Poppies for a friend and colleague

A friend and colleague is about to leave our little island home.  She loves poppies.  With this in mind, I made this card for her.

The Growth of a Sunflower

So far, I have made three quilts. The first was a incredibly simple - squares and strips. The second was made from denim and fleece and was a single bed quilt. The latest completed quilt was a quilted table runner for my parents' golden wedding. With each project I have learned mover about quilting and techniques.

For September, I decided to set myself some goals and learn some more skills. On my list are appliqué, hand quilting and free motion quilting. My first attempt at appliqué was on the pumpkin peg bag, and I learned a great deal. After watching tutorials by Jenny of the Missouri Start Quilt Co onYouTube I was inspired to have a go at a Dresden plate block

But, instead of using lots of different fabrics, I wanted to use the design to make a sunflower.

You can buy Dresden rulers in shops and on-line, but I wanted to make it NOW. By using the 30° line on my quilting ruler, I was able to make a Dresden sunflower. Normally, the Dresden pattern calls for 20 'petals'. Using a 30° angle has reduced this to 12 petals on my sunflower.

The yellow petals are made and sewn, and I'm just about to start work on the brown centre of the flower. All of the bits were laid out on the backing fabric, and that is when I realised the background is too dark and too fussy.

The colour balance on this photograph is off. The yellow is a lovely, vibrant yellow, and the greens for leaves and stem are good mid-greens. However, this photograph does make it easy to see that the blue background is too close in saturation to the greens. Something softer and more background-y is required.

A Peg Bag for Jack?

Today's bit of craftiness has come in the form of trying something new. Given the number of crafty things I have done over the years, this is my first attempt at appliqué.

It's not bad for a first go, and I was able to improve on it as I was working on the project. 

A Crafty Day

There are times when a person realises they are engaged in self-sabbotaging behaviour.  Last night I realised I spend far too much time playing on my computer.  I get sucked into playing games and watching television programmes I don't really want to watch.  This is not what I want to do. 

Today has been spent knitting, and sewing.  The knitting is an on-going project.  Below is a Manx chicken pin cushion, and a couple of Christmas decorations.

The Christmas decorations need a little bit of gold cord (for hanging purposes) and a nice bead in the centre. 

Lemon Swiss Roll

3 eggs (at room temperature)

75g sugar

75g plain gluten-free flour

Line a Swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper and heat oven to 220C.

Whisk eggs briefly, then add sugar and whisk on high with an electric mixer for 5 minutes.  All of the air that is incorporated at this stage is to give lift to the cake.  

Sift the flour into the whisked eggs and fold in with a metal spoon.  

Gently pour out into the Swiss roll tin, and bake for 9 - 10 minutes until just done.

Whilst hot, turn the cake onto a sheet of baking parchment and roll up tightly.  Use oven gloves whilst rolling.  Leave the cake to cool in the roll.

When the cake is cook, gently open up, and spread with a mixture of whipped cream and lemon curd.  Roll back up again and decorate and serve.

Little and often!

It's amazing the difference these mini-challenges are making to the house.  The kitchen is looking really tidy, and the sitting room is in need of a 5 minute spruce up, but apart from that, it's looking good too.  There must be something to this 'little and often' thing. :o) 

Today, I'm moving on to a larger challenge, called Un-foo your weekend.  It starts off with 'strip the bed, throw the washing in the machine, and then make the bed'.  Then it goes on to 'wash the dishes'.  I'm feeling proud as I have already done that, along with washing the kitchen floor!  

The weekend challenges are bigger, but designed to be accomplished within 20 minutes.  The rule is 'work for 20, rest for 10'.  It's a great way to operate as so much can be done in 20 minutes, and by adding in these rest periods you don't get burnt out.

Since having the massive pre-Easter declutter, tidy and clean in the bedroom, we have been keeping that room looking good.  There's isn't much needing done there.  Today the bedding will be done, a bit of dusting, and then the floor will be swept and washed.  That will take the bedroom from 'good' to 'excellent'. )

Mini-challenge: Wash the dishes

Mini-challenge: Wash the dishes.  If there's not many wipe down a few surfaces and do a bit of tidying in the kitchen.

Mini-challenge: Clean the kitchen floor

Mini-challenge: Fill a bucket with hot soapy water.  Dip and cloth in the water, and wring it out.  Wash the floor.

Mini-challenge: Declutter the sofa

Mini-challenge: Declutter the sofa.

My sofa turns into a little nest, with all sorts of stuff close at hand.  And it looks a mess!  Time to make it look like a sofa again.

Mini-challenge: Five minutes in the garden

Mini-challenge:  Spend five minutes in the garden.  This might be weeding, picking up rubbish, sweeping leaves, etc.  Have a look at the garden and spend five minutes improving it.

Mini-challenge: Stop Procrastinating

There are times when I can be the queen of procrastination. 

Today, there is something I have been putting off for probably 2 weeks, and that's phone my GP for an appointment.  Simple - pick up the phone and make that call!  Come on you're an adult and you can do this.

Mini-challenge: Do the thing you have been putting off.

Mini-challenge: Tidy Up

Mini-challenge: Pick up five things and put them away in their proper place.

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Stop It and Tidy Up was an animated children's television programme.  All of the characters were names after commands that parents give to children - Go to Bed, Clean Your Teeth, and  I Said No.

Mini-challenge: Kitchen

Mini-challenge: Microwave a bowl of water for 3 minutes.  Wipe down the outside of the microwave and fridge,  and any other kitchen you have time to do.  When the timer goes off on the microwave, clean the inside of the machine.

Un-Foo Your Habitat

When the children were small I realised I needed help in learning how to manage my home.  My Mam used the practise of 'stuff it all in cupboards and keep the surfaces clean'.  I was operating on a different model, 'keep the cupboards tidy and all the clutter on the surface'.  Neither of those approaches to housekeeping is good.

A friend introduced me to FlyLady.  She taught me how to tidy up, declutter and organise a home.  However, I did find her a home-grown wisdom just a bit syrupy sweet for my tastes.  Roll on a number of years, and I came across UfYH.  'Foo' isn't really the word they use, but I very rarely swear, and I'm such a delicate little flower...

FlyLady has a 'spoonful of sugar', whereas UfYH is much more a kick up the bum.  At the moment, I am more responsive to a kick up the bum.  :o) The idea is that you behave like an adult, and just get on with it!

I am really enjoying UfYH's mini-challenges.  They take a few minutes to do, literally a few minutes, and there's a feeling of accomplishment.  As part of the whole 'be an adult' thing, I'm going to use their mini-challenges, and also write up some of my own.  The idea is when I have a few minutes to spare I can look up these mini-challenges and get something accomplished.

A Masculine Hat of Strenght and Power

Fiona's partner rather liked the hat, and when I asked if he might like one, the offer was readily accepted.  Instead of the girly pink and orange combination, I have gone for a more masculine orange and pink look.  :o)  The colours were at his request, but rather than making identical hat I opted for a set rather than a pair.

A Hat of Power and Strength

A hat for Fi to wear whilst marshalling.  It should enable her to stand out from the crowd.

Autumn Leave Table Runner

This is the table runner I have made as a gift for my parents'  50 wedding anniversary.

Tour de Yorkshire

The name 'Tour de France', as the name suggests is a tour of France, but this cycling competition also takes in parts of neighbouring countries from time to time.  This year, the cyclists will be spending some time in England - Yorkshire to be exact.

There are many good French-English dictionaries available, but I haven't seen a single French-Yorkshire one.  Some kind soul has translated a few key phrases to help.

Manx Cottage

There were many cottages like this on the Isle of Man at one time, now there are few.  This is Rose Cottage in Cranstal, Bride.

Autumn Leaves Quilted Table Runner

My parents have almost been married for 50 years.  This table runner is a wedding anniversary gift for them.

First there was 'the plan' - an autumnal rainbow of colours.  Half of the leaves would be in very saturated tones, and the other half in almost pastel colours.

I am on holiday for 10 days and yesterday was a half day.  My hope is to make three rows of the pattern each day. This is what has been made on days 1 and 2.