This Is Not A Toddler Toilet Seat...

These are toddler toilet seats. What you see below  is a free motion guide grip.

Similar in shape, but actually for very different purposes. As we wandered round the show last Thursday I talked to Elisabeth about Free Motion Embroidery. When we both lived in Leicester we had a mutual friend [another Rev's wife] who was very good at it, and maintained it was easy.

I said to E that I had made a few attempts but couldn't get the hang of it. She said she went to a workshop last year and did some stuff on the day, but nothing since...She found manipulating the hoop quite difficult. At the very end of our day., almost the last stand in the far corner of the 1st floor, we met Steve from Sewing Machine World in Kings Lynn.
He was using one of these guides, and producing superb stuff. "That's what I need!" I said, and he stood up, and said "Sit down, have a go" And I sat and squiggled and spiralled and did straight lines
and tried to write my name Angel&
For the first time in my life I actually felt I had some semblance of control over the machine embroidery work. Elisabeth had a go too. I bought one of his grips on the spot [and had 1p left from my allotted budget for the day!] Then we went and had a cuppa, and E. decided she was going to buy one too. 

Saturday afternoon I sat down at the machine to practice
I began with words
Yes
Angela
hallelujah
AMEN
then I did three beach huts
under a sky with pointy clouds
and a squiggly sun
and wavy sea
with a fish.
Tuesday I tried again

A house with windows, and a smoking chimney [it may be on fire!] A king with a crown and a cheery smile. A five pointed star, and sew good
I felt very pleased with myself. I can see I have the bobbin tension wrong [too much pink thread coming through from underneath] but it is a start. 
I found it so much easier to steer the guide than grip a hoop.  This video was very helpful. 
No. I do not think I shall be doing an embroidered portrait of Bob, or even a landscape full of trees and flowers just yet. More practice needed. But I am Getting There and that's what matters.

Have you ever done free motion machine embroidery?
What are your best tips, please?
Can you recommend any good YouTube tutorials?

Jesus Says "I Will Give You Rest, Come!"

That is the theme of this year's World Day Of Prayer, planned by the women of Nigeria. WDP always happens on the first Friday in March. I checked the Find A Service Near You page, and was pleased to find there is an afternoon service just a few miles away in Dereham. I felt sad that to find that there was no service listed in Kirby Muxloe, and Ferndown was 24 miles from the nearest service. [surely somebody in one of the many Bournemouth churches is doing something?] You can find out more here

World Book Day Girls

Jessica was a ballerina from "The Story Orchestra - Swan Lake" and Rosie was Harriet the Spy. And Brooke won 1st prize for the best outfit at her school [a £10 book token] I put that down to the log pile hat which was the brilliant finishing touch made by her Mum. 

It's World Book Day!

I really thought I'd got a free pass this year. Over half term I checked with all grandchildren and their mothers, in case costumes were needed. And then Sunday night, a message from my neighbour. Could I help with her daughter's costume, please? She wanted to go as the snake from the Gruffalo
It is her last year at the special school - and she has been upset by the recent deaths of two local boys on Yr Wyddfa [Snowdon] as one has been a friend since toddler group days. 

They'd sourced a dress online, but when it arrived it was too long, and too slim. She needed it shorter, and wider, so she could wear it comfortably in her wheelchair. 
Fortunately 'buffet' dresses, with their tiered skirts have a lot of fabric in the bottom frill. I measured all round and the hem was 204cm. I cut off the frill at a point which made the dress 100cm long. 

I ended up with a piece 200 x 20 cm. which I cut into two long narrow strips.
Her Mum had suggested 

putting a panel centre front and back - but that meant remaking the back of the collar, and a complicated double breasted set of buttons and buttonholes.
Instead I cut the dress in three - vertically from the shoulder seam along two lines either side of the collar and inserted the two panels. I was a bit nervous about cutting up the dress, but it has worked perfectly. Brooke is really pleased with her costume for Thursday, and her Mum is making the snake a 'logpile house' from loo rolls and cardboard to hang on the back of the wheelchair.

Have you been involved in World Book Day?
What costumes have you made?

UPDATE _ The snake off to school. She made her mask, her mum made the log pile house hat

Keeping Busy

Sunday was interesting - I went out to preach at another church. They are studying the life of Joseph and I had Genesis 42-44 to work from. Over coffee later, I discovered that five of the women present [in a congregation of just over 30] had also been to the show at Newmarket [but on the Friday and Saturday] They had similar comments to mine about overpriced gadgets etc! Bob got home before me and had prepared a superb lunch, and we had the other half of the SussexPondPud for dessert.

In the evening, I dragged him to the Parish Church, not for any spiritual reasons, just that it is the highest point in the village. We watched the four planets aligned [Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury] then went and had a reviving cup of tea at my brother's house. This is a BBC photo.

On Monday the sewing machine was humming- one neighbour WhatsApped on Monday morning with a request, I suggested she pop round at 10. At 9.55 the doorbell went, and there was another neighbour with a skirt which needed shortening! Which is all good, because sewing calms me down, and I have felt a little stressed over the past couple of days. I can sit and sew and think and meditate and usually feel so much better afterwards. 

Tuesday I had set aside for preparing another sermon, as I am speaking at our chapel on Sunday, and the set passage is Colossians 3. I love having time to really study the Bible. Bob had a Hospice session in the morning, but when he came home, he suggested we went out for lunch at a newly opened Café at a Farm  Shop nearby. Tasty!

Preparing for last Sunday, I discovered something I had never noticed before. If you've read the Bible story [or watched Lloyd Webber's Technicolor dreamcoat musical] you will know the brothers sold Joseph into slavery, and some Ishmaelites took him to Egypt. These men were traders in Myrrh, spices and balm. In Chapter 43;11 seventeen years later, the brothers go to Egypt to try and buy grain. Their father Jacob] tells them to take silver, plus myrrh, spices and balm [also honey, almonds and pistachio nuts] in order to appease the official [ie their brother who they have not recognised] How fascinating that they took the same valuable items. This is the only mention of pistachio nuts in the Bible. Almonds get mentioned a lot [they are the symbol of new life, and the best nuts imho] 

All the sewing for the neighbours has delayed my final post about Newmarket. But I will post about it soon!

When Life Gives You Lemons... 🍋

... Make Sussex Pond Pudding🍋, a traditional recipe which is warming and tasty on a cold damp evening. I had been given a lemon at the pancake party, so produced this on Saturday [first course was a lightweight ham salad, and the pudding served us for 2 days] Turning Out The Pudding was quite a performance. Bob filmed it, in the manner of one of those "unboxing videos"  I'm not sure if it will post to the blog...

Old Fashioned Sussex Pond Pudding [serves 4-6]

• 100 g (4 oz) Atora Suet
• 225 g (8 oz) Self Raising Flour
• 150 ml (¼ pt) cold water, approximately
• 100 g (4 oz) unsalted butter, diced
• 100 g (4 oz) caster sugar
• 1 large thin skinned lemon

1 - Lightly grease and line the base of 1.2 litre (2 pint) pudding basin. In a mixing bowl stir together the flour, Atora Suet and enough water to make a soft, but not sticky dough.

2 - Roll out two thirds of the dough on to a lightly floured surface to 5 mm thick (¼ inch). Line the basin with the dough making sure any splits are sealed well.**

3  - Put half the butter and sugar into the centre of the basin. Prick the lemon well with a skewer and place in the middle, and then surround with the remaining butter and sugar.

4 - Brush the top edges with a little water and roll out the remaining dough into a round shape the same size as the basin. Cover the pudding with the dough and press down well to seal the edges.

5 - Cover with greased greaseproof paper and cook in microwave oven on two third maximum (medium/high) 700 watt for 7-8 minutes or until well risen and just firm to the touch. Leave the pudding to stand for 2-3 minutes before turning out onto a warm dish. OR [better result imho] steam for 2½ hours in a pan half full of boiling water. Do not let it boil dry. 

6 - Serve immediately with yogurt, custard or cream - recipe from Atora Suet

When you cut into it, the buttery lemon sauce pours out to make a pond round the pud! 

What I Brought Back From Newmarket

We looked long and hard at many items, particularly the Fabric Tube Maker. It works on the same principle as my bias binding maker. And you can make baskets, bowls and bags from 2½" wide strips [aka Jelly Rolls] The guy who demonstrated was very persuasive. To be fair, his special show price" was a couple of quid cheaper than online. But I'm not sure I'd use it. I can see that if you make a lot of Jelly Roll Quilts,it is a good way to use up leftovers. 

Elisabeth and I both walked away from the fancy fabric displays, but upstairs found a huge basket of Fat Quarters at £1 each. She bought one piece specifically to recover a favourite zip pouch

I went right through the scraps and found 4 which were all part of the Natural History Maritime Collection. "You did well to find a set" said the sales girl.I'm Very Determined" I replied. A number of bloggers have been buying up linen sampler panels and books to embroider. With varied success. At 3pm I noticed some people reducing their goods. I picked up a beautiful piece of Moda fabric, designed by French General [a husband and wife partnership in New York, not Charles DeGaulle] It was £6 per metre. 

Here's part of it, there are letters, flowers, border patterns... On Pinterest there are many examples of how people have stitched the panels

We thought we had been to all the stands, then we went round a corner and found a big area with lots of machines and accessories. It was Sewing Machine World from King's Lynn [Many people I know have bought machines there. It's highly recommended] And here Elisabeth and I found exactly what we'd both been looking for. But that is a whole other blogpost...

A Pause In Lent #2