project?

 I am so bored of our changing bag (or diaper bag, if you prefer). It's enormously sensible, washable nylon, nice and jolly (bright red) and has separate compartments for food and nappy stuff. 

But my goodness, I feel like a frumpy mummy with it. I've stopped taking a separate handbag out with me when I'm out with Teddy, and I haven't got an existing bag that's big enough for all his paraphernalia (slightly bigger paraphernalia than some as we use washable nappies and wipes). I've been searching and searching for the perfect replacement, that combines practical pockets with at least some residual sense of style. The closest I managed was the Lin and Leo bag, but, if I'm honest, the colours are a fraction on the wishy washy side and also every single remotely stylish mummy I know has one (there is such a big hole in the market for someone with the right design).

So what does any self respecting crafty woman do in the face of this problem? Why, decide to make a bag! Never mind the fact that I've never made a bag in my life (I think it's possible I'm the only person in the crafty-blogosphere who hasn't), it can't be that hard, right?

A little bit of googling, and I'm in love with the Sophia bag pattern from Amy Butler. Naturally, it turns out to be a fairly difficult pattern, according to some reliable sources. I am undeterred. In a moment of sanity, I have decided to have a go at a starter bag first. Plus I'd quite like an easy shopping bag to sling over my shoulder, and the change mat pattern will be useful.

I'm hoping that they'll have the patterns in my favourite craft store when I pay a visit next week. Even if they don't (I'll order online. I'll live with the extra wait), I'll have fun perusing the fabric choices. Ooh, the choices!

ps: I am loving the fact that Amy Butler's patterns and packaging are all printed on post-consumer recycled paper, how thoughtful is that?

A february picnic

Impromptu picnic due to extremely unseasonal warmth and sunshine:

1. Grab picnic mat, cutlery etc, shove in bag
2. Microwave curry and naan (we didn't exactly plan for an outdoors kind of lunch), wrap naan in fabric to stop it drying out and going crispy
3. Saunter to park
4. Eat

We rather enjoyed ourselves. Curry was the root vegetable korma from Nigel Slater's new book Tender (incidentally, I pleased to see that I'm not the only one desperately searching for root vegetable and squash inspiration. It's not always easy, eating seasonally). Really simple and insanely delicious, especially now that I've got my new (to me, anyway) spice grinder attachment for the Kenwood. I also made naan bread, something I've been meaning to try for ages. Again, very easy. I used the recipe from the fabulous Bake, by Rachel Allen, but I might have a play around with it - I wanted it just a bit stretchier and a fraction oilier.

There were a couple of minor little niggles though. I thought, for a moment after we arrived at the park, how annoying that I forgotten my knitting. No bother, Teddy expected and demanded my full and undivided attention for the entire time that we were there.

Of course, even before we left I knew what the biggest problem was. We need prettier picnic accessories. Urgently. The blanket's a bit boring, frankly, and Teddy's grubby old change bag doesn't exactly make for the most glamorous of hampers (more on the change bag situation later). I have decided that not only do we need a picnic quilt, but we definitely, definitely, need a couple of tiffin boxes. How fab would they be for camping in the summer, too? I've already emailed them to see if they ship to UK. I will actually cry if they won't. By hook or by crook, our picnics will become more aesthetically pleasing in the coming months.

Admitting defeat

Some days, this parenting lark, it's just about surviving. Not surviving anything remotely terrible or awful, just surviving the mostly wonderful but very occasionally long hard slog of looking after a baby (I'm refusing to use the word toddler until he toddles. Whether he's 18 months or three years when it happens). Why is it that some days I can leap around, dance, extract crayon fragments from mouth (of Teddy, not me), go 'Uh oh!' countless times, swing on the swings and face yet another food splattering with complete and utter joy, and some days I just want a rest? And some silence. Oh, sweet silence.

Today was one of those limp-through-till-5pm-when-Adam-walks-in-the-door-and-thrust-Teddy-at-him days. Fortunately Adam understands that these days exist, and uncomplainingly takes Teddy from dinner to bed with little or no help from me.

And for once, instead of continuing to push myself to do all the chores before tomorrow starts, I am, just for today, abandoning this

(Yes, that is our ironing mountain and yes, there really are only three of us here) in favour of this

Knitting and reading. Bliss. I may even go so far as catching up with Google Reader and designing the next quilt.

In view of the anticipated abandonment of all domesticity this evening, I also purchased two individual portions of banoffee cheesecake when I did the food shopping earlier. I'd love to say that I feel even slightly guilty about this.

Pros and cons

Things I hate about having external childcare: 

1. Days when Teddy's a bit under the weather (like last week) when I spend all day wondering whether he's getting enough cuddles (I know full well that he is - my childminder is fabulous).
2. Having to rush ourselves out of the door at 8am when we want to have a lazy morning. More of a winter problem than a summer one...
3. No one saying "neenawneenaw" (new word) with a look of glee on their face when I walk past the fire station on the way home from dropping him off, or saying "mamamamamamamama" when asked to say anything other than neenaw. I think he may have worked out that an attempt at saying Mummy will brighten up almost any situation. 

Things I love about having external childcare for Teddy:

1. Turning this 
    into a quilt top in two days flat.
2. Walking just that little bit faster on the way to pick him up. It's exciting seeing your baby after seven hours off!
3. Having a cup of tea and a slice of cake in s i l e n c e (except possibly for the faint strains of Radio Four, my other constant companion).
4. Seeing him so desperate to get cracking on his day with his childminder that he waves me off with both hands as soon as he lands in her house.

All things considered, it's pretty good. Maybe I'll start making my own neenaw noises.

Not gone, but sometimes forgotten

Sometimes feel I neglect to mention my supplies store on Etsy, you know. I get so excited with my crafty things that I completely forget that other crafters may actually be interested in some supplies of their own.

I tend to scavenge most of the fabric before it makes it into my supplies store, but very occasionally I manage to part with something. I just had to keep a few scraps of this all to myself.

Mainly, though, the shop is made up of buttons, lace scraps and ribbons. Things tend to come and go as they are begged, borrowed or stolen by me for a project or by my sister to add to her latest vintage treasure.

Anyway, since this little shop gives me most of my income (you mean quilting doesn't make me £200 profit a time? Well that sucks), I feel I should give it a little recognition every now and again. I'll go ahead and neglect to mention it for another few months now.