A last minute make.

Three cards with a felt flower on, teamed with a bag and gift tags made earlier become a raffle prize for my children's school.

I have tried to make cheese!

It was a fairly simple kind. An Indian Paneer which is made by curdling milk with vinegar. I then mixed the Paneer with semolina and fresh milk to make a lovely deep fried Paneer dish.



The question then though was what to do with the milk left over from the curdling process. I decided to use it like buttermilk and made some traditional buttermilk pancakes and these lovely scones...


Nothing was wasted, although it means I have eaten far too much today!

Oh good, I can still applique in English then!

My friend gave me a bag of upholstery fabric samples, the kind they give you to look through at the showroom to choose the colour of your sofa.

So I thought I would put them to good use and make a bucket bag for my friend. The red fabric is the upholstery fabric save for the binding which is normal dressmaking cotton and I bought the pink cotton ticking used for the lining as I thought it was just the thing that Milly-Molly-Mandy would have had her winter dresses made out of. I say lining but my friend has informed me that the bag is in fact reversible. Result!

I am one of those gullible people who always does what the television tells me to do so when I saw someone frying dandelions in batter I thought I would have a go. Besides, I wanted to get my first harvest out of our garden and everything else is still growing.


Would I recommend them? No. My bank balance might like them but my tummy definitely wasn't keen. Will wait for the lettuce next time!

I'm going out tonight and needed a red bag... fast!
Popped into the local newsagents for inspiration and what should be on the shelves? Only a new magazine with a kit included to make a red bag. Fate eh? It's a funny thing.

I've altered it slightly so that it's smaller than they intended and I put in a red lining using material I already had that was spookily close to the kit fabric (fate again!) I also added a white felt rose made ages ago and voila - a new bag in an afternoon.


(The eagle eyed amongst you will notice that the lining material is also in the quilt the bag is resting on which I made several years ago - the moral of the story - don't throw any fabric away!)

Oh dear, I've discovered how to make shortbread!

I seemed to remember that it included rice flour and I just happened to find a bag of it in the world foods section of my nearest big supermarket. Went home, realised I had the indecent amount of butter needed to make it (actually - I always have an indecent amount of butter in my fridge!) and set to work. And this was the result...


It's lovely, and it's nearly all gone!

CHICK, CHICK, CHICK, CHICK, CHICKEN

Felt chick brooches made for my daughter's friends. I thought they would be a handy alternative to chocolate. I loved taking their photo in their little thread nest!

I was better at making suffolk puffs when I didn't do much sewing. My small applique/hand quilting stitches which I have spent seven years trying to make teeny tiny don't gather tightly. You are then left with quite a big hole in the centre of your puff when it should be quite small, and nobody wants that!

Still, I didn't want to waste my first attempt. I sewed a second one gathering the puff up with some shockingly big 'homeward bounders' stitches (I remember Lofty from Eastenders using this phrase) and attached it to the first, bigger, worser, one. A button and a hairband later and my daughter is very pleased with my mistake.

And now I've mastered the puff I can make a cushion. Happy days!

I have a problem with KISSing.

By that I obviously mean the acronym Keep It Simple Stupid. I am usually one embellishment away from a salvador dali. So I decided to do a simple card. I'm pleased with the way it came out but the temptation to surround it with seed beads and french knots was immense!

There you go.

I knew that I couldn't knit a long scarf as I didn't have enough of the leftover expensive wool but I was hoping it would be long enough to wear - and it is. It's great under a jacket as it doesn't add much bulk but keeps you warm.

I made the brooch ages ago out of scraps of felt. I love making these roses as you start with just a circle of felt cut like a long strip of orange peel and with a few stitches - hey presto - a rose!

Thought I would have a go at some freestyle knitting!

Armed with the remains of an expensive (for me) ball of chunky wool, a cheap ball of acrylic and a ball that should have been expensive - had it not been from a charity shop, I set about knitting...um...something.

And I succeeded. And very nice it is too. Pity the camera has run out of batteries!

Will post it soon.