Visit to Towneley Hall

We visit Towneley Hall quite often as it's just about within walking distance.  

Unfortunately the main adventure playground is currently closed for renovations.

But there's still lots of woodland to explore.

We had a picnic by the lake.

In front of the main house.

Before making our way through more stunning woodland, 

Up to the smaller playground.

Which is always a hit with Little Miss and Little Pickle has now discovered the joy a swings.

It's a lovely day out and well worth a visit.  Parking is availible for £2 and entry to the Hall is free for residents or £5 for 12 months.  So it's a really economical day out even on a rainy day.

Max and Meena Saltwater Camisole Sewing Pattern Review - Pink Butterflies

This is a super easy pattern - sort of . . . the fold over elastic is tricky to get right.  The fabric has a tendency to slip out of the fold and the slightest missed stitch causes it to rip as it's quite thin fabric.  Frankly I'm still managing to do a better job than many of the commercial camisoles I've bought and I can make sure these are 100% cotton.  

Using elastic for the straps makes them super stretchy so they're great for nursing tops which can be layered underneath normal clothing.

The pattern is free if you join the Max and Meena Facebook group.

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

Side seams.

Hem.

I've stitched mine with a twin needle for a professional finish.

Now for the fold over elastic on the front neck.  Lots and lots of clips!!

And it came out perfectly!!  The elastic does need stretching a bit to fit.

Then for the scary bit, the back, armholes and straps.

The straps are secured with a fair few stitches at the back.

Chicken Chow Mein Sauce Recipe

This recipe is so quick and easy it hardly warrants the title.  But it tastes just as good as take out, seriously I don't think I've had chicken chow mein take away since discovering this recipe, there's just no point in paying for it.  

Ingredients:

Cornflour 2 Tablespoons

Soy Sauce Bottle

Olive Oil 3 Tablespoons

Brown Sugar 3 Tablespoons

All Spice Teaspoon

Tools:

Spoons and a bottle to store it in

Start with the wet ingredients and put them in the bottle.

Then add the dry ingredients.

I really should invest in a funnel but until I get round it I'm using a piece of paper.

Shake it up.

And that's it.  The sauce will last in the fridge for weeks.

Throw some noodles in a pan to boil - unless you're using ready to wok noodles.

Throw some diced chicken breast into a wok along with a good lug of the chow mein sauce.

Add veggies - I use frozen for convenience.

Then add the noodles.

Serve once the chicken is cooked through.

Little Saplings Forest School Whalley

Little Saplings are fantastic events.  It's a really simple idea, get the kids out in the woods and encourage them to play and explore.  They're free but you do need to book.  

This one is at Spring Wood in Whalley.  There is a £1 parking charge.

This week there was a Ladybird "hunt".  

Den building.

Bug hunting.

Clay model making, which was not to Little Miss' taste but her friend loved this activity.

And an open fire for toasting marshmallows.

The day wasn't much marred by my alternator packing in.  Another project for another day . . . 

Log Cabin Patchwork Quilt Sewing Project

This is my first patchwork project in ages.  I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it.  

Tools and Materials:

Most of my sewing stash comes form the lovely people at Minerva Crafts.

Here's the plans from my Bullet Journal.  The strips were cut 2.5" wide with a 1/4" seam allowance.  These scruffy notes are the length of the strips required in each fabric to help me decide which fabric to position where on  the design.


In keeping with patchwork tradition this quilt is made entirely of scrap fabric.  Admittedly the two prints were someone else's scraps that I bought at a car boot sale.  And the beige formed part of the immense pile of scraps I inherited.  The dark blue is actually on old shirt that was being discarded.  The palest blue was a very old sheet also from my inherited stash.  Instead of batting I backed the quilt with a old velvet curtain lining.  

Log cabin has always been my go to patchwork pattern.  It's so quick and easy to cut and sew, with very few corners to match.  

In fact I've used sashing on this design so I've got away without a single corner to match - whoop whoop!!

I've basically done a normal log cabin design then added an extra row of the palest fabric so it look like the inner two are all framed with the palest fabric.  I really like the effect.

This is my first attempt at using a walking foot to stitch in the ditch for the quilting.  I'm not so sure it really makes that much of a difference but I'll preserve, maybe it just takes practice.

I've bound the quilt with some leftovers of the darkest blue.  Here's a quilt binding tutorial I wrote.