My quilt so far.

My quilt so far
This is going to take some time!

But I've been mainly focussed on felt owls, so have sort of neglected the patchwork.

So here we are...

The hexagon bit

Standard 9 square block - and it is actually square, its just the angle!


Log Cabin - I've got so much scrap material, I may do a few of these


Its a lot easier to cut than hexagons! Basically used my trusty rotary cutter to cut 1 ½” strips and then cut them to the correct length.  I suppose they could be done on a sewing machine as they're straight lines, but I want to take them with me on my travels, and traditionally, all quilts were hand sewn.

The quilt.

Because of the material I have available, mine is mainly shades of blue and red.  I've used some material left over from another project (navy) and a light blue patterned material which was a pillow case.  There's also some material from the top I made a while ago .Finished top

The rest of it was purchased as  'fat quarters'.

OOPS!!!
Another important note, as I discovered when I made the little blue bag.  Try not to use gingham, the lines often aren't straight for some reason.

This was meant to be a 'disappearing nine patch' but I think I'll unpick it.
Disappearing nine patch - make a nine patch and then cut it into quarters, its often used for borders. Gives a slightly different effect.

Budgeteering again

Working with cash is REALLY working for me, and making me think about what I'm spending a bit more.
So for the last 2 months, I've been sticking with taking out money and seeing how long it lasts, rather than having a budget, which I tend to look at as something I need to reach.
At the start of March I drew £100, and only took more money out when I needed it. I do have a figure in mind, for what my budget is, and as of now I still have £100 left of that, so quite pleased.

I've previously said how much I like shopping in the local market, and am really looking forward to the fact that I'm working from home on Friday so can go and pick up some bargains.

Speaking of which, in the 'you get what you pay for' stakes, these spuds are winners.  Now, I know that you should be able to keep root veg for ages, but I've never managed it with shop bought stuff. 

Just before Christmas I got a veg box from my favourite farm shop Kenyons Hall Farm and put the root veg, as usual into open baskets, and the spuds into a hessian bag. I thought I'd used them all, and then found them right at the bottom, still very useable.

Although, I have spent money on fabric. From charity shops, so does that count?

How to make a little bag

I've a couple of these little bags, useful for taking small bits of sewing round with me, and they are made in a slightly unusual way, which means you don't have bulky seams.
First, measure out 2 rectangles, one for the front, and one for the lining. You could also use wadding if you wanted it for a tablet case.
I used a Kipling purse to get an idea of size.

Cut material to size - now the gingham I've used isn't ideal as actually, it was a bin end, and no matter what I did I couldn't get it to look straight. I've used my rotary cutter and cutting mat, as it helps me to line it up, but you could just draw the lines and cut with scissors.

You need to shape the top slightly, I used a wine glass as a template.

Work out where you want the fold to be, and make a very small cut at each edge. With right sides together, sew round the top, up to the cut.
Sew along the bottom edge.  DON'T sew up the sides. This will seem very odd and it will look something like this....

Now, this is the slightly fiddly bit.. pick it up and put the right sides of the front together, and sew down the side seams.  Do the same with the lining, sew all the way down one side, and on the other side leave a small gap.

It will then look something like this one.....

Turn it right sides out, through the little gap you've left.

Push the lining inside the bag, and this is the final result

Needs a bit of a press, but the general idea is fine.

Budgeteering update

At the start of the month, I drew out £80 in cash, with the aim of seeing how long I could make it last, details in this previous post
As of last Friday I had £28 left. Even that is better than it sounds as I'd spent £9 on car parking, which has been claimed back as an allowable expense.

Common sense told me that I couldn't make this last another 2 weeks, as I was away all week, and would need cash.
So, what did I do....
Put the £20 in an envelope, label it 'spare' and took it with me.
Drew out another £80 for the next 2 weeks spending.  I've finally got a use-able voucher from Tesco.  I often get vouchers when I shop, but often they are for '£x off a £50 shop'. I've tried to spend £50, but never managed it. Last week, however I got one for £4 when I spend £30,and I've got some other money off coupons.  I even remembered to put them through the till in the correct order. So weekly spend was only £19 in actual cash.

Conventional wisdom for cutting down on household spending recommends shopping in the likes of Aldi and Lidl, and while there are undoubtedly bargains to be had, for me, due to the fact that we don't have either locally, the extra cost of going there doesn't justify the amount I'd save.   I know people who say they saved £40 by shopping in the budget supermarkets - I don't spend that much in one shop (see above note about Tesco)!

I'm not sure where the likes of Home Bargains, and Wilkinsons fit into this. I find them really useful for cleaning products, toiletries and bargain biscuits.

But for me, the local market, and local shops win every time.

So where am I now? 4 days until payday and I've got £23 in my purse and a small fortune in £2 coins. A fair amount of stuff in the freezer, and meals planned for the next 4 nights. So a win really, and will try the same next month.

Shopping local, shopping fresh

I try to shop locally when I can

We're lucky in that we still have an independent baker and a butcher in walking distance. We have a market on Friday, and while there's the usual market stuff, and "M&S seconds", there's a really good fruit and veg stall, a cake stall, a fishmongers van, and a butchers van. So, if I'm around ans about on a Friday, that's where I head to.

A couple of miles in the opposite direction, and there's an indendent greengrocers, a butchers, and a fishmonger. Most people aren't that lucky and have to shop in supermarkets.  

Now, while there's no doubt that supermarkets have buying power, and you can get things on offer, and really cheaply, it's been the death of little shops which can't compete on price.  There's also a question of quality, and while the supermarkets have quality control I often find that produce bought in supermarkets doesn't last very long.

That's not a problem, if you've a large family, and use things quickly; but there are only two of us, and I'm away for part of most weeks. If I'm not there, J may use frozen veg, but it's highly unlikely that he'll bother peeling carrots!

From my local shops I can buy just what I need, in the knowledge that anything left over will still be fresh a couple of weeks later.

And, conversely, if I buy bread from the bakery, I need to use it: it's got no preservatives, so has to be eaten fresh. Being honest, nothing lasts that long as it's so tasty.

I also buy from a farm shop occasionally. Mainly because, living in a city, we don't have that many, so it means either a special journey, or being around on the days when they deliver.

But,it's worth the extra money for less waste.  The week before Christmas I bought some local potatoes from the farm shop, and forgot to put them in the hessian bag, leaving them in their box.  But look!

The remaining half dozen are ready to be used.

And the penny dropped....

I often take small sewing projects on my travels with me.  Now as I'm driving, I can't really 'sew on the go', I'm fairly certain it would be dangerous.  But I work out where I'm going to be, how much time I'm likely to have, and pack a few things, sometimes little felt owls, sometimes embroidery, some patchwork, depending on my mood.

Up to now, I've used this cheap little plastic wallet I picked up a couple of years ago

Now it 'owes me nothing' as my Dad would have said, and even though the zipper broke a while ago I've continued to use it.  But occasionally, very occasionally, everything falls out. So I've been looking round for a replacement, and although I've seen a few, they've been more expensive than I'd like. 

And then I had a 'Eureka!' moment. Watching a craft programme on telly, and thinking "why would someone pay £15 for a bag you can make for coppers", and realising that I could in fact make a bag.

I own a sewing machine, and I have a stash of material

So, I found some material, left over from making cushions for the dining room chairs, worked out that it needed to be the same width, plus about an inch. Decided how long the material needed to be, about twice the size, plus a bit for a fold over.

Used some cheap lining material and wadding, cut to the same size

And ten minutes on the sewing machine later

Of course, it's not perfect. I could have actually measured properly, rather than guesswork, and accurate seam allowances would have helped, but hey, who's going to see it? Its just big enough to hold a few small sewing projects, plus scissors, thimble etc.

And of course, I can put it into the little tote bag that I made a couple of weeks ago.

I made the bag out of calico. Forgot to take a photo of that bit!

Cut out some flowers

Appliquéd them on to bag, and embroidered the stems

and hey presto

a unique bag

Blogging, budgeteering and bread making

There are plenty of blogs giving budget advice; plenty too about frugal lifestyles. This isn't one of them, but I've been doing some reading, and to be honest, some of the latter really, really wind me up.

Everybody is different. Their motivation for spending, or not, and what they choose to spend their money on is personal to them. Budget advice can only go so far, as ultimately, it's about choice.  So, for example, I could cut £50 from my budget by moving broadband supplier, dropping some channels from the package etc. but I choose not to, because "it doesn't suit me". Fortunately I'm not in a financial position where it matters a great deal, but to read some blogs, you'd think it was treason not to cut every single penny possible.

On the other hand, I don't smoke, rarely drink, so there are areas where I don't spend at all.  There are also areas where I've absolutely no idea where the money goes.  It's the couple of quid here and there that add up, the "oh I'll just pick this up whole I'm here" and the things that get chucked in the freezer the day before they go out of date, as I'm working away and won't be able to use them. And then of course, there are bits of material that I just can't resist....

These are the areas I need to focus on, so with that in mind, I've decided that the best way for me is to back to using cash.  

At the beginning of each month, I estimate my food shopping, but as that also includes cleaning products, toiletries and personal spending, it can be a bit hit and miss.  

So on 1st February I've drawn out £80. This bears no relation whatsoever to any budget, but prior to that the amount in the account had been £x80.74, so after 'sweeping' the 74p into savings, I've got a perfect round amount in the bank.  It works for me!

So now the game is to see how long it lasts.  I've shopped locally, went to the greengrocers and just got what I needed, and so far, have spent £17.65.

And the bread making? I'm not absolutely convinced that its cheaper than buying it, after all, I can go to the local M&S on a Sunday afternoon and buy bread for 10p a loaf, and put it in the freezer. But there is something immensely satisfying about kneading dough. I've got a bread maker, which I use often, but it only has a small pan, so lately, I've been making the dough in the bread maker, and then finishing it off by hand, which seems to be more reliable. Apparently, you're not meant to keep peeking to check that the bread has worked, but the disappointment, when yet another loaf fails to meet expectations makes for a certain amount of frustration. Being able to see it rise in a bowl takes the guesswork out of it, and you can then at least chuck it before it's cooked.