my stitching and other journeys

Sunday, 26 January 2014

Scandinavian Rose 9

Another part of Scandinavian Rose Quilt BOM finished.

This one was quite quick, but despite that, I think I am beginning to realize the size of the project, as there are 4 more blocks to stitch.

And I have not yet decided on the fabrics for the patchwork part of the quilt!

In her original design Rosalie Quinlan used a selection of red and white fabrics. I know that they were chosen to compliment the redwork of the stitcheries, but I am not convinced that this colour combination does the embroidery justice. I feel that the embroidery designs are so beautiful in themselves and they should be framed more gently. That said, I have no idea (yet) what the answer should be. May be I will wait until I am working on the last embroidery before I seriously think about it and just enjoy stitching it in the meantime.

Have a good stitching week!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014

Saturday, 25 January 2014

bullar

What is to do on a blustery winter afternoon (besides stitching, of course)?

Nothing beats the smell of home baking!

I came across this recipe for Swedish bullar - buns. My Swedish friend gave me her recipe many years ago, when we were staying with them during our summer holiday. A million years and two house moves later, I just could not find it, so I am pleased I have seen this one.

There are many versions of this recipe, but many involve measures in "cups" rather then weight ; I tend to stay away from these, measuring in cups is not something we in England are very used to. The question is - how big is the cup? Is it American or European cup? Too complicated! This version, thankfully, gives you both.

We have been eating bullar during our many holidays in Sweden, accompanied by strong Swedish coffee, of course.

The bullar I made today are with cardamon and cinnamon. Most bullar I have had in Sweden are sprinkled with pearl sugar, not very easily obtained in England, unless you happen to live near Ikea. So I sprinkled my buns with demerara sugar (poor substitute) or flaked almonds.

As our Swedish friends will notice, I chose the easy option of just rolling up the dough and slicing it into rounds, rather then twisting it round my fingers, method which I have not yet mastered.

But the result - a wonderful smell all around the house - is just the same.

Now it is time for our "fika" .

I hope you will enjoy your Sunday, whatever your weather!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014

Friday, 24 January 2014

new header

The previous owners of our house seemed to use the garden for two specific purposes; he for his model railway,

and the rest of the garden was used to hang the washing and for their dogs to have somewhere to explore

(which would not take them very long, LOL).

This picture was taken before we moved here, the previous owner thankfully took the railway with him.

There are no plants in our new garden worth keeping or talking about and we have our own ideas about how our new garden should look. Unfortunately, due to the very wet winter we are having this year, there is very little we can do to start doing anything about it, yet.

Except this little beauty, a winter flowering, evergreen clematis, now fully out, called appropriately -

Winter Beauty

There are masses of it growing against the garage wall and it is definitively one thing we will keep, although it does need a little tidy up when it will finish flowering.

A nice subject for a header.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2014

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

little treasures

The first new and FINISHED project of the year, a needlebook.

I needed to get back to my stitching, I have missed it so. I needed to make something small, easily finished in a few days. Yes, I have all those houses in the the Santa's Village series to stitch, but I wanted a break from them.

Then I remembered this small Pansy needlebook kit I bought from Sue Hawkins at the September fair in Exeter.

I love the combination of colours and simple stitches in this project.