back to work

After a few weeks days of rest, my trusted Singer has been back to work this wekend. And for the first time I also used my new patchwork making material - a ruler, rolling cutter and cutting mat. As with a lot of things I do, I thought, OK, I'll start with something nice and easy. So I drew a quick sketch of what I wanted, and made sure it would all work out, including calculations of squares and rectangles.

Then I realised I wouldn't have enough fabric to do what I wanted in the colours I wanted.
So I changed my plan.
Then I started cutting all my bit of fabric.
Then I realised I was STILL short of the gingham fabric for the centre piece.
Grrrr!

In the end I had to make a final adjustment. And then the sewing started. About half-way through, it looked really promising, but I could just see all the things that were wrong about my method (or lack of). I kept saying to my half  "This is so the wrong way to do this", and yet it kept sort of turning out all right. Well, in my eyes it's still not perfect, but I am rather impressed that I managed to make this with no pattern or any methodology whatsoever. Yeah team me - my first ever patchwork piece on my own!

winter

Winter feels really slow at the moment. As soon as the weekend arrives I plan to start using my new patchwork equipment I got for Christmas, and I dream of being able to (one day) catch up with the like of those talented ladies.

But every Friday night the same weird thing happens. I switch to comfy lazy mode, make a nice meal or two, sleep, kick myself to do a bit of house cleaning, and then just end up wasting the days away, and making the most of seeing the Man. By the time I really want to get started on my sewing, daylight is already gone...and it's time for tea and cake. You see the vicious circle I'm in?

pretty in pink

This year for my birthday I got the prettiest bouquet I could ever hope for. Faded pink is one of my favourites, and with poppies thrown in, I think this is one of the best arrangement I have received in a long time. Jealous much?

comfort food game

I am glad to announce that someone DID eventually get it right! Run lori run has finally cracked the riddle, and guessed that the comfort food was chestnut cake. It's not the most common thing, I'll give you that, but back home in France it is one of my favourite things ever.
As usual, there's loads of different recipes, but my father makes it by mixing chestnuts to vanilla sugar and butter (not for the faint-hearted), turning it into a paste, and covering it with melted dark chocolate. Yu-huh-mmy!
As he came to visit during the festive period, he brought me some of last autumn's mix, and all I had to do is add the chocolate on top. I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved it, and as I don't get to eat as much of it as I'd like, it's now become my  Proust "madeleine".

Well done to Run Lori Run for her perseverance. Being the only one with the correct answer by this morning, she wins the smelly prize of a bunch of my lavender hearts. Congratulations to her, and thanks to everyone else for taking part. I'll try and make my next game a bit easier.

comfort food game

Here's a clue for everyone. I hope you can guess now...
It's not a very common sort of cake anyway. In France we have it in autumn usually.

comfort food game

But what can it be???

A yummy lavender heart trio to be won if you guess the correct answer. It's easy to win! Just leave a comment and/or start following me between today and Sunday night to enter the competition. I will announce the winner early next week.

Wednesday edit ::

So, it's not fudge, it's not peanut, and it's not marzipan...but the main ingredient is definitely a nut of some sort. Does that help, or do you need more clues?

bad light and late resolution

Bad light, but I can't resist showing my latest trio of lavender hearts.

I've become completely addicted to making those. I made my own pattern (OK, it wasn't the most difficult thing to do, but it's so satisfying to create something from scatch!) after trying several different shapes, and can still spend long long minutes trying to figure out the best fabric / ribbon / button combination, but I love it! These three were made from my colleague's birthday recently.
I also had just enough time to make some for friends and family this Christmas. Which brings me to my late resolution. It's kind of a long term one, but this year....(drumroll)... I would really like to make more crafty presents for my nearest and dearest for their birthdays and Christmas. There. It's written in black and white, and there's no walking away from this one!!

* Happy New Year *

This year I have decided not to make too many resolutions. Isn't everyday life already challenging enough? In a couple of weeks I am going to hit 33, and journalists say I will be at my busiest ever, so I'm going to make it easy on myself this year.
When I go back to work tomorrow, I will take on an extra responsibility I applied for a while back. Nothing too strenuous on its own, but I am juggling two other massive chores, so things will definitely get interesting!

On the other hand, the whole bridesmaid thing is behind me now, and I can sit back and relax on the family duties for a while. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like it really is a duty to do the family thing? (Well, visiting is not too bad, but I have just had my parents over for a whole week - compassion anyone?)
Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple of nice pictures from the special day - doubly special as it had to be rescheduled due to the thick coat of snow everywhere! All photos are from here.

The photographer was really nice, the ceremony sweet and simple, the venue and flowers gorgeous, and my dance partner...well, what do you think? Everyone enjoyed the wedding favours I spent so long making, and I think they made a difference.

* HAPPY NEW YEAR *