Just troshin along.

Yisty wus a rummun, hot then cold, my cardie was off 'n on more than the Brexit deals.
(Norfolk dialect for yesterday was strange) I often find myself slipping into my childhood speech when stressed or tired. I asked for help in a shop and the person "giv me a loadda ole squit" he had no idea what stock was available and gave me a load of nonsense to cover up his ignorance. 
I was in a hurry and it made me suffen savage (angry)

Enough of that , I am neither stressed or tired this morning.

The large blocks have all been squared up and set out ready to start sewing together. When I say squared I mean just that, I have not trimmed them all to exactly the same size, there is up to an inch variation. The charms were not all 5", some were smaller, some larger and as this was always a stash buster project I left them so. I did not want to take the time to get them perfect it would have meant more waste than I am comfortable with. It does mean that my points do not all line up shock horror but that bothers me not a jot.
I like the original ethics of patchwork and quilting, to use up every scrap of fabric and waste nothing. All the sliver trimmings will become stuffing for something, pincushions, toys, Christmas tree decoration, and so on.
I hope to get the rows together today, I will need to go out later but there will be no gardening. The weather has turned cool and damp, I can almost hear the plants sighing with relief after the dry heat of the past few days, I like it but the plants not so much.

I have not managed to locate any Tahini close so will be making my own, I do not know why I did not think to do so earlier. I may mix it up a bit and try adding another seed as well. I have a few recipes that call for Date Molasses, I checked the price and nearly burnt my fingers off. I have a recipe for that also, I think that I will go the whole hog and make as many of my condiments as I can find recipes for. I love almond butter but have to travel to get it, not any more. I can get almonds easily and it is as simple as peanut butter to make.

Tonight we are having a Tahini mushroom sauce over pasta or a jacket potato, I have not decided yet, I may well add some cauliflower to the mix as I think they go well together. There is a chance that some chickpeas may slip into the mix as well.

Yesterdays curry was very tasty and we ate the lot, no leftovers for lunch. I have some single servings of many dishes tucked away in the freezer so will dig one of those out. It is handy to freeze things that way as sometimes we cannot decide what to have so I just grab 2 different meals out and we share.

The time is slipping away and I have chores to do, and Herbie needs his second walk. He is cwtched up to Ben on the sofa but has one eye on me, waiting for the signal.

                                 TTFN                     Pam

That will be another worm for me.

Another early bird day, not quite so premature today though.

I was tired again last night but held out till 10, consequently I did not wake till almost 5. A real long sleep for me.

Anyhow, this is about my sewing, not my sleep pattern.

The pink quilt flimsy, not quite as wide as a double bed but this is for a young girl. It will drape nicely over a single bed and be a perfect size to wrap up in.

Did you notice the pile in the top left hand corner? Well this is it.

Enough of the same quilt blocks for another in soft blues and greens, I remember making them but thought that I had used them all in a gift quilt for L.

There is also a bag of the greens and blues waiting for the wide sashing strips, and I have plenty of those in the same white on white.

Now for the 4 patch blocks,

120 of those all waiting to be sliver trimmed where necessary.

A pile of extra charms, enough for another 12 blocks, I do not think that I will be needing them this time.

I have sewn 4 of the 4 patch blocks together and once trimmed they will give me a finished block 17 1/2" square, 5 across and 6 down will give me a good sized quilt and I just happen to have exactly the correct number to achieve that. I do not think that I will border this quilt as it would be just too long and wide. Also I do not have enough of a suitable colour and pattern fabric to make said border and this quilt is all about sewing the stash. I will be piecing the back, probably from the left over charms, some fat quarters and random sized bits.

Even though this is all from stash, and much of that was given to me, I have used a considerable amount of thread (not to mention all the pressing) and that is not cheap, I use a good quality thread that does not make shed or snarl and break at the blink of an eye. Every now and then Hobby craft have thread on special offer and I buy a box, I have white or cream and the saving is very good.

Now I have a load of threads and bits to vacuum up in the sewing room, I did not get around to that yesterday and I do not want to walk it through the house.

Our salad was really delicious last night, we had it with a fresh made seeded loaf ( a real doorstep crust which we shared). It is meant to be a little cooler today so it will be Turkey curry and rice tonight. Special request from the SO.

As I was up bright and early I have changed all the sofa throws and cushion covers and they now need pegging out.

                       TTFN                                          Pam

Sewing and gardening.

Not a cloud in my sky, or the real one up above.
Yesterday was just peachy, I sewed, pressed and rinse and repeat for most of the morning. Considering my early start it was a loooong morning and I loved every minute of it. During that time I walked the dogs, did a load of washing and pegged it out, prepped a pasta sauce and got it into the slow cooker and made a few cuppa,s. 
After a quick lunch break I spent some time whizzing round the house, all those threads a slivers of fabric tend to spread about a bit. The bathroom and kitchen had their daily doings and the little bit of ironing off the line was slotted in with some extra fabric pressing.

Once I had the rows of the pink quilt together and pressed I left that to one side and concentrated on the charm squares. I estimate that I will need well over 100 4 patch blocks for the size quilt that I want to make. I have 50 so far and a whole heap of pairs waiting to be pressed and sewn together for my blocks.

I did manage to spend an hour in the garden and will be back out there later on today.

I finally sat down at 8:15, after dinner clearing up and walking the dogs. By 9 I was visibly drooping and the SO was almost as bad. A long day in the sun hauling stone and wall building took it out of him.

We threw in the towel and were in bed and asleep before 9:30. 

Today I am getting the pink rows sewn together and will then start to square up the 4 patches. I hope that both will be layered by the weekend and that the pink one will be ready to post off next week.

We had a pasta dinner last night, I chopped as much veg as would fit in the slow cooker, added tomatoes, puree and some stock to make a thick sauce and let it cook for the afternoon. It was delicious, very filling so there are leftovers, and used up some slightly sad veg.
Tonight it will be free range eggs and salad, I have a loaf of seeded wholemeal bread in the machine to go with it.

My next shop will have to include more bread flour and seeds and I need Tahini and nutritional yeast. 

My coffee break is over, both dogs are flat out and snoring and I am off to the sewing room. All my chores are done, apart from pushing the vacuum cleaner around and that will happen between sewing and gardening.

                              TTFN                             Pam

Pass me that worm.

For I am an early bird.

Because sitting is still uncomfortable I spent most of yesterday moving around. I was busy in the house and garden and walking the dogs. I did some sewing but was backwards and forwards to the iron. My sewing chair, one of those office swivel things, is very comfy and I can sit there for some time before it hurts. I did sit to eat lunch and dinner but only for as long as it took.

By 8:30 I was falling asleep and threw in the towel at 9 and went to bed. Consequently I was up to see the dawn and overflowing with energy.

All the rows are sewn together, I just have to press the seams before joining them.

Because I can not chain stitch these, my preferred way of making anything, I pulled out a box of 5" charms, patterned and solid/reads like solid, pairing plain with pattern I sewed these between the pink block pairs and chain stitched to my hearts content.

I now have this stack of pairs, these have since been paired up to make 4 patch blocks.

There are plenty more charms to go at, this is just one box. In effect I am making 2 quilts at once, it is slowly eating the stash, very slowly.

I am not sure what the charms will become, perhaps a large quilt or maybe lap quilts. I have plenty of time to decide.

Now I am off to have a shower and get ready to start the day.

                           TTFN                                      Pam

Not for the fainthearted.

Oh My Word, That,s a bigun.

My bruise has grown and is quite impressive,many a small boy would spend a few weeks bragging about one like it.

If it gets any bigger I will have to enter for a place in the Guiness book of records.

On a more productive note I am past the halfway mark of the pink quilt blocks, another day should see them all made and then the construction can begin.

I aim to spend an hour in my front garden later, the weeds need removing and a few plants want some extra ties. Sadly a few need trimming of the wind damage, our road is almost a wind tunnel and a couple of my plants suffered considerable amounts of damage.

The Hydrangeas need the dead flower heads removing, many of them were taken off by that wind so it will not be a long job.

All my jobs for today are done and I am feeling quite virtuous. In fact I feel that a tea break is in order. 

I made a version of one of Mary Berry,s cheesecake recipes yesterday, I used limes and lemon and it is sublime so I may just have a sliver of that.

Another hour of sewing and then outside for some weeding before getting dinner on the go. Tonight we are having Jacket potato with a spicy vegetable topping and some cheese sprinkled over the top, 10 minutes back in the oven and they will be crisp and bubbling and just right with a little salad.

                       TTFN                                        Pam

Another glorious day.

I had a few plans for today, nothing too strenuous, just a little sewing with the chance of some knitting.
As the saying goes "If you want to make the Gods laugh, tell them your plans"
I have been busy but done absolutely nothing planned.

Our coffee table has been a bit of a thorn in the side for ages, it is lovely but just a bit too big and just a bit too low for the room and Herbies nose.
I spotted a You Tube video on converting an Ikea storage unit into a coffee table on wheels Mmmmmm, almost right but,
A, Too expensive and another piece of furniture.
B, I have never been to Ikea, and that's the way I like it.

Soooo, we had a look round and Bingo!. In the sewing room (almost hidden by vast swathes of fabric) was the TV unit, made redundant when the telly went on the wall.

A bit of a shuffle round and they were swapped over. I hasten to add that the coffee table is visible all fabric has been tamed and tidied.
The TV unit has been emptied, who knew there was so much junk bits of treasure tucked away. It has been disposed of.
A quick trip to Ammanford and furniture glides were purchased from Wilko, along with some other bits and pieces. I keep a running list so that if I need to go I can make it worth while.

The unit now has lots of storage for my current knitting WIP,s, books, tablet, phone and the top just has coasters and tissues on it.
A big Brucie Bonus is that Herbies nose is lower than the top and so is Ben,s tail, there have been times when the wagging tail has caused havoc and the nose has been poked into things that it should not have.

The grass has been cut, weeding has happened along with a seemingly never ending stream of washing. All now dry and either put away or into the ironing basket.

There has been some rearrangement in the sewing room, still needs refining but that will be another day.

I see that the cwtch I sent off to Somerset has landed and seems to have had the right result. I bit of cheer in the middle of a long run of general greyness.

I am hoping that the pink quilt will have much the same effect. 

I am now about to make those Gods laugh.

I have a good life and want for little, I have my health issues but by and large am fit as a fiddle. It is good to pass some of that forward, I know that when I receive something unexpected as a gift it really makes me feel good, it is not about What you are sent, it is about the fact that someone thought of you.
What goes around comes around, was a saying often on my Grannies lips, she was a firm believer in paying it forward. She wasn't often wrong.

 Now I am off to sort out some dinner....Oh that pizza crust was very good, I just made too much. Next time I will use 1 cup of yogurt and 1 1/2 SR flour and I will use a little semolina to roll it out.

Tonight we are having omelette, salad and sweet potato chips, they are about to go into the oven.

                        TTFN                                          Pam

Sewing through the pain.

I have had a look at the bruise in the mirror, Oh Wow, no wonder it hurts. I feel so fortunate that it is only a bruise, the thought of a broken hip gives me the judders.

This is in soft focus and is a reflection that has been heavily cropped, my cellulite is not for general viewing. It is very dark and bold in the flesh. Pun not intended. 

I have been cutting, sewing and trimming for the Pink Quilt,

Here are some of the 5" charms, I will not need them all for this quilt but any spare will go into the box of charms ready for the next one.

This is how the layout looks, I will be adding a narrow solid pink inner border and then a wider floral border once the body has been completed. Backing and binding are still undecided, I like to see the finished top before I make my mind up.

I have finished sewing for the day and am off into the garden. The weather is far too nice to stay in. I will not sew in the evening as it is far too antisocial, it will be knitting time. I have picked up the stitches for the afterthought heels on the current pair of socks and plan on getting those finished tonight.

I will be making Pizza for dinner, I am going to try out the 2 ingredient dough that I have seen on a few videos. Self Raising flour and low fat Greek yogurt, I will let you know how it turns out.

Once again I will be adding pineapple to the topping as I picked up a fresh one yesterday in Tesco. They were on offer and cheaper than a tin and fresh fruit is so much nicer. I may go in next time I am out and about to buy some to freeze.

Right, the outside is calling so I bid you all bye bye, have a good weekend all.

                                TTFN                            Pam