That smells nice!

There's a fabulous weekend market here in Limerick, the Milk Market. It's much like St. George's Market in Belfast or the English Market in Cork - lots of local and artisan cheesemongers, bakers, chocolatiers, butchers, and other specialty food stalls sitting alongside textile traders selling beautiful buttons, handmade quilts, and bright knitted hats and mittens. Hubby, baby G, and I have made it a bit of a habit to wander down there late on a Saturday morning to pick up lunch and indulge in a bit of people watching in the upstairs seating area. 


While we were there a couple of weeks ago, I bought a big bag of locally grown lavender, with the idea that I'd make a few lavender sachets to freshen up the various closets and chests of drawers in the house. (One of the things I hate about moving into a new rental house is the stale, unfamiliar smell. It's pretty much gone at this stage, but a few lavender sachets are always welcome.)


Typically, I didn't have time to do anything with the lavender until this afternoon, when baby G was taking a nap and hubby very graciously set about some chores. I didn't really have a plan in mind, but I knew I wanted to use scraps from my overflowing scrap bucket. So, I cut one 2.5 inch square to start things off and ended up with a fairly straightforward, if slightly wonky, log cabin block. I trimmed it down to a 4.5 inch square, backed it with a bit of one of my favourite vintage sheets (which you'll recognise from this slouch bag), and stuffed it loosely with lavender. It smells amazing, and it looks almost as nice as it smells (if I do say so myself!). 


Next up: a couple more sachets like this as well as a few with ribbons attached for hanging in closets. I saw some very cute heart-shaped sachets in the market today and want to re-create them. 

xx Tina

Comments

  1. Sew Thrifty Fi9 November 2013 at 21:21

    Love these Tina.. Just love lavender! How r u getting on??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sarah10 November 2013 at 20:38

    Very sweet and such a pretty way to make the house smell more like home!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10 November 2013 at 21:55

    Lovely. I must make some for myself.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fabulous Fabric-y Fun this Saturday

Image
Not quite what you had in mind?! Read on...  Thursdays are prime-time thinking-ahead days for me. Already thoroughly sick of the workweek by about Tuesday, I yearn for Thursdays as a kind of sign that I can now legitimately begin planning my weekend festivities. In that vein, here’s a suggestion for this coming Saturday: the Quilting Exhibition & Open Day at Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) , Belmont Road, Belfast. The brainchild of Judith of Just Jude , the Quilting Exhibition & Open Day is designed to showcase some of the wonderful work the students in Judith’s Rags to Bags sewing classes , which also take place in CFC, have been producing. It’s on from 10am to 3 pm, and entry is free, with complimentary tea and coffee on offer (always a bonus, especially if the weather is anything like it is today!) There’ll also be various stalls selling cakes, fabrics, and crafts as well as loads of information about Judith’s classes and local charity quilting groups...
Read more

Almost there!

Image
Well, after devoting much of my weekend to it, my Double Irish Chains quilt is all but finished. Phew! All I have to do, as you can see from the pic below, is hand sew the binding - the perfect project for those lazy days of my New Hampshire holiday next week. A rare spot of sunshine demanded that I take this photo in the front 'garden'. There were a few miscalculations along the way, as well as a couple of unfortunate fabric mis-cuts due to sheer exhaustion, but eventually, I got there. I briefly contemplated free machine quilting when I'd gotten the quilt sandwich put together, but I quickly ruled that out in respect for my sanity. Instead, I followed the chains themselves, quilting diagonal lines in an unobtrusive cream thread. The effect, I think, is perfect, as the diagonals emphasise and draw attention to the chains while still giving the eye a little something to work with in the large cream-coloured patches of fabric. A glimpse of the back   For the ...
Read more

A Humble Crumble

Image
Although we only have a tiny front garden about the size of our couch, my hubby has managed to cultivate a veritable green grocer's selection of fruit, veg, herbs and flowers. Beware if you ever come to visit .... despite the postage-stamp size (and shape) of the 'garden' - really just a collection of assorted tubs, buckets, pots, and troughs in which nestle, among other things, carrots, leeks, and courgettes - hubby will insist on giving you a full tour. Ooh-ing and aah-ing will be expected, and uninterested parties will be treated with distinct disdain. Even I, more familiar than most with the wonderful fecundity that is our front garden, am treated to  near daily updates of what's going on with the leeks, or the peas, or the strawberries, or.... well, you get the point. Home grown strawberries Not having a green thumb myself, I'm far more interested in harvesting and eating the fruits of hubby's labours (literally). This year, there was a bumper crop of...
Read more