I have been avoiding this because I know we spent too much on groceries during the period I tracked but I reckon it’s time I actually finished off my month for on this blog.

But first! Here is the finished quilt top. Now I just have to figure out how to sew the whole thing together. The back is the same as the border here (red, blue and pink pinstripes on white). Someone reminded me after I bought the fabric that that won’t stay white for long if it actually is used as a baby quilt, but oh well. It’s really quite warm, we tested it on our laps!

So on to the painful bit! At least I know the figure to beat. So what am I going to do about it? Well we’re keeping the Abel & Cole – we just really like it and we’re eating loads more fruit and veg. So that is about £100/month. After that I think we just need to plan ahead more and stock up on basics and things like chicken breasts during sales. I’m thinking of starting a price book too. I haven’t been tracking since this ended but I’m going to try to pick it up again properly in October.

Total: £204.69

15th September – £20.72 – Abel & Cole delivery
14th September – nothing!
13th September – nothing!
12th September – £5.50 on stuff for massive curry
11th September – nothing!
10th September – nothing!
9th September – nothing!
8th September – £3.97 – Abel & Cole delivery (you get your fourth box free)
7th September – nothing!
6th September – £3 for three boxes of cereal
4th September – £4.37 for pizza toppings
3rd September – nothing!
2nd September – £3.36 for two boxes of cereal
1st September – £26.25 for Abel & Cole delivery – fruit and veg, milk and eggs, plus pork mince for burgers (plenty will be frozen for another time) and more bread flour
31st August – £6.29 for massive block of parmesan (went on last night’s courgettes and pasta)
30th August – £4.25 for goats cheese (half off! to go on beetroot salad and baguettes) and £.89 for the baguette
29th August – nothing!
28th August – nothing!
27th August – nothing!
26th August – nothing!
25th August – £23.73 for Abel & Cole delivery, which included salmon and mussels (but we had a £10 off voucher)
24th August – £3.20 lunch stuff
23rd August – £28 misc lunch and dinner stuff (E didn’t save his receipts so this is an estimate)
22nd August – £5.20 baking stuff for chocolate chip cookies
21st August – £37.24 (guessing again here, as I also lost my receipt. argh!) mainly on fajitas stuff and also rye flour which we will someday use to make sourdough starter
20th August – nothing!
19th August – nothing!
18th August – £20.13 Abel & Cole order – fruit and veg, milk, eggs and bread
17th August – £5 on 2 x 500g steak mince, £1.50 on 2 x 750g tomato sauce
16th August – £1.80 on stirfry stuff for dinner, £.98 on cereal
15th August – nothing!

I’ve been wanting to try quilting ever since my friend A showed me hers. She also told me about Anna Maria Horner. If you haven’t heard of Anna Maria and have a weakness for fabric, I’m warning you, don’t click this link! Anna Maria makes gorgeous fabrics and has a gorgeous family and a gorgeous life. She’s even been on Martha Stewart, for the love. It’s hard to find her fabrics here so I ordered an outrageous amount via the interwebs.

Today I took a beginner’s quilting class at Tikki, a cute patchwork shop in Kew. My Anna Maria fabrics seemed to be stuck in customs (curses!) but I discovered Tilda at Tikki and chose some some really pretty fabrics from her range. Ultimately my plan is to make a quilt for DSD’s room but in this course we worked on a cot size quilt to get the hang of things.

Here is a quick snap of my quilt top which is nearly finished. It is meant to be sort of random. (getting that look took some effort though!) The class was great but I’m worried that this was the easy part – assembling the quilt and finishing it seems a bit more daunting.

When I got home from my quilting class, I got another sewing project: making outfits for DSD’s collection of go go hamsters.

Despite this being a fidgity project, I’m actually quite pleased with the results. Fluffy is wearing the trimmed off bit of an Ikea curtain and Stinker and Winky are wearing my old jeans. Yes, Stinker has a collar so he can show off his fauxhawk.

Stay tuned for more on the quilting project!

Yay! HobbyCraft is having a back to study sale. Art projects just waiting to happen!

	Winsor and Newton Thames Radial Beechwood Easel SAVE £100 Was £162 Now £62		Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylic Paint 4 Pack of 250ml SAVE OVER 40% RRP £35 Now £19.95		HobbyCraft Single Box Canvas Various sizes HALF PRICE Was from £4.69 Now from £2.34

	HobbyCraft Pack of 12 White Nylon Flat Brushes HALF PRICE Was £9.99 Now £4.99		Letraset 12 Pack of Aqua Markers with FREE Blender SAVE 25% RRP £16.99 Now £12.74		HobbyCraft Storage Caddy with fold out trays HALF PRICE Was £12.49 Now £6.24

	Uni-ball Super Selection 10 Piece Pen Set SAVE £10 Was £14.99 Now £4.99		Derwent Academy Sketching Pod with 9 Pencils and Accessories HALF PRICE Was £7.49 Now £3.74		Folio A3 Lightweight Portfolio SAVE £1.95 Was £7.79 Now £5.84

Well I’m finally working on it again. I started this scarf/hat/gloves(?) project around the end of last winter and I’m just now making real traction! E doesn’t believe it will happen but I’m promising to finish everything before it gets really cold!

I suppose I got distracted when I started sewing again, but either way I’m back in the knitting game and excited about this project. Here is E modeling the scarf in its partial state. Halfway there, wouldn’t you say??

Nesquik is running a brilliant promotion at the moment. All you have to do is send in a picture of your child’s artwork and they will post you a Crayola art pack. I can’t tell you exactly what is in the pack but it looks pretty good in the photo below!

The “best” entries will be featured in a gallery on the site (I have a teensy issue with “best” here because when it comes to childrens’ art, well, who is to say what’s best…) and each month a professional designer will also pick a winner for the grand prize. This month you could win entry to the National Space Centre for a family of four plus £225 towards travel and spending money.

You can submit your entry here. That is Beth from Derby’s entry from the gallery in the main above. Well done, Beth!

After what seems like forever, and loads of anxiety over lining up polka dots, the summer dress is finished!

To be honest it needs a bit of finishing but I don’t know exactly how to do that on my machine. I was thinking of sewing ribbons over all of the rough edges. Anyone know what the best thing to do is?

As cute as this is, the best part was how much fun we had making it (except when I nearly had my fingers sewed together!)

Here is the front:

And this is the back:

I’m incredibly proud of how well we lined everything up, especially around the zipper:

My last post on the dress is here, if you’re interested!

Yay for knitting! And yay for HobbyCraft putting their knitting range online. There are some great deals to be found on the site plus you don’t pay shipping on orders over £30.

This lovely wooly Patons Fairytale Colour 4 Me Mixed plus loads of other colours in the range are on sale for under £3 per ball.

You can also stock up on adorable patterns like this Sirdar Snuggly Snowflake Chunky.

GREAT news for anyone who likes to do crafty things like I do! I just discovered HobbyCraft is having a summer clearance event and there are loads of great deals. Plus you’ll get free shipping if you spend over £30. Click here to start shopping!

Keep reading for some of the best offers.

Yay!!

HobbyCraft Craft Scissors – 8 inch Only £1.84 (was £3.69)				Sirdar Juicy DK 50g Yarn Only £1.79 (was £3.59)
HobbyCraft 50 Pack of Pastel Fab Foam Sheets Only £3.49 (was £6.99)				Derwent Academy 24 Colour Pencils Only £4.99 (was £9.99)
Reeves Acrylic Painting Set for Dummies Only £14.99 (was £29.99)				HobbyCraft A4 Paper Cutter Only £18.99 (was £33.99)

I’m sewing again! I invested in a nice machine and have been busying myself hemming jeans and converting our eyelet curtains into track ones. I’m trying to keep a running total of how much I’ve saved in DIY to justify the cost.

Now I’m trying something challenging – dress making! It is a slow-going process because, really, there just aren’t enough hours in the day. When I was younger my mum made me take a sewing course because she thought it was a useful skill for everyone to have. I agree with her now but at the time I’ll admit it felt a bit mortifying! But because of that course and her help, I used to kind of know what I was doing. Now I’m far less confident and I keep having to google things to remember the way to do things.

But we’re making progress. I took the picture below of my pattern-pinning:

And this is the top half. I worked really hard to make sure it was symmetrical!

To take a break from the tricky stuff, we used the extra fabric to make a bag that required no pattern! Very proud of making this from scratch, even though it was pretty simple:

I love the way the fancy stitches on the new sewing machine make even quick projects look really good!

By all accounts the weather in London was spectacular this week…up until last night’s rainstorm. Given the unpredictability of English weather in general I thought I’d keep us safe by writing up another art project post!

This time round, we’re doing seaside-inspired “sand” art. You’ll need plenty of table salt, powder paints or chalk, paper or plastic disposable cups, clean and dry glass jars and some ice lolly sticks or stirrers (a few extra lifted from Starbucks will do).

1. Line up about half a dozen cups and pour a good portion of salt in each cup.

2. Add a different colour of paint powder to each cup – or scrape a stick of chalk with a knife. Mix well.

3. Fill your jar with one colour at a time by pouring carefully or spooning in.

4. Use sticks to push the salt into patterns as you layer and/or tilt the jar as you pour in the salt.

5. Fill to the tip top to prevent the salt shaking around in the jar and put the lid on tightly.

Optional: paint the jar lid and decorate with stickers.

Yay! Colourful, summery sand art!