The light at the end of the tunnel

Well we are almost there aren't we? There is finally light at the end of the tunnel. We've got through the last twelve weeks. 

I'm sure for some it has seemed like an eternity but if I'm honest the last twelve weeks seem to have whizzed by. That's probably because as a keyworker I have continued to go to work as normal.  It certainly seems strange that we are almost halfway through the year already and when I look on fabric sites they are already talking about Christmas.

This week the weather hasn't been so good I think even mother nature has finally started to loose her sense of humour over Covid 19. I had great plans of being out in the garden carrying on with tidying beds and moving some laurel bushes that don't seem to be liking where I planted them last year. Instead of which I spent the whole of my time at home last weekend sorting. So Pearl the Singer has now been elevated and is now a permanent fixture in the spare bedroom where I can keep her out all the time and don't have to pack her away when I'm not sewing. Its still a work in progress but is so much better already.

One of the things I have been meaning to sort out for the longest of times was my antique sewing box.  D bought this for me some years ago now as a gift.  Although I have used it, I have to confess it was more of a dumping ground for bits and pieces. But now I have Pearl and a proper space in which to do my sewing I felt it was definitely the right time to move my sewing box upstairs and put it to better use. 

As you can see it is beautiful inside and has its original silk lining. It has been completely tidied and everything has its place and there is a place for everything.  I now have a place where I can keep my very small (for now) collection of cottons and all my bobbins, spare needles, tape measure and what seems to be quite a collection of scissors. Its funny isn't it as it used to sit next to me in my little crafting corner of the sitting room both at the farm house and the cottage and very rarely got touched except with a duster, but now I have moved it into my sewing room I am using it all the time and so pleased I have it.  In fact my friend is looking out for one and we nearly did get one at Yarndale a couple of years ago but another lady got to it first and was so excited at her find that we ended up keeping a hold of it for her while she found her husband as he had got her purse in his pocket.  Sadly like so many shows this year Yarndale has had to be cancelled but I'm sure the team are busy working on a virtual show which seems to be how so many of the shows are having to be run this year.  At least they have this wonderful technology which allows them to be able to do so. 

As I said last week I had reached my goal of making 100 scrubs bags and have decided to have a break from making anymore unless there is suddenly another request to make them.  My last 40 went to John Scotts appeal for the Help Dress the Medics.  This week I received a lovely surprise when this thank you card dropped through my letter box.  

Before scrubs bags took over my life I had already got lots of sewing projects in mind and perhaps now I will return  my thoughts to those so watch this space. 

Nimue charts have become one of my favourites over the last couple of years.

I cross stitched Fairy Dust a couple of years ago for my daughter, who like her mum has a bit of an obsession with Fairies and in fact has a tattoo of a fairy to remind her of me, or that was the reason she gave me.










I'm afraid I have succumbed to the online ordering bug in the last twelve weeks.  I bought the little fairy chart at the Festival of Quilts last year, It's called Moonlight and has patiently waiting for me to start stitching, but I have been hankering after the La Clef or The Key for quite some time she always reminds me of my daughter with her high cheek bones, something I can honestly say she has not inherited from me and when I recently met up with her for a socially distance meet up she turned up with blue hair, she tells me it was the only hair dye she had but for me it was the confirmation I needed that I had to find a copy of La Clef. I contacted Sparklies Kate is a lovely lady and I was looking forward to seeing her at the Festival of Quilts this year in order to buy La Clef but as the festival has been postponed until next year I contacted her direct.  Her website is in the process of being revamped, but should be up and running again very soon but she can be contacted directly or via her facebook page.  Having spoken with Kate and placed my order I fully expected it to take at least a week before it would arrive, I was very presently surprised when the postman delivered my chart just two days later.

My other little find was Kustom Krafts 'Little Snap Dragon'.  Its quite a hard chart to find but I managed to find a copy through Wye Needlecraft. I ordered it right at the peak of covid and it therefore took about three weeks to arrive but it was definitely worth the wait. I love the colours of the flowers and little dragon or not so little dragon as it turns out as it comes up at 13" by 19" on a 14ct Aida.  I intend to stitch this one on 28ct evenweave which is the equivalent to a 14ct aida.

I have placed my order for evenweave through Willow Fabrics and eagerly await it's arrival. They are a small team of skeleton staff keeping things a float through covid and its taking a little longer than usual to process their orders but I have been using them for the last two years and have always been satisfied with their service.

I do however have to sing the praises of Lakeside Needlecraft and Create Nostalgia and Gina B Silkworks who all processed my orders so swiftly that I had all the silks, beads and specialist threads by the end of the week and I have spent a happy hour sorting through them and putting them onto a bobbin ready to start.  I am not sure which chart to start with but they normally let me know.  I used to be very strict about not having more than one project on the go at a time but over the years that has slipped somewhat and I have started working by rotation on my WIP's it keeps me focused.

And after a morning of sorting I thought it only right to finish off with a little bit of baking. I used to make these chocolate muffins for my children when they were younger and even now as adults when they come to visit they will make a request for a batch to be made.

They are so quick and easy.

Makes a bakers dozen
12 + 1 for the cook






Preheat the oven to 180C

Melt 125g of butter and keep to one side to cool.

You will also need
100g of light brown sugar,
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
25g cocoa powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
250mls buttermilk
Nuttella

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, stir in the butter and the buttermilk.

Now if you don't have buttermilk I can tell you of a nifty little trick, by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to 250mls of milk and leave it for 5 minutes it will then turn to buttermilk. How clever is that.

Spoon one third of of the mixture into a greased muffin tin or into cup cake cases, top with a teaspoon of Nuttella or another chocolate spread if you prefer. Top with remaining mixture. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 1-2 minutes before removing from the muffin tin and placing on a wire rack to cool.

Once cooled treat yourself to a well earned cup of tea and as the cook you deserve cooks perks don't you in trying the first one.  Well someone has to perform quality control don't they.

Have a good week one and all and remember stay safe.

Mx