Gluten Free Morgan's Spiced Christmas Pudding

Ingredients:-

2 tablespoons Morgan's Spiced

75 ml Kopparberg Fruit Cider

75 ml IPA

2 eggs

50 grams Bob's Red Mill One to One Flour

1 teaspoon GF baking powder

110 grams breadcrumbs made from Genius Toastie loaf or stale GF bread to make it easier to breadcrumb

Zest and juice of one Jaffa orange

Zest of one lemon

one peeled apple chopped

30 grams ground almonds

300 grams Currants

 120 grams Raisins

120 grams Sultanas

110 grams GF Vegetable Suet

225 grams Dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:-

Mix all the wet ingredients together.

Mix all the dry ingredients together, except the flour

Mix them both together without the flour.   Cover and leave overnight so that the mixture takes in all the flavour of the alcohol.

Add the flour to the ingredients and mix well.

Fill three one pound pudding bowls and top them with a piece of foil pleated in the middle.

Pressure cook on high for 2.5 hours.  The longer you cook it the darker the pudding will be.  Once out of the pressure cooker remove the foil and drizzle another teaspoon of Morgan's Spiced over the pudding and leave to go cold.  

On Christmas Day place the pudding in a microwave and then light with your desired alcohol and serve with either Rum/Brandy sauce or whisky ice cream.

Enjoy :)

A finish and a continue ...

I completed the Beekeepers Cottage kit and I am really pleased with how it turned out so it is going to the framers this week hopefully with a couple of others.

All those beautiful purples, greens and golds.

It was quite a bit longer than I was expecting.

I am now continue to stitch my Mani Di Donna black ruby purse pattern, hope this will be another finish this week.

First lot of physiotherapy for my collapsed vertebrae that has been causing all my falls and it went pretty well.  I am limited to what I can do because of the leg and foot but it was good to make a start.

Happy stitching all :)

Friday Night Sew In ...

I got a few more rows done last night for the Friday Night Sew In.  Thanks for hosting Wendy.  Pop over to Wendy's blog to see what others got up to and maybe next time you can join us :)

Have a good weekend all - it's short and sweet today as I am struggling with pain.

Beekeepers Cottage Day 3...

Day 3 of the Beekeepers Cottage and I got a few rows done.

I also changed it onto my needleneeds millenium frame so that I didn't damage the rows that are already completed.  It stretches it out really tight.  All the alphabet done in backstitch.

Happy stitching :)

The Beekeepers Cottage Day 2 ...

I got quite a few rows done yesterday which surprised me.

Five rows of Herringbone stitch topped with little flowers of back stitch and detached chain stitch.

Blanket stitch topped with flowers of cross stitch in two colours and tiny french knots.

Basketweaving in Guilded Lavender thread from the Thread Gatherer which gradually changes colour through the skein.

Backstitched alphabet with a single 'b', flower and honeycomb.

I love the colours in this kit, they really compliment each other.

Thanks for looking :)

The Beekeepers Cottage progress ...

I worked quite a few hours yesterday on this little beauty and I am really happy with the result, no unpicking for a change!

The sun, moon and stars along with a couple of trees, all in au ver a soie silk, which is beautiful thread on linen, it has quite a sheen to it.

All cross stitch to that point and then it is on to the rows of different thread patterns which I will share with you over the next couple of days.

Thanks for keeping up with me and happy stitching :)

Shepherds Bush Beekeepers Cottage Kit ...

Whilst I am sitting waiting for my leg and ankle to heal - I need to stitch - I can't just sit still - never have been able to.

This kit is one of many that I have collected over the years and I thought the possibility of me finishing it within a week would be pretty good - we shall see - but it will make me sit ;)

Beautiful brown/yellow linen with an assortment of Au Ver a Soie silks and Thread Gatherer silks bundled up with a couple of bee and moon charms.

I will keep you posted on my progress. :)

Robin Pickens Dandi Annie ...

Planned projects before I get to 60 lol

I LOVE the Robin Pickens Dandi Annie range of fabric

My fat quarter has been on order since last year when I had the opportunity of seeing the Moda Book at my LQS but two metres of grey and yellow/green also fell into my shopping basket - I do hate it when that happens, but what can you do!!

It is so vibrant and different to most fabric colours out today and the grey just makes it pop.

This is my choice of quilt pattern for it and I will no doubt make changes so it is individual.

Happy stitching (and shopping of course) x

Tilda Hot Chocolate ...

Who doesn't love a little shopping AND a little Tilda..

I couldn't resist and this came my way after I bought the new Hot Chocolate book from Tilda last year.

The pinks and purples

The greens and aquas

and matching ribbons,

What's not to like :)

Happy stitching all x

RSN Certificate Jacobean Crewelwork Assessment Results ...

I got my results in mid January for my RSN Crewelwork and thought I would share.

I didn't know what to expect and did do my own assessment which I am pleased to share pretty much (to my relief) matched their assesment.

First Impressions:- 23 out of 25

The work is well presented and clean with no alien fibres.  The linen twill has been well covered and therefore kept free from stains and abrasion.  Improvement can be seen in the thread condition as the piece has been worked although the block shading and the raised stem do appear to be a little fluffy.  For most part the design lines have been covered but there are some visible along the top edge of the buttonhole and the pink edge of the long and short stitch on the left hand side.  You have done well to cover all the starting and finishing stitches.

Design:- 41 out of 45

The design follows the traditional English Jacobean style and care has been taken to place the image vertically on the grain.  Although the design has been distributed harmoniously within the space the balance of solid and open areas is slightly heavier.  Introducing some more open areas or breaking up the Romanian Couching would have achieved a better balance.  The main colour ranges have been distributed well throughout the design.  However there is very little evidence of the accent colour, bringing this down towards the base of the design would have helped to break up the larger areas of green.  An effective range of shades within each colour family have been used.  The proportions for the most part replicate that of the same image, however the left hand side hillock has not been brought down as far as the pricking, as a result this has been the embroidery look slightly off balance.  There is a good variety of flat and textural stitches, well done.

Stitches:- 123 out of 135

The stitch tension is smooth and consistent through the embroidery and there are no loose stitches.  Parallel stitches have been beautifully worked across the piece, for example the trellis stitches.  Sweeping angle changes flow smoothly throughout the design and the padded satin, block shading and long and short are very effective.  For the most part smooth edges have been achieved but take care especially with the small, narrow sections of satin stitch as these look a little nibbled.  Dense areas of stitching cover the linen and appear smooth, well done.  The gradual shading that has been achieved throughout the piece has been worked very well.  It would however have been nice to see this brought through to other areas such as the Romanian Couching along with the chain stitch and couching in the tree trunk.  For the most part points are sharp and have been well worked, however take care with the green satin stitch leaf to the right hand side of the design as this has ended up a little rounded.  Remember to always make sure that a holding stitch, such as fly stitch or feather stitch is worked over the top of the laid work to ensure the long stitches are held down.  All other stitches have been worked technically correct, well done.

Mounting 36 out of 40

The board has been cut straight and the corners are at 90 degrees.  The rebate around the edges is suitable, however the grain of the linen twill does not follow the edge of the board at the top.  However, you have done well to remove all bubbles, puckers and have kept the fabric taut across the board.  On the reverse the corners are for the most part, neat and flat, just take care to pull the stitches tight so that they are not visible.  The sateen is taut and clean however the corners are a little rounded and the rebate uneven.  The slip stitches are a little inconsistent in length but for the most part are invisible.  The board shows no significant signs of bowing and all the pin pricks have been removed from the edge of the board.  This is a very good first attempt at mounting, well done.

Total 223 out of 245 that equates as 91% (Distinction is above 89% but equated out over all four subjects with the certificate at the end.)

So there you have it.  I think the comments are fair and I don't think any of them are unreasonable so really pleased.  I have already started on the next subject which is silk shading and will keep you posted.

Bloom quilt along, block one...

Here goes...

Block one of the Bloom quilt along is finished.  I machine appliqued the block.  My reason for this is I have my Cinderberry stitches quilt and that one was hand appliqued and embroidered.  My Gail Pan Berries and Bluebirds was hand turned applique so this one needed to be another method for me.  It is not a poor first attempt but I think I prefer the turning method for neatness.

Happy Stitching all :)

Here we are again ...

As a few of you know, I fell last year and made a good job of it with a broken hand and was in a cast for a few weeks.  I also injured my leg and have been waiting ten months in total for physiotherapy as I don't have any feeling in my left leg which makes mobility difficult.

I finally got a call last week to tell me that I had an appointment for physiotherapy today at 1.00 p.m.

After a long day stitching with the RSN yesterday - hubby was back at work today and I have the car, I decided to nip down to see Mum and Dad and take my RSN Crewelwork, when the unimaginable happened.  I fell down the stairs and have managed to fracture my fibula and my foot, it's a mess, I'm a mess and I am just in disbelief.  I'm in a moon boot for eight weeks and lots of painkillers because it's crying pain and my foot and leg are huge.

On the plus side - which I am not really thinking that much on - I can get more sewing done and more blogging.

I got my first block of the Lori Holt Bloom quilt which I will photograph and post about later this week - once the painkillers have been working better than they are.

Take care all and apparently I should have less vodka with breakfast ;)

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year to all my followers, hope it's a good one.

It's not been a good start so far, I am behind at the moment, I did stitch on FNSI which I will post this week sometime.  I am enjoying a rare day off because before Christmas my Dad took ill and we have been doing alot of caring and sharing.

We are hoping that he is on the mend at the moment but have to wait and see what the doctors say so it's a waiting game.

I have just not had chance to get on and see what everyone has been stitching so please bear with me and normal service will resume soon.  I also have an update on my RSN Crewelwork.

For the moment enjoy what is left of the weekend and will see you during the week.

Best wishes to all xx