Cushdy

Do you remember in the new year I showed you the Cath Kidston Quilt I made for my sister’s Christmas present? You cans see some photos of it here. I have been harbouring some scraps from this project so I put the first lot to use making a quilted cushion cover. The fabric for the front was chosen at random, much like the quilt.


         
The backing of the cushion had a more haphazard ‘waste not want not’ theme and used some of the smallest scraps and offcuts combined with the scraps of the quilt backing. To secure the cushion I covered some buttons with some lovely rose detailed fabric. It is now sat on my sofa and making my other cushions look decidedly drab so there will be some more cushion make-over’s coming soon.

      

New Knits

My first love for woolly adventures is always my crochet hook. Mainly  because it is fast and requires a lot less patience and a lot less counting! However knitted fabrics can possess much more drape and offer a finer result. So I have once again searched out my knitting needles for a new adventure.

This fabulous yarn was a present and I have been looking at it for almost a year just waiting until I had the time to potter and learn the skills needed to make the most of it….
This is what it looks like in the sunshine…

This is how it looks on the needles….I love bright colours!! Have you guessed what I’m learning to knit yet?

Yes….its SOCKS!
….and yes I am finding working with DPN’s awkward….very awkward….but hopefully practice will result in one sock….maybe even a pair!

Glutney Chutney

If at all possible I like to avoid waste –especially food waste. So when the veg in the fridge is looking well past its best (ours was supplemented by a dodgy internet order – peppers for the salad arrived all wrinkly and soft). Normally when faced with surplus vegetables I make soup. Today I was not in a soup kinda mood so thought I’d try something that I was saving for when I had a glut of veg from the garden – Chutney!
Hugh fearnly Whittingstall’s Glutney Chutney recipe was chosen and I started chopping. Dodgy carrots were peeled, wrinkly peppers shopped, a few apples past their most attractive from the fruit bowl and some onions and sugar snap peas soon joined the mix. This recipe is advertised as a serves all type chutney – whatever you have going spare plonk it in! Then once your saucepan is overflowing with diced veg add the cooking liquor (water, vinegar and brown sugar, spices that take your fancy) reduce it – reduce it and by golly reduce it some more – this pot was bubbling on my stove for at least two hours! and gradually the volume decreased, the liquid got more gungy…check out the pan about half way through (this was piled high with veg at the start!)

After a while the mixture gets even gloopier…..

Then once you can leave a trail on the bottom of the saucepan before the liquid rushes in it is deemed gloopy enough! Then into the Jars it goes – I tend to save various ones from shop bought food. This one is labelled up specially for my mum and dad.

The flavour of chutney improves over time but I can tell you now that once cooled this was pretty yummy – well you have to have SOME quality control!
HFW’s recipe can be found here in an old Guardian article 
If you are interested in recipes to help get the most out of your fridge/storecupboard then check out the Love Food Hate Waste website here.

Spring!

 Spring has well and truly sprung :-)
This weekend we’ve had the most glorious sunshine and all the new shoots are making a bid for the sky. My sweet peas have finally germinated and I can’t wait for them to be big enough to be safe from the marauding birds.
Flowers have blossomed over the past week and winter feels quite far behind now…
The flame of the forest has been a fantastic red colour and is now just starting to pale as its next door neighbour comes our in white flowers. Sandwiched between the flame and the rhododendron is an azalea in magnificent orange (can’t wait until that flowers!

All the insects are out and buzzing and I watched this little industrious ladybug walk all along a branch then all the way up the trunk of our maple tree to take a flying leap – I guess these guys need a jump start with their flying!

Hope the sky was the same glorious blue for you!