A Different Kind of Craft

I made a little batch of Strawberry and Rhubarb butter today, I love the combination of flavours and it's a beautiful colour.

Here's the beginning, doesn't it look pretty, the recipe came from Yummly, it was in cups as it's American but the quanitities can be easily adapted, you just have to work out the ratios, I worked on 1lb of each fruit and
1/4lb of vanilla sugar, the recipe asks for a vanilla pod but I keep a jar of sugar with a vanilla pod in it so I used that. I also added a squirt of lemon juice and a sprig of mint, don't know if it made any difference to the flavour as I haven't made it before.

Here's the finished butter in it's saucepan

I like it quite sharp so I didn't add any extra sugar, but the recipe says you can add up to 1/3 more if you like it sweeter. I think the strawberries add enough sweetness to the rhubarb without any extra.

Here's the jar of finished butter, I suspect it might be a little soft, but it will taste wonderful.

I also replaced a ceiling rose in my spare bedroom today, very scary but I made sure the power was off and double checked the wiring order about 10 times, definitely had my fingers crossed when I switched the power back on, it worked! I'm quite amazed at what I can do now I have to.

The finished bag

Here it is, with no time to spare! My entry in the Hillary's Blinds  Country Crafts Competition

The bag is finished I have a couple of the intermediate steps to show first.

The earlier steps are in a couple of other posts.

The lining with a little pocket stitched in place, I've attached some stiffening material to the gussets of the lining. This is a tip for people who, like me, don't plan very well, stitch the stiffening in before you join the gussets to the front and back of the lining, stitching it in afterwards was not quite impossible!

Here's the lining showing the stiffening tacked in

I've put a little beading onto the largest flower on the bag's flap so here's a closeup of it.

The bag has a magnetic fastener, these are really useful and very easy to fit, I've put a double layer of stiffener behind the section fixed to the bag itself to give extra support.

The bag with the lining stitched in place

A view inside the bag to show the pocket.

After a lot of hand stitching and top stitching here's the final thing with a little flourish on the handle, this was inspired by watching a programme about the royal ballet, I wanted to suggest a tutu. I cut out one of the largest poppies and backed it 4 layers of red chiffon, recycled from the wrapping around a box of chocolates I was given for Christmas one year. (Never throw anything away!)

 I'm really pleased with it, I sort of knew what I was going to make as soon as I chose the fabric, I'm glad it worked, lots of work and a few mistakes, very difficult to un-pick such a loose woven fabric but I had to do it several times!

Very enjoyable to do and a lovely fabric, thanks Hillary's