I get by with a little help...

Where would we be without friends?

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have made these placemats. I thought these were so cute, and I wanted to make them for my family as one of my very first sewing projects.

But can you spot the difference between the photo and my mats?

My centre panel of linen didn’t match the photo, and my mat fronts weren’t the same size as the backs. I followed the instructions so carefully, I measured, measured again, cut, sewed, measured again...then I rang my sewing guru Jooles in a panic, about to throw out the lot and call it quits.

Well, my friend came to my rescue and helped me realize that the pattern was to blame, not my new sewing skills. There was an error in the measurements of the centre panel (it’s supposed to be 12-½” square, not a 12-½” x 10” rectangle, for any of you with this book!), and she encouraged me to find a solution to this problem, rather than giving up! So we played with fabric scraps, and I decided a side panel would do nicely, picking up a featured fabric in the patches.

(I actually like mine better...!)

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have tried my hand at quince jelly this year.

She kindly handed over another batch of the beautifully floral-scented little fruits last week...

So now I have more delectable jelly to give away as Christmas gifts. About a year ago this friend also gifted me a pretty pink orchid, for helping out during a hectic week. It has since flowered twice more, with greater numbers of blossom each time.

I just had to share this beauty with you – I’ve lost count with the blossoms, both sides of the stem are laden with incredible orchid flowers! A true gift that keeps on giving...

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have finished this pretty cross-stitch posy:

And thus a new craft interest is born! This cherished friend also has taught me to knit (and promises to re-teach me once Little Flower is at primary school!).

Without a friend, I wouldn’t have ever contemplated making a quilt.

But you all know how that one turned out!

And without my blog friends, I wouldn’t be anywhere near as creative, inspired or productive as I am today! Your comments, emails and your own blog posts have offered me such pleasure and have enriched my life – even if it’s simply sharing our craft ideas for making a house a home. These little things have big meaning, offering a constant source of comfort and symbols of love for our families.

This week I passed the 100 posts mark, since starting in April this year. I wanted to share my appreciation for my friends, with my friends. You all know who you are, the ones in my daily life and the ones in my “blog life”. I appreciate you very, very much!

 Chrissie x

The best part of being stuck indoors

Dreary grey weekend? Bring it on! Horrid weather outdoors means chutney and jelly indoors!

Who cares if we couldn’t go on a lovely outdoor walk? I got my exercise Saturday by peeling and chopping copious amounts of quinces and pumpkins (with the help of a dear friend, which made the job so much easier with a chat and a cuppa!).

Oh dear, we couldn’t find fresh horseradish root for the chutney recipe...so I substituted grated ginger.

Did you know that you can freeze ginger? Rather than it wasting away in the fridge, pop the root in the freezer. When you need a bit for a recipe, grate it using a microplane grater, skin and all. It grates into a lovely fine powdery consistency that melts into the dish, leaving all the peppery goodness of fresh ginger without the juicy, stringy mess!

Is that a distant roll of thunder I hear? Doesn’t come close to the comforting sound of a gentle thundery simmer from the preserving pan on the stovetop...

And, like magic, all those ingredients morph into a rich, thick, tangy, spicy melange of autumn’s bounty. Yes, I can wax lyrical about chutney...

Quince and pumpkin chutney. All these little bad boys need are labels and tops made with a variety of crocheted lovelies and fabrics. And then I can tick a number of Christmas gifts off my list!

But wait. Sunday has come and it’s even stormier than Saturday. More quinces to the rescue!

How can these knobbly, hard, tart little fruits go from dripping cloudy yellow juice into a bowl to this:

This is my first attempt at quince jelly, and though it’s not as crystal-clear and bubble-free as I’d like, at least it’s not cloudy, so I’m happy! A few jars have gone to a friend; one jar is open and already half gone in our fridge...

Very tasty breakfast eaten in the exceedingly dim light of morning.

And I’m not going to apologise for the dull photo quality – this is English weather, and there’s only so much fiddling with photo qualities we UK bloggers can manage!

So I call on us to embrace the low light, then I guarantee we’ll see it as an atmospheric choice on picmonkey and other photo enhancing tools: The English Grey Effect.

Time for more toast. Happy crafting!

Chrissie x