Thirty three materials from my stash

Last week I told you about my current obsession with scrappy quilts and how crazy my next project was and how I planned to sort out the material for it from my stash. I knew that I needed thirty three fat quarters, but as I didn't know what size they were I was none the wiser until I sat down and looked into it further. It seems a fat quarter is a piece of material approximately 18 inches by 22 inches, which was good news for me, as it helped me visualise the amount of material I was after. 

It turns out it also meant finding the material was much more achievable than I thought it might be. As you'll remember I plan to use material I already have, including some from clothes I've cut up rather than buy new material, so it will truly be a scrappy quilt. With my materials chosen I put them together to make sure the tones worked together and no one material, or colour, dominated.

I think it's worked out remarkably well, don't you?

THIRTY THREE MATERIALS CHOSEN FOR MY SCRAPPY QUILT PROJECT

As I looked at the materials together, my geeky-side came to the fore, and I wondered what the balance was on where the fabric originated. I wasn't surprised to learn that a third of these were from earlier donations from my mum. I was surprised to discover I could source the other two-thirds easily!

There's old shirts of both MOH and me, I haven't worn work shirts for many years but couldn't quite get rid of them so cutting them up seemed the next best option. There's old summer dresses, old skirts, part of a duvet cover and material I've bought either in the past or more recently.

With twelve pieces coming from mum, another thirteen are from clothes (and a duvet cover) I've cut up, leaving only eight from material I've bought.  And even that was a while ago; the green fabric at the top of the third column, I bought most probably in the nineties with a plan and a project that never materialised, and the V&A materials were from a trip there shortly after I took a break from working in 2014.

So for completeness, here's where each piece is from, top to bottom, starting in the left column:

1.  An old shirt of MOH's
2. Bought in a scrap bag
3. From mum's stash
4. An old summer dress
5. Bought from the V&A
6. From mum's stash
7. Bought from the V&A
8. From mum's stash
9. Bought online somewhere
10. An old shirt of MOH's
11. An old shirt of mine

12. An old summer dress
13. An old shirt of mine
14. An old skirt of mine
15. A childhood favourite
16. From mum's stash
17. From mum's stash
18. An old shirt of mine
19. From mum's stash
20. Bought from the V&A
21. An old shirt of mine
22. An old top of mine

23. Bought and never used
24. From mum's stash
25. Part of an old duvet cover
26. From mum's stash
27. From mum's stash
28. An old shirt of mine
29. From mum's stash
30. A childhood favourite
31. An old shirt of mine
32. Bought at the V&A
33. Bought at the V&A

Which means, it truly meets my brief of a scrappy quilt. Now for the next stage of actually cutting the thirty squares from each piece I need...

And then the hard work can really start!

A new Loo Series from Les Deux Salons

In between Christmas and New Year we headed into town for a meal out, because well you can never eat too much at Christmas can you?  Not sure how busy it would be we booked a favourite of ours, Les Deux Salons close to Trafalgar Square, to save the aggravation of traipsing around trying to find somewhere with a waiting time of less than an hour.  I don't mind some times waiting, but not when it's cold, and definitely not when I'm hungry, so booking removed the guesswork.

It's a typically French restaurant, with typically French fare, and it's reasonably priced too. But today I'm not telling you about the restaurant, but their loos. They're upstairs and I was pleased I'd remembered to bring my phone, to save the multiple visits that normally happen when I'm not expecting such fancy loos. 

My eyes were taken by the mosaic tiled floor.

JUST LOOK AT THAT REFLECTION ON THE DOOR PLATE

And then I noticed the rest of the Ladies, the copper sinks, chrome accessories, while tiles, large mirrors and marble counters. Quite a statement isn't it?

Once again I found myself with the loos to myself, so what else was I to do?

Now I mentioned the sinks before, but I didn't tell you how beautiful they were. The colours were fantastic and to have the four in a row was just stunning.

Breathtaking even.

So if you find yourselves near Trafalgar Square and fancy a great Steak Frites then pop over to Les Deux Salons, and don't forget to check out the loos in person.  MOH tells me the Gents were "quite fancy" too, he also told me he wouldn't be seen dead taking photos in a loo either!

Could you live with a sink as beautiful as this?

Celebrating January with new wine glasses

If you're taking part in Dry January, then I apologise, this probably isn't the post for you. And while I agree it's a great initiative that raises both money and awareness for the charities involved, and brings personal benefits too, it's not something for me. I'm not saying never, just not now.

Part of that reason is because I find January can often be hard anyway, after the social month that precedes it the stark contrast is often already tricky to deal with. This year though the other reason is I've some stunning new wine glasses, which I couldn't wait to use.

I mean, just look.

HAMBURG RED WINE GLASSES FROM HABITAT

If they look familiar, then you have seen them here before. They were on the table at the Habitat Supper Club I went to in December. And I was impressed with them then; their modern design, which is delicate enough but yet still angular and chunky enough to stand out. That evening I was pretty sure that MOH would like them too, even though for glassware he's more of a traditionalist, liking fine stemmed glassware. But as we've found out - with a few smashes - the glasses that we use most regularly need to be robust for everyday (or every weekend) use.

I bought the red wine glasses and they are big, only just about fitting into our kitchen cupboard. Their capacity is 54cl, which when ordering online meant very little to me. If you're keen on a more modest sized glass then I think the 31cl white wine glasses would be a good alternative.

And contrary to popular opinion, the larger glasses don't encourage us to drink more. I mean, when the bottle's empty, it's empty, isn't it?

You can enjoy 10% off your first order from Habitat

I left the Supper Club with a voucher from Habitat which I used against my purchase of these glasses and and a set of water glasses in the same range (more on those another day). By using the following link you can enjoy 10% off your first order from Habitat , no strings attached.

What will you buy?

* This is a collaborative post, but all views and opinions are my own.