Happy Christmas

I would just like to wish everyone who has visited my blog this year a peaceful Christmas time.

Me, well I still have to finish my nephews quilt but I'm nearly there now, the dilema is do I finish cleaning the house before the boys come back or sit and finish the quilt?

Snow rose - and not much sewing

Like many of you on the eastern side of England I woke up to snow this morning. One son went to school, one had school cancelled. After doing all the jobs of feeding chickens, geese and goats we had a walk round the garden and a snowball fight as well as making snow angels. I was amazed to discover that we still had roses in the garden - in December. It is in a very sheltered part of the garden but even so is this a record?

I am making my nephew a quilt for Christmas - it needs to be ready by Boxing day and it is still a pile of squares on top of 2 metres of fleece! I am waiting for a new 24" ruler to arrive in the post so fingers crossed again for tomorrow though the chances of the postman getting down the lane look slim. I must admit to getting a bit worried now about completing it. I am too old for the sewing through the night and sewing binding on in the car whilst DH drives!!

Fantastic Giveaway

I have stumbled across this blog "I'm just a guy who quilts"which is having a great giveaway. You can win this calender and some suprise quilt related items, just pop over and follow Ryan's clear instrutions. He also gives a link to a web site from which you can view other barn quilts that people have painted. I really enjoy reading new blogs and can while away lots of time doing this, go visit Ryan. You have until December 22nd.

Birthday Goodies

Why when the house is quiet and peaceful do I still wake at 6am? It has been a peaceful weekend with youngest DS in respite and oldest at his friends house. Time to finish making some Christmas presents, I can't show photos in case anyone who they are intended for peeks! I forgot to say that I had a birthday this week and was lucky enough to get these crafty goodies along with smellies and a fab necklace. Thank you Sarah for the handmade sock knitting bag and hand dyed yarn.

Biggest thank you goes to DH for a large bottle of this -
I had a nice day as DH had the day off as well so although I dragged him round some shops we had a nice lunch together.

Coming back down to earth with a bump I am helping out at the Scout jumble sale today. Lots of my challenges are about recycling next year and my stash of recycled fabrics is dwindling. I tried to buy a mans cotton shirt in a charity shop last week and they wanted £5.50. Whilst is was a great shirt to wear, it seemed a little pricey just to cut up (it was a small so not much fabric, nice buttons though). If I get anything I will show later!

No Cook Fudge

Nothing whatsoever to do with stitching but this has been the most popular recipe with my learners. Its very sweet, go on you know you just want to make some.

Ingredients
200g icing sugar
85g butter
95g condensed milk
(for chocolate fudge use 50g cocoa and 15og icing sugar)

Method

Put butter into a bowl and cream with a wooden spoon until soft.

Mix the condensed milk with the butter. Try not to have too many lumps.

Add about half the icing sugar and mix in with the spoon. use your hands to mix in the rest of the sugar until it is like a dough and will be able to be kneaded. If it is too wet still add more icing sugar.

Roll out onto a surface dusted with icing sugar. Cut into approx. 1.5cm cubes. Leave in a fridge overnight to harden.

This fudge will keep for about a week. You can alter the basic mixture by dipping it in chocolate, putting in some dried fruit

Catching Up

It seems like ages since my last post but I have been teaching several Christmas workshops and even some Christmas cookery along side my normal adult cooking courses! This last one is a bit of a joke with those who know me well as I hate cooking. Unfortunatley I didn't have my camera with me for these workshops but these were some the children did in York. Its not a great photo though but you can just about make them out alongside the butterflies.
When I put my Christmas tree up today I just can't believe that it is eleven years since this hung on the tree for the first time, where does the time go? It has become a tradition to make a new tree decoration each year -
I have also managed to get some work done for my City and Guilds diploma, the most worrying thing about this is that I seem to be enjoying working with plastic more and more. This is a page from my sketchbook
I am really happy with this folded patchwork sample
After folding a square I then covered it with fabric paint and used the folds to insert old lace and fabric. I also covered some cotton wadding with the same fabric paint. I used an idea from Tina, folded the backing to the front and stitched down with big stitches so you could also see the wadding. No plastic on this though.