Let it Snow

Just before Christmas I was invited to join a group of four friends who meet on a monthly basis for a bit of stitching and chat, with a view to possibly having an exhibition. It was all lovely and very low key but they do set challenges to keep each other working and motivated.

 One of the challenges has been to work on a textile piece inspired by the weather. These will then be passed around each member so we can all add to or change the original piece before passing it on to the next person. The others had already started their weather pieces before I joined - some were printed, some stitched and others dyed.

I knew I would like to make a stitched piece but up until now I wasn't feeling very inspired. But today I've been in the studio all morning and have come up with this piece of fabric inspired by the the weather forecast for the coming week.

It is free machined in white and silver thread onto a backing of silk net. The sequins were an after thought because I felt it needed more sparkle.

It was a nightmare to photograph but I'm quite pleased with the result...

And also quite pleased I'm not the one who has to decide what to do with it next!

It was quite tricky trying to work on something unfinished without a view to the end result but a good exercise in not being too precious about one's work... after all the next person might decide just to chop it up. I'll let you know!

It might not be snowing around here yet (and I'm hoping it won't) but it's feeling pretty chilly, so I'm going to come out of the studio and camp on the sofa with my knitting. The fire and a cuppa beckon!

A Story of Shrinking Jeans

You may have noticed a distinct lack of baking here since New Year's Eve... but there is a reason. This seems to happen every January but yet again my jeans have shrunk. Okay, I'll be honest... I was doing a Pilates class on January 2nd and happened to glance in the mirror lining the wall of the exercise studio and had a rude awakening when I realised the lumpy woman looking back at me was actually me. Admittedly leggings and a vest are not a good look on a woman in her mid fifties (and I apologise for leaving you with that image) but I was still pretty shocked at what I saw. So there has been no baking in this house over the past couple of weeks in an attempt to regain svelt like proportions (Indulge me here... don't shatter my dreams).

But I've had withdrawal symptoms, so today I got out my pinny and the rolling pin and made some savoury cheese scones to go with our roasted butternut squash soup. I think I may have overdone the chilli in the soup but I'm sure I read somewhere that chilli raises the metabolism so that was okay.

Should you wish to indulge in some relatively guilt free baking (or preferably eating)  this is my recipe.

Spicy Cheese Scones

100g white SR flour

75g wholewheat bread flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon chilli powder

25g butter

50g strong cheddar or a similar strong cheese, finely grated

1 teaspoon English mustard

1 large egg

2-3 tablespoons milk

Approx 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese (or cheddar), grated

Heat the oven to 220 deg C. Mix together the flours, salt, baking powder and chilli in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients and then stir in the cheddar. In a jug, mix the mustard (you could just use mustard powder but I didn't have any) to a paste with a little of the milk and then beat in the egg and the rest of the milk. Stir into the dry ingredients until you have a soft dough. Roll out to about 2 cm thick and cut out circles with a 5 cm cookie cutter. Re-roll and cut until you have used all the dough. I managed to get eight scones. Place on a baking sheet, brush the tops with a little more milk and sprinkle with the parmesan. Bake for approx 12 minutes until well risen and brown.

Best eaten whilst still warm... and without any extra butter!

You may also noticed a lack of stitching on this so called "textile blog" but I have ideas and just need to get out of the kitchen and put them into action!

A Hard Time

 We had our first meeting of the year for Spectrum this week. I thought it would be a good idea to get the group doing some observational drawing using ink... so no rubbing out!

I wasn't looking for excellent drawings or superb technical skill. It was just an exercise in observation looking at marks, lines, shapes etc

But I do get a hard time from some people when I make them draw!

Beautiful Buckles

 This morning when I was browsing through some favourite blogs, I read this post by Annie of knitsofacto  about her beautiful collection of old buttons and it brought to mind a little collection that I aquired a few years ago. Not buttons... but buckles.

 

I have a friend who dabbles in antiques and collectables and when she found this old box in a collection of trinkets she had been asked to sell on, she thought of me. 

 

Inside, the box is choc full of beautiful shell buckles. 

 

And although I absolutely love them... and maybe one day will use these loose ones from the top, what I really, really love are these little bundles of buckles tied up in parcels of tissue and tied with red thread.

 

Three or four buckles in each little bundle with an example of what is inside tied to the top of each one. How gorgeous are they! I don't think I will ever bring myself to open them.

 

I have no idea who they originally belonged to, or what they were destined for, nor how old they may be.

 

But I do know they are exquisite little things that I will always treasure... and that I'm very lucky to have such thoughtful friends.

Good Reads

 Thank you to everyone who left a comment with advice. The problem did indeed seem to be Blogger not working with Internet Explorer so I've used Firefox instead and there was my 'Choose Files' option back where it should be.I don't think I'll ever understand the way computers work!

 

My reading group's book for November was Life of Pi. I read it ten years ago as Stewart bought it for me for our first Christmas together. I thought it sounded an unlikely book for me to enjoy but I loved it. Roll forward ten years and I didn't feel I needed to read it again, but when the group met to discuss it, the resulting conversation was lively and fascinating and I realised just how much I had forgotten. So I read it again over Christmas and loved it all over again.

Then last weekend we went to see the film (although only in 2D... I find 3D makes me feel a bit queasy!). I couldn't really imagine how they could stay true to the book but again I was surprised. It was brilliant and spectacular with the most wonderful photography so I can highly recommend it. I've now got less than two weeks to read the book for January which is Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman.

It is written in the voice of a young African boy who has come to London with his mother and sister. It is has a fresh and lively style and is often funny but it deals with gang warfare and the stabbing of a young boy... so I sense it may not be all light hearted. I think this is what I love about belonging to a reading group - not always reading books I would have automatically chosen, yet finding I enjoy them.

Foiled... by technology

I was all ready to write a post last night but when I tried to upload my pictures the little icon/button that says 'browse' allowing me to search my computer for pictures has disappeared. Try as I might I cannot find it anywhere... is it just me?

 

This morning it is still not there and blogging without pictures is just not my style. There was still an option to uplaod from Picasa or my phone (Ha! Have you seen my phone... it's an antique) but I don't want to do that. I want to browse my laptop where I store my photos! If it doesn't come back soon I could be forced to abandon this space and go elsewhere. Blogger... be warned!

A Delayed Start

I  really think the New Year should officially start on 2nd or 3rd January. It's not that we tend to do wild New Year's Eve parties or anything but a late night combined with probably too much food and more wine than usual, make for a fairly low key start to the month.

 

 

It has become a bit of a tradition that we join friends who live just up the road for supper on New Year's Eve... usually only half a dozen of us. This year I made an clementine ice cream Bombe as my contribution to the meal. My version didn't look quite as elegant as Nigel Slater's in the Sainsbury magazine but it tasted pretty good and we all had second helpings!

 

Going with the chocolate orange theme I also made some macaroons and chocolate and orange Whoopie Pies. The Pies looked pretty horrendous and lumpy compared to the macaroons but there were none left at the end of the evening.

 

We did manage to get all the Christmas decorations down and put away this morning and had a walk as it was such a lovely sunny day for a change but since lunchtime I've not moved from the sofa. The New Year with its new energy and resolutions will begin properly tomorrow.

I hope your celebrations were good!