The cutest darn fabric I ever did see

I can't even put into words how much I love this fabric. I found it entirely by chance in my local crafty emporium. It was tucked away at the top of a mountain of fabric bolts stacked almost to the ceiling and when I took it to the till, the staff ooh-ed and aah-ed over it as if they didn't even know it existed.

How cute is it? There are eight adorable little children and each one has a selection of outfits and accessories.  It's by Bluehill Fabrics and is called Aunt Lindy's Paper Dolls.  I had to buy just over 60cm of fabric to get the entire pattern repeat so each 'frame' is a little under 30cm.

I probably should have ironed it before taking pictures, but I was too excited and impatient to share it.

I think I'm going to use it to make a set of cushions, probably by mounting each 'framed' print onto a piece of cotton.  If anyone has any other suggestions on ways to use it, I'd love to hear them!

Jenny

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Crochet bunting

My little niece, Sophie, is shortly moving into a new bedroom so I've offered to decorate it.  I've been getting ideas from Pinterest and have started making a few bits and pieces ahead of painting the room in a couple of weeks.

The first thing I made was this crochet bunting.  I absolutely LOVE how it came out and I think I might have to make some for my own room now in few different colours.

You can find the pattern I used for the motifs here.  It's been modified from an original pattern published in 1893.  I used a 3.5mm hook to keep the flowers tight and neat instead of the 4mm hook the cotton yarn called for.

 

I strung the flowers together using a simple crochet chain.  I was going to crochet over/around the chain with single crochet to strengthen it but I don't think I really need to.  

It's a really simple pattern so would be brilliant for a crochet beginner tired of scarves and granny squares!  The motifs work up really quickly so it's a great project for a weekend. 

Jenny

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Betty's Birthday Embroidery

My Gran (Betty) turned 92 the other day and I wanted to give her something handmade alongside the other gifts I'd bought her.  I usually give her jewellery I've made especially for her but as her jewellery box is overflowing these days, I thought I'd give her a little embroidery this time. 

This was a super-quick job, with the stitching completed in an evening and then the petals filled in with watered-down acrylic paint the next morning as I was in a rush to finish it!  I'd love to do something similar but with the petals entirely stitched...although I have just found two forgotten and half-finished embroideries in a cupboard, plus I've just started working on a new one tonight so that might be a while off...

My Mum, Gran and niece

Anyway, most importantly, the birthday girl loved it and had a great lunch at her favourite restaurant, surrounded by family, delicious food and copious amounts of wine!  

Jenny

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Miss Beatrix's Buttons

I just had to write a quick post about the lovely handmade and hand-painted buttons I received the other day from my talented friend Anna. She makes the sweetest little buttons and as she takes custom orders, I asked if she could make me some bluefinches. Even though I'd seen a picture of them before they were sent, I still did a little "eeeeeep!" when opening the envelope!  

A family of Bluefinch buttons

Anna makes the buttons from polymer clay and then paints the intricate designs on by hand.  The attention to detail is just amazing and each button is a little work of art. (Excuse the photos - they were taken on my phone as I'm supposed to be working, oops.)

Mr Bluefinch Button

Ms Bluefinch Button

Baby Bluefinch Button!

The teeny little buttons feature my shop's logo.  I am planning on making some gloves or wristwarmers and stitching these onto the wrists.  As for the larger ones, I don't have any plans for them yet but I'm absolutely in love with them!

You can visit Anna's adorable etsy shop here: Miss Beatrix Shop .  

Jenny

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Vegan Suppers - Goulash and Dumplings

With snow on the ground and sub-zero temperatures outside, British winters call for warming, tasty,  filling, nutrient-packed dinners and this Goulash ticks all those boxes.  It's  also ridiculously cheap and easy to cook.

Traditional Hungarian Goulash definitely is NOT vegetarian and as much of the flavour and richness of the dish comes from the slow-cooked meat, it mightn't seem an obvious candidate for conversion to a veggie dish.  I've been cooking this recipe for years though and even a committed carnivore like my dad can't fault it. In fact, it's also one of my boyfriend's favourite meals and this is a man whose other favourites are corned-beef hash and steak and kidney pie!

I sometimes serve it without the dumplings but it's soooo much better with them.  You can add a bit of grated cheese to the dumpling mixture if desired but they're just as tasty (and remain vegan) without. 

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Vegetarian Goulash and Dumplings

Serves 4

For the goulash:

2 tbsp mild olive or sunflower oil

2 onions, roughly sliced

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into chunky slices

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

400g potatoes, peeled and cut into one-inch cubes

3/4 pint vegetable stock

1 tsp caraway seeds

1tsp smoked paprika

salt and pepper to season

For the dumplings :

75g self-raising flour

50g vegetarian suet (I use Atora Light)

2 tbsp finely chopped herbs such as chives or oregano (fresh is best but dried is fine too, just use a bit less)

generous pinch of salt

4tbsp water

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions.  Cook over a low heat for 5-10 minutes until starting to soften.

2. Add the garlic, carrots and caraway seeds and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Add the potatoes and paprika, stirring well.  Cook for one minute then add the tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

4.To make the dumplings, sift the flour into a bowl and mix in the suet, herbs and salt. Add the water, 1tbsp at a time, mixing until you have a soft, dough-like mixture.  Make 8 dumplings, either by hand, or by using two spoons to shape them.  

5.Stir the goulash thoroughly then place the dumplings gently into the pan and cover. Simmer gently for 15 minutes or until dumplings have roughly doubled in size.

Serve in bowls, seasoning with salt and black pepper if required, and enjoy :-)

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Jenny
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Heart to Heart

I just wanted to share a little preview of the new necklaces I've been working on for the past few days.  I can't wait to have them in the shop!

They are going to be available in gold or silver and can be personalised with any two letters. I also have some single hearts coming but I think these little double hearts are my favourite so far.

There will be a giveaway to celebrate the new designs so make sure you're following @_bluefinch_ on Twitter to be kept up to date!

Jenny

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Crochet Jar Cover Candle Holders

I'm not really a candle kind of gal.  I own a few of them but I rarely light them.  I'm not sure why...possibly because if they're really nice ones received as gifts, I don't want to light them and use them all up, and because if they're not really nice ones....well, there doesn't seem much point in lighting them in the first place.

I am a fan of the humble tealight, however, so when I saw a whole load of crochet-covered-jar-tealight-holders on Pinterest, I thought 'Hey, there's a quick and easy little crochet project for me'.

This little jar only took me an hour or so (or two and a half episodes of Friends on Comedy Central, to be precise.  With it being so cold lately, I'm spending lots of time in the living room in front of the TV as it's nice and warm in there.  I've started measuring my time in TV shows.).  The entire thing is worked in single crochet, double crochet and treble crochet with a few rows worked into the back-loops only for texture. 

I can't wait to make up a few more and have a pretty arrangement of sizes, shapes and colours.  Unfortunately, I don't seem to eat a lot of food which comes in jars so I might have to wait a while to add to my collection or start collecting empty jam jars from friends like the boy from Stig of the Dump (remember that?) who used them to build Stig a window.  I think I'm going to do one with little cut-out heart motifs in it next time, wouldn't that be cute?

 Jenny

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