PATCHWORK QUILT.

As part of my "twenty-five before twenty-five" list I have actually made a quilt! I've been a bit stop and start with this little project but I got there in the end. 

If you look too closely the stitches are visible, the squares are a bit wonky and it is far from perfect but hey, it's actually a real quilt. Pretty proud of myself for making something useful that I'll keep for a long time. Also certain squares are from fabric given to be by family and friends like an old dress of my Granny's, which makes it extra special.

xx

TWENTY FIVE BEFORE TWENTY FIVE.

Happy New Year! 
WOW. 2014 is here.

Last New Year's Day we were discussing resolutions as a family over lunch and I decided to make twenty five goals to achieve before turning twenty five. These are all things that I want to try/make/do anyway but I do well with deadlines and I knew a list would help me commit. Quite a few have been ticked off already but I now have just over a year and a half to finish the list. I actually mentioned this in one of my first posts but below is the full list (well done if you make it all the way through!).

one. Start a blog

two. Visit America

three. Graduate

four. Take more photos using my camera rather than my phone

five. Have a dinner party

six. Take up ballet again

seven. Travel around Europe

eight. Make a quilt

nine. See Taylor swift with my sisters

ten. Read 25 books* I've made specific lists below if you're interested

eleven. Watch 25 films* 

twelve. Knit a scarf

thirteen. Write a poem

fourteen. Learn how to play a song on the piano

fifteen. Learn how I play the guitar

sixteen. Have a herb garden

seventeen. Get a pet

eighteen. Run a mile without stopping

nineteen. Make a video

twenty. See a play

twenty one. Relearn my GCSE French

twenty two. Drink a whole cup of English tea

twenty three. Learn all the countries and capital cities in Europe and where they are

twenty four. Learn a letter from the bible off by heart
twenty five. Visit the Harry Potter studio tour

BOOKS

The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R.Tolkien
Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
1984, George Orwell
The Catcher and the Rye, J. D. Salinger
The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Pilgrims Progress, John Bunyan
On the Road, Jack Kerouac
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding, 
The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
Animal Farm, George Orwell
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Goldem
The Princess Bride, William Goldman
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Bleak House, Charles Dickens
The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, Mark Twain
Ghostwritten, David Mitchell
Saturday, Ian McEwan

FILMS
The Graduate
The Godfather
Pulp Fiction
Schindler’s List
Casacblanca
Saving Private Ryan
Cinema Paradiso
Braveheart
The Big Lebowski 
Trainspotting
A River Runs Through It
Roman Holiday
Psycho
6th Sense
Manhattan
Midnight in Paris
The Descendants
Silver Linings Playbook
Liberal Arts
Untouchable
Delicacy
Paris, Texas
The Shop Around the Corner
The Guardian
Top Hat

* These are slightly random selections. I have tried to include both books and films that I wouldn't necessarily read or watch but that always seem to be on must-read/see lists and ones that I have been meaning to get round to but just never have. 

THE FINAL PIE.

I did it. Twelve pies. Twelve months. A whole lot of pastry.Yes it has sometimes been difficult to squeeze in time to bake especially when chilling pastry, blind baking and other essential "pie-stages" take their time BUT I have really enjoyed giving myself a little project and trying something different. It has been fun. Cooking from scratch is something that seems normal to me. My mum always has and I have such happy memories from throughout my childhood of helping her out in the kitchen. I still enjoying helping her out whenever I'm home. I love that baking reminds me of her and it's really fun even if it doesn't always go perfectly. Which is never really has. Getting to eat pie at the end has always made it worth it.

I snapped a few photos of the process this time.

YUM. 

Project pie is officially complete.

Find the recipe here.
Check out the other pies I have made over the past year.

PROJECT PIE

I was given a sweet little recipe book for Christmas 2012 but never had a reason to make a pie. I love baking but always tend to go for cakes. To correct this I asked for a pie-dish for my birthday nearly a year ago and set out to make one pie a month. August is the last month so in the next week or so I will be making the final one! It's been fun to bake something I wouldn't normally try and on the whole it has been a success. (Each one has tasted good at least).

SEPTEMBER/ apple and blackberry
OCTOBER/ chocolate cream
NOVEMBER/ pecan
DECEMBER/ pumpkin
JANUARY/ peanut butter and chocolate chip
FEBRUARY/ key lime 
MARCH/ marshmallow and chocolate cream pie
APRIL/  caramel cream pie
MAY/apple pie
JUNE/ coffee and walnut pie
JULY/ blacksmith pie
AUGUST/ I'll get back to you...


Originally documented on Instagram.