Wednesday 24 July 2013

More sewing while it's raining

Good morning. It's a bit murky outside, I've had to put the desk light on to see the keyboard. Funny old weather we're having. I walked to the Post Office this morning to put my samples in the post box. Test completed, now wait for the results. I must say, and I hope I am allowed a little brag here, that everything that came out looked exactly like it is supposed to. Ooops too much information there. It just proves to me that the less processed food, and the more vegetables and fruit you can eat, with small amounts of dairy, eggs, pulses, nuts, and fibre, is the best diet. Suits me fine anyway. 
I decided to carry on sewing yesterday. It rained all morning and I always have indoor hobbies to keep me occupied. I finished the first block of squares and made a start on the next one. I am a bit limited to colours, as I don't have a lot of cotton remnants, but there will be enough. Not having a big choice means you need to be a bit more creative, having a lot of choice takes longer to decide which colours go together. I like the idea of using up what you have. I still don't know what this is going to be, it will come to me eventually.
Someone asked yesterday if it would be quicker to sew the pieces together with a machine. Yes, it probably would, but......I hate sewing lots and lots of short pieces together on a machine, all that stopping and starting.  I am one for tying all loose ends off. When you think of how many knots that would be, I would get sick of doing this. Also, you get much more accuracy where the corners meet if you do it by hand. If you sew strips together on a machine, there is always the possibility that by the time you get to the end, the corners of the squares don't match up, even though you might have been quite accurate in your measurements.
Here is the first sunflower peeping out from under the foliage, ooooh, I'm a new mum, ha ha. I've been along the row and counted how many heads I can see, twelve in total up to now. Some of them don't appear to have a flower at all, but one plant definately has four flowers. They are way above the height of the garage, I don't need them any taller, just want the flowers now.
I love the small pinky flowers on the potatoes.
Looks like the courgettes have taken off, love the yellow flowers. I know you can eat them, but I just like looking at them.
There's going to be masses of runner beans. They've been a long time coming, but ready any day now, and there will be some for the freezer.
My lunch yesterday was one chopped onion and four big mushrooms cooked in a little sesame seed oil. Two eggs added and scrambled, add a dollop of wholegrain mustard and some pesto, served on a bed of rocket salad, and Bob's your uncle. A few minutes prep time and you have a quick and tasty snack. Twas loverley.  
Right, it looks like it is brightening up outside, so I must get on. I have a mound of pots to wash, it's gotta be done :o(. Toodle pip.

10 comments:

  1. You can get a lot of fabric from a man's shirt! I'm currently collecting some to make a patchwork bedspread in blue or blue/white (the easiest shirt colour to find. Charity shops around here (Surrey Hills) have become very expensive but I picked up some bargains in Cornwall recently, also at local car boot sales which seem to have taken over from jumble sales.

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  2. I love sunflowers, must plant me some this year. They are such happy plants...

    I had to do "the test" for the first time this year and was so relieved for the result to be returned negative. Hope your results are the same :)

    Hope the weather fines up again for you soon.

    x

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  3. Lovely post, enjoyed seeing your work, and the flowers!

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  4. Hi Ilona, as an enthousiastic quilter myself i can give you only one bit of advise, go along as you like. If it works for you, you're doing alright. I know many other quilters and the all have their own way of working, wash and iron before cutting or not, wash afterward and before using or not, millions of ways of how to aplique.
    Also, I have some fabrics I don't use anymore. If interested, let me know.

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    1. Hi Irene. Thank you for your kind offer. As I don't intend taking quilting up in a big way, your fabrics might lie around for years in my store room. I am just dabbling, don't like to get tied into any long term projects. Please donate them to someone who will make better use of them. Thanks again.

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  5. Nice meal and beautiful flowers...what more could one ask? Best of luck with your quilting.

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  6. yes you got it dead right about machine versus hand sewing. I'd rather sit and listen to an audio book while I sew, than get back ache while my sewing machine thunders away. That doesn't mean I don't use my machine (for quilting and binding), but I prefer to hand sew, not matter how slow it is.

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  7. Nancy from Northern California ~
    Ilona,
    When you described your lunch today you ended the sentence with "and Bob's your uncle". I am assuming it's british slang...can you please explain?
    Thanks (and plan to try the same recipe someday because it looks so delicious).

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    1. Hello Nancy. Yes, it's a slang catchphrase, mainly used to show how easy it is to do something. This is from World Wide Words, (can't put a link in a comment)

      This is a catchphrase which seemed to arise out of nowhere and yet has had a long period of fashion and is still going strong. It’s known mainly in Britain and Commonwealth countries, and is really a kind of interjection. It’s used to show how simple it is to do something: “You put the plug in here, press that switch, and Bob’s your uncle!”.

      Sometimes, Fanny's your aunt, is also added.

      I have found this short video, copy and paste into your address bar. He explains it perfectly.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8n3Cj1T-MM

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    2. Thank you so much, Ilona!

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