Pot Holders

After making my crocheted pot holder in January, I decided
to make a couple more to use in our kitchen and here they are.
I have hand and machine stitched these two instead of crocheting
 them and I think they've turned out okey. The red one is a bit wonky-
 I was too caught up with sewing the binding to notice that one side
 was more curvy than straight. Oops! Never mind, it's still fine and
 it was good to practice attaching the binding. I'll try and remember
 what I've learned here when I get to the binding stage of my
 patchwork quilt later on.

These pot holders are about 6.5"x6.5" square and all the materials
I used here were from my fabric and sewing stash. The wadding is
 the same one I used for my patchwork quilt and tea cosy. It's thick
enough and these two are great for lifting lids and moving pots
around when we're cooking on the hob. I think they're also good
 as table mats and they add some lovely colour to our kitchen.
I'm really glad I made them!

So it's Friday again. Wishing you all a great weekend full of fun
and sunshine. Ours will be a staying in sort of weekend- Lulu's got
the chicken pox so we can't really do much. We had plans to go
walking with the girls in Derbyshire but that will now have to be for
another time. Anyway, enjoy your weekend and see you soon!

Joys on a rainy Monday

daffodils in bloom

a slice of Victoria sandwich cake

Lulu playing happily by herself while I ironed

finding inspiration for stitching

These were simple everyday things that made me happy this cold,
rainy Monday. I'm hoping there will be more of these simple pleasures
throughout the rest of my week. And yours too!

Have a lovely Monday evening. See you soon!

Five on Friday: Good Things

It's Friday once again, time to join Amy for 'Five on Friday'.

Today I've chosen five good things from the past week and a half.
These haven't been the easiest of days, with Markie unwell with
 chicken pox and my husband working for seven days in a row. We were
all tired and a little bit grumpy at times. We felt sad and worried too.
But there were still good and happy things and these are some of them.

I'll start off with Markie getting better and going back to school
this week. Thursday and Friday last week were her worst days-
no appetite or energy at all.Then she perked up over the weekend
and it was such a relief to see her starting to get better. She's still
full of the horrible spots but she's not letting them bother her.
 She's so good. On Wednesday she joined her class for a trip to the
Butterfly House. She had an amazing time and I'm so glad she didn't
miss out on this because it's something that she's been looking
 forward to for ages. Here's a little drawing that she did after
 the school trip. It's a little bit crumpled but I love it.

I found time to sew here and there and finished making my pot
holders. In the evening I've been crocheting too. They are good,
enjoyable, calming distractions and I'm grateful for them.

I've been trying to get back into reading for sometime now but
none of the books I've tried have really grabbed me until this one.
This was a great read, really enjoyed it. I've already started on
the next one, also by Kate Atkinson, and it's good too. After such
a long time, I'm glad these two books have come my way.
I'm now inspired to keep reading.

Rhubarb and Sculptures

This was our Sunday two weekends ago. We were at the

 Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb in Wakefield in the morning
 and then at the Hepworth Gallery in the afternoon. It was a full,
fun, happy day. The festival, a celebration of Wakefield's heritage of
growing forced rhubarb and also a showcase for other quality local
produce, was a great event. There were food stalls, street entertainers,
cookery demonstrations, all happening round the town's cathedral square.

The girls had a brilliant time at Katie Asthworth's show (she's the presenter from Cbeebies' 'I Can Cook') and were a little bit starstruck
especially after they had their photos taken with her after her show.
I enjoyed looking round the food stalls, there was so much on offer,
all locally grown and made. We bought rhubarb jam, rhubarb and
custard loaf cake and salted caramel fudge. We would've bought
some fresh rhubarb (it would have made a lovely crumble) but
heavy rain cut short our time there and so on to the Hepworth
which is only a short drive away.

We always love coming here. The gallery houses works by Barbara
Hepworth and temporary exhibitions of works by other artists. The
sculpture below is by Lynda Benglis. Doesn't it look amazing?

I love all the big square windows, particularly the ones overlooking

the River Calder. You see a lot, both inside and when you're 

looking out.

We joined a session of Musical Sculptures (noisy but fun) and
had drinks and cake at the gallery's cafe. The girls ran around
and we're a little bit noisy at times but thankfully the gallery
people didn't seem to mind. There were many other families
with young children there which was really nice.

We had a look round the shop and then it was time to go home.
We had great art, local history, goodies to take home and the girls
met one of their favourites from Cbeebies. Despite the horrible
weather it was still a really great and brilliant day.

Before I go I want to say thanks for all your lovely comments
 in my previous post. Crafting is always a pleasure for me
and I'm glad I've got this little spot here in blogland where I can
share and talk about the things I'm making. Thanks too for
your well wishes for Markie. She's still covered in spots but
feeling well again. She might go back to school tomorrow.

By the way, if you're on Instagram you can now find me there.
I signed up again the other day and so far it's been fun. Hope
you stop by and say hello. I'm mytwogirls1314.

Have a nice week!

FIve on Friday: Crafting in February

Hello!

I'm joining in again with Amy for 'Five on Friday' and today's post 

is about all the crafting I've done this February.

 I always love a spot of crafting, be it sewing, crochet, knitting or embroidery. I find it relaxing and soothing and I'm so grateful that
 I discovered a love for it a few years ago. Best of all, with crafting,
 I can make things for my family and our home which is just wonderful
and why I love it so much.

So this month I've been sewing, both by hand and machine.
I'm making pot holders for our kitchen with materials- fabrics,
wadding, binding- all from my stash.

I've managed to finish sewing the first one yesterday and hopefully
soon I'll be able to start making the next one.


I've had a start on hand quilting my patchwork blanket- finally!

This little sewing adventure didn't start well. As you can see I'm using
a curved needle here.That's because the quilting thread couldn't fit into
any of the 'betweens' needles I got and I thought I'll try with a curved one
instead. It was awkward and difficult and I did think of just doing it all
by machine. I now have some new needles and I'm still determined to
do this by hand, so fingers crossed...


I've also tried English Paper Piecing.

My hexies were a bit wonky and it was more fiddly than I'd expected.
Still it was good to learn something new, or at least try.


Aside from sewing, I've also crocheted this month, although just
 a tiny bit.

I've added a few more squares to my crochet throw, a long standing
WIP.


I have also crocheted- and sewed- to make this tea cosy.

It's doing a fantastic job keeping my teapot warm and I'm ever so
pleased with it.

So it's been sewing and some crochet for me this month. I'm 

planning to do some embroidery in the coming weeks and more

sewing. I'm looking forward to them all!


.................................................

I am joining in Five on Friday, taking five minutes from our day
to enjoy five things. Please go and visit the other people who are also
blogging about Five on Friday this week. Just click here. Sorry I still
haven't figured out how to add the button thingy here!


Have a lovely Friday everyone!




ps. Thanks for all your well wishes for Markie. She's not having
a great time right now but she doesn't complain much, bless her.
We do hope she'll get better soon.

A Tea Cosy

This is all about my new tea cosy. It's my latest finished project-
another tick in my things-to-make list. Hurray!

I've made tea cosies before- a couple to sell at craft fairs and another
two as presents- but this is the first time I've made one for my own use.
Until recently I've preferred tea bags to loose leaf tea. They're quicker,
easier, fuss-free. We have two tea pots in the house but we've seldom
used them. Then over the New Year I decided to use up this tin of loose leaf tea I was given ages ago and developed a real fondness for it.
They do taste better and I have come to enjoy the whole process of
making a 'proper pot' of tea. And in a funny way it feels to me like
 a more grown up way of making and consuming this favourite drink.
 So now that I'm a convert to loose leaf tea I use one of my tea pots
(the smaller of the two) everyday and it needs a little cosy to keep
it lovely and warm and so, of course, I just have it make it one.

I was going to crochet it but I couldn't decide which pattern
to pick- there are just so many brilliant ones out there!- and decided
to do it by sewing. I found my old pattern, adjusted the size a bit
and started cutting and sewing away. I wanted cherries to applique
on the outside and chose to make them using the crochet brooch
pattern from issue 43 of Mollie Makes. I love cherries, they're a
 favourite motif. I've added them before to other projects
 (you can see more here and here).

I'm really pleased with it. I like the combination of gingham, crochet
and little spots together. I'm glad I chose to make it this way.

It is also a treat to use. It's got the same waddling and backing material
that I've used for my patchwork blanket. It is thick and can keep
my tea pot warm for a long time-- a very cosy tea cosy!!

So that's my tea cosy. At the moment I'm making a couple of
pot holders for the kitchen. They'll take awhile to finish I think. We have
chicken pox in our house right now. Markie came home from school today with itchy spots that are unmistakably chicken pox so she's
off school for the rest of the week. I'll be busy giving cuddles and Calpol doses for the next few days. I doubt I'll have much time for sewing.
 We'll see. Anyway, thanks for stopping by here. I hope you're all having
a nice Tuesday evening. Have a lovely rest of the week!

Ginger Tea

I have a recipe here for ginger tea or salabat as it's known
in the Philippines. This is a popular hot drink back home particularly
during the cold or rainy season. It is a soothing brew and a good remedy
for colds and sore throats. A steaming cup or two of this will help you
if you're feeling under the weather. You'll also have the spicy aroma
of brewing ginger filling your kitchen and home which is a lovely bonus
when you make this tea.

The simplest way of making salabat is by boiling ginger in water.

 Over Christmas I found a recipe from the excellent book Memories of

Philippine Kitchens where apples and oranges are added to the mix and

 this is now our preferred way of making this. The added fruit lessen

the edge of the ginger and add sweetness to the flavour. I've sipped

many cups of this throughout the winter and have always felt warmed

and comforted especially when I was unwell. So here's how to make it 

based on the recipe from Memories of Philippine Kitchens.

You'll need:

approx. 65g fresh ginger, peeled and cut into small chunks

1/3 orange, cut into thin slices

1/3 apple, cut into thin slices

Place the ginger, apple and orange slices in a small saucepan.

Add 400 mls of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for another 5 minutes
or until the brew has developed a nice flavour. Strain through a fine
sieve into a cup. Add sugar or honey to taste. Orange juice also works
well as a sweetener.

This recipe makes enough for one large mug or two small cups.

If the ginger taste is too strong for you, just add a little more water

or sugar. However, if you want it more spicy pound the ginger

before boiling.

I hope you'll find this recipe useful and helpful.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!