a summery patchwork

This month I did some unselfish sewing and made a patchwork quilt for my friends who got married last weekend. 

As they've been living together for a few years they already own a lot of the usual home-y "stuff" so I didn't think they'd want any extra clutter or toasters etc. A handmade patchwork quilt seemed like a great solution as it's personal, practical and doesn't take up a lot of space.

So many bloody squares though! I immediately started cursing myself when it came to sewing them all together. It took far longer than I expected. For my design I created a central diamond pattern although it's quite subtle as I wanted to keep the colours and tones quite fresh and bright. The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted the tractor fabric I used for my first dress. My friends love that dress so I think they'll be delighted that I managed to cut out a few squares from my remnants.

I'm almost loathed to hand the blanket over though.... look how nicely it matches my bedroom.

You'd almost think I'd planned for it to match my bedding.

Other than taking a while to cut out and sew the quilt was a pleasure to make, mostly because I love my rotary cutter. Best sewing tool ever!! I'm glad I added a plain border as I think it frames the patchwork front nicely.

For the backing I used a tiny star print cotton (which I also used in the squares) to tie everything together. The fabric was only 44" wide so I had to sew two lengths together to make a big enough piece for backing. Then I machine quilted around the plain border and along every 5th row of squares to hold everything in place. I had a couple of puckers which I had to unpick and re-sew but nothing major.

I'm so glad I took care to really match my corners. Nearly all of them meet perfectly, woohoo! (There are a few rogue ones though, not gonna lie.)

So that's the blanket all folded up and ready to go. I'll hopefully see the newlyweds in the next few days to hand it over. Here's hoping they love it!

cat lady

My musical disco cat fabric has turned into a dress. Hurray!

The only major (lol, get it?) change I made from my previous dresses was the skirt. I used the box pleats from the original pattern but changed the tulip shape to a straight A-line as I feel it's more "me" and practical. I'm massively in love with the box pleats; I think they're fun and incredibly flattering.

Originally I was going to add elbow length sleeves but after three failed sleeve toiles I had to admit defeat. I've always been self conscious of the fact I have chunkier than average upper arms (I won a gold medal in shot put when I was 11, gun-tastic) which my mum says is nonsense as I'm slim, but three failed sleeves attempts don't lie!

Ah well, I'll get more use out of a sleeveless dress as it's easier to wear with cardigans and everybody who knows me knows how much I love cardigans (they cover the guns...) but I'll need to read up on sleeve fitting as it's something I'm pretty clueless on.

Other changes included very slightly curving out the neckline (originally it's slightly v shaped) and remembering to understitch the neckline. Go me! It does make a difference to how the neckline sits, so hurray for no more peeping lining. I also only lined the bodice as the fabric was thick enough to do without under the skirt.

Thank you to Susan C. who commented on my last dress post and suggested cotton voile as a lining fabric instead of slippery dress lining. Although I couldn't find any late notice at my local fabric shop I found a cream poly-something fabric which feels more breathable and was much better behaved to sew with. I will definitely look for a cotton voile for my next dress project though.

So that's it, dress number 3 completed just in time for my cousin's wedding last week (and very quickly photographed!) I toyed with the idea of going bare-legged as it was warm, but came to the conclusion that people probably wouldn't cope with the glare from my glowing white arms *and* legs.

Now what to do with my remaining metre of fabric since I didn't add sleeves... I might be able to squeak a skirt from it.

nutella chocolate chip cookie dough no churn ice-cream!

Well if I thought my last post had a long winded title this one is even more ridiculous. But yaaaay, ice-cream!

After seeing Kate's no churn ice-cream a couple of weeks ago I knew I had to make some too. The recipe suited me perfectly: satisfyingly simple and plain enough to pimp up with extra flavours.

Naturally Nutella had to be added to the ice-cream party. Nutella *and* chocolate chip cookie dough? Take that, Ben 'n' Jerry's!

Unlike Kate I used an eggless cookie dough recipe as I tend to feel wary about eating or serving a sizeable amount of raw egg mixture. Folk are probably going, "woah woah woah, don't you always scrape the baking bowl like every greedy baker?" Yup, I do. I'm aware I contradict myself as I could still get salmonella from a small amount of raw egg mixture, but in my head it seems more acceptable and less risky.

The cookie dough chunks actually taste similar to those found in Ben 'n' Jerry's ice-cream which is great and the ice-cream itself is super chocolatey, rich and almost mousse-like when it softens. My only complaint is that it tastes a little bit powdery so the amount of cocoa powder in the recipe could be reduced. Perhaps I would add more Nutella too. After all, when is adding more Nutella ever a bad thing? 

I don't think this beats proper ice-cream, but for something quick, chocolatey and cheat-y this is very satisfying. It doesn't crystalise either which is great, although it is a beast to get out of the freezer tub!

(Note to self: invest in a proper ice-cream scoop.)

Nutella chocolate chip cookie dough no churn ice-cream

Recipe is a combination of BBC Good Food (via What Kate Baked) and The Noshing Bride

cookie dough:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used light muscovado)

2 tbsp softened (slightly salted) butter

few drops of vanilla extract

1 1/2tbsp milk

1/3 cup plain flour

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Combine the butter and sugar and mix for about a minute. Stir in the vanilla, milk and flour before adding the chocolate chips. (I actually wanted a slightly stiffer mixture so I added more flour.) Clingfilm and set in the fridge for half an hour to firm up.

ice-cream:

1/2 a 397g can of sweetened condensed milk

600ml double cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 cup nutella spread

(any remaining chocolate chips!)

Whisk the cream until a thick consistency similar to clotted cream. In a separate bowl combine all the other ingredients (except the chocolate chips) before mixing into the cream. Stir in the chocolate chips and scrape the mixture into a freezer container/loaf tin and cover with a lid or clingfilm. Freeze until solid. I left mine in overnight.