Fall works in progress…

I made a lot of things last month, partly to keep busy, but mostly to challenge myself and see what I can really do when I set my mind to it- kind of a dry run for a work week. It was fun, very satisfying, but really hard, too, and just like when I used to have a job outside my home, I got sick. Sigh- some things never change, do they? While I spend this week taking it easy (ha! there’s still a house to run- the dinner doesn’t make itself people! Hmm…wonder what those Faeries are up to…) here’s a peek at what I’ve been up to:

This photo actually shows three current projects, with another three symbolized, if not actually shown. I made that white skirt up from some lovely medium-weight linen I had gotten for a bag idea, but I like it as a skirt better. So much so that I’m making another two in the other pieces of linen I got for two other bag ideas I had…hmm, I sense a trend in this train of thought…

The quilt block is my new Alchemy project which I started in May. I got sidetracked this summer, so it’s sat patiently in the project shelf, inspiring me every time I look at it. My first Log Cabin, it’s all Pinks, Browns, Lavenders and Greens. Very yummy. Still some math to do before I decide how to “set” it, but the blocks themselves are coming along nicely. It was meant to be a Fall quilt so I’ve got my fingers crossed it’ll get finished in time for the really cold weather that is surely still to come…sometime.

There is a new “hipster” bag in the works up there in the photo also, a new “Minnie-the-Mouse” style for our newly annual trip to Disneyland next month. The first one went together in record time, but the second draft stalled out when I got to the flap stage, so it’s on the drafting table again for a pattern redo.

That huge basket of yarn is getting sorted regularly as I try to find the courage to start my first “real” knitting project. We’ll have to see how that goes, I keep finding other things to knit first before I start. ahem.

And interestingly enough, I am starting to begin poking at the Pixie Workshop- some ideas are sprouting already, which is just as well as I think I’m going to have to ship some things to far-away this time around. There’s an image I want to mess around with for holiday cards, too, so we’ll see how that goes as well… Unless those Faeries use up all my drawing paper making paper airplanes!!! Get outta that drawer you guys!

A New Chapter

It's been feeling like I've turned the page recently, and started a new chapter in my life. Some things which never really made sense are now clear; old hurts- don’t hurt as much anymore; old ways of thinking are suddenly replaced with new, healthier ones. I woke up one day and found that I have become a Quilter:
     

This is Ray’s Four-Square Quilt…I made it yesterday. No, it’s not a full size quilt, more of a lap quilt, and no it doesn't have it’s label yet, but it will get done this weekend. It was more important to finish it in time for Dad’s birthday party (which admittedly was a week early, but hey- who cares when it’s a party?!) So I went and picked out some blue flannel fabric Wednesday evening, cut it out Thursday morning, pieced it Thursday mid-morning, and sewed it all together Thursday afternoon. Whew! And suddenly there was a quilt on my work table, where just 7 hours before there had only been a few strips of cloth.
May is turning into the month of quilts- I’ve started my next one already, not counting dad’s. This one is all pretty pinks, greens and lavenders in a Log Cabin pattern- I’m calling it the Alchemy Quilt because combining all the different colours and patterns makes me feel like a medieval Alchemyst:

Combining all these different components to make a brand new…thing is rather awe inspiring in a way. It’s like that in my cooking, too. All my recipes are different now- Diabetes is changing my life in so many different ways it’s hard to keep up with it all. Next week I’ll be reworking my Menu Planning Binder, and working on a couple of recipe ideas all my research has inspired. Today’s Grand Experiment is Hummus (the Garbanzo Beans are soaked and cooked and ready to blitz) and Black Bean Burgers (cakes? patties? fritters? not sure what to call them- other than good! But the recipe needs tweaking- it’s stability is a bit…lacking shall we say?) so it’s off to the kitchen for now.
Funny how one person’s drudgery is another’s bliss…

Poof! Like magic…

Et voila- instant quilt!

Well…not quite. It’s taken two years, almost to the day. I got the idea for this quilt when we found this apartment in the Spring of 2011 (time certainly has flown!). May 7th, 2011 we were driving down the road, taking pictures of our prospective new neighborhood and dreaming of our “new” life. The walls and trim of this place inspired me to create a yellow, blue and white quilt- something pretty and light for the coming summer. Well, I gathered a few blue fabrics that summer, but time got away from me as I put together our new house, and next thing I knew it was Summer 2012. A double rotator-cuff injury was making it impossible to finish cutting out the rest of my fabric, much less finish sewing it all together.

  The first cut!

 

 

 

 

Big mistake sending them all through the washing machine- they just snarled all up, causing hours of cutting them apart!

 

 

 

 

This is the first round of piecing- turned out I needed way more fabric than this!

 

 

 

The first block- it’s a nine patch block quilt.

 

 

 

 

The top sewn together- it was at this point that I realized I would have to put a border around it to make it big enough for our bed…

 

 

 

Oh the difference a year makes- from April 2012 (above) to March 2013---->

 

 

 

I was able to gradually piece the top together over the last year, surprisingly. I don’t remember a moment when it became a quilt, per say- but I’m glad I found the time and perseverance to keep working on it. Tasha certainly has helped- whether forcing me to keep it out in the open because no one dared move her from its warm folds, or finding time to work on it in spare moments so she could “visit” with it (my life is spent in providing for the care and comfort of my kitty- isn’t everyone’s?). She just loves it whenever I make a new quilt- she considers them all her private property, running to claim them when they come out of the linen closets in the winter!

I’ve already picked out the pattern and colorway for my next quilt- making these is a bit addictive! This one is going much faster- maybe because I actually know what I'm doing this time around? I’ve done lots more research into quilting, since I started the Watercolour in general, but also just in the last few months. It’s funny how much more enjoyable and easy things are, once you get a few under your belt…

It’s a beautiful Spring morning here in the land of Magick. Let’s get started enjoying it, shall we?

And now for something completely different…

Ah, the joys of crafting.

Um… I’m in the middle of a project that is quite, well-

Overwhelming, to say the least. This is the Watercolours Quilt that I started a year and eight months ago. Seriously- what is taking me so long? Well, it’s getting finished this week. I am hand tying it, which partly explains why it’s taking so long. And also why posting has slowed down. Just in case you can’t tell just how much fabric is in there:

I have a loong ways to go, but I’ve already started picking out fabrics for my next one! Glutton for punishment? Or just plain crazy? No- just finally figuring out the right way to make a quilt (and it’s not been the way I’ve been doing it, silly me. Wish I’d read more books before I’d started this one! Or at least made it smaller…)

Do we have time for a quick list? I think so- here’s what this March has looked like so far:

• Hiking in Mission Trails Park- beautiful scenery, only a few sunburns.
• LOTS of handsewing of the quilting and finishing of garments variety.
• Our lovely pink scheme in the garden is working out just beautifully.
• Some new veggie recipes- leeks, zucchini, asparagus and champ (love! where has this been all my life?!)
• A little house shaking up as well- lots of closets turned out and reorganized, piles taken to the thrift store, new shelves built, furniture moved around. It’s been wonderful to get a new energy flow going around here…

Lovely March- Spring came early to our corner of the world. Lots of sunny days, light breezes, and a few rain-and-hail storms thrown in for good measure. I’ll be back next week with more updates from the Workshop!

Wash Day at the Quilt Show…

The quilt show was so much fun this year! It’s always nice when you get to share your interest with likeminded people, isn’t it? And for one whole day, Temecula turns its Main Street into a quilty goodness Festival, chock full of people who just love quilts! It’s over, sadly- but through the wonders of time travel and photography, I can take you there with me! Want to go? C’mon, the portal is just over this way:

As we turn into the parking lot at the end of Main Street, I can already sense the excitement in the air! This is a beautiful part of the city, with all its wood and brick buildings evoking the Wild, Wild West. Then we turn that first corner and see all the people! And all the quilts! They really are hung everywhere, all around outside on every building:

That’s “The Coop”, a really nice quilt store that is full of wonderful fabrics, quilt samples, patterns and books. I just love how the entire building is swathed in quilts- on the outside and on the inside! An interesting thing about this quilt show is that it lasts for only one day- that way the quilts don’t sit outside in the wet, nor do they get damp from the morning dew. But it’s fun to imagine it’s wash-day in the early 1800’s, and the whole town has hung their quilts out to dry in the early October morning sun. Okay, okay, yes- I’m in the middle of rereading the “Little House” series- how did you know?

One thing I didn’t know about before this year was that they also have a great Farmers Market every Saturday full of good things to eat, crafts and jewelry stalls, organic foods and even a few garden plants for sale. Oh! I am wishing I had gotten some of the small lavender plants that were out- they were so yummy looking! My hummingbirds could use a few more of those now that winter is on the way.

Hmm…all those quilts up there are giving me some ideas. Where’s that rotary cutter gotten to …

October!

Gosh I love this time of year!The pumpkin patches are finally up, Pumpkins and squash are heaped in piles in the market, the leaves are spinning down, the earth goes to bed earlier, and everyone longs for a weekend in the mountains…
No baking yet this week- it’s been too hot to turn the oven on! Lots of crafting though:

Finished Tasha’s new Morris Pillow this morning- it’s made from the leftovers of the Shower Curtain I made a few weeks back. After piecing together strips and blocks I put some iron-on interfacing to the back, both to plump it up and also to enhance it’s quilty-ness. Then I put a regular old bed pillow in and sewed it up. Perfect! It goes quite nicely with the new Fall themed dishes I picked up early last month, too…
I also finally- finally!- perfected my new Pixie Pouches pattern! I’ll have pictures to post of that later this week, but basically it’s my knitted bag recipe. I started the process last Fall, believe it or not…
The only other thing I have going at the moment is a pretty major Job Search- time to get these oars back into the water and find some regular work! And no, I’m not giving up on The Dream- it’s just time to realize certain paths didn’t pan out, and time to get back on the Road…

I made this!

I should make this a regular series- things I made this week! It seems this was a very productive week. Getting the shopping done on Thursdays has been working out great- there’s food in the house for the weekend, I can get all my food prep done on Friday (and not waste the weekend with kitchen chores!) and I have lots of yummy things to eat for lunch all week long (so I have more time to sew, since it’s all made and ready to heat up!)

So, things I made this week- first up is a new Fall shower curtain!

It’s made up of a few different Morris inspired fabrics (love them! See the blue border? It’s my favorite), a little leftover green linen (that has been finding its way into everything lately! I keep thinking it’s the end of the piece, only to find still more in my scrap basket!) and a lovely green print I’ve had for a while. Great big 10'” squares pieced together, no backing- lots of ironing and hemming tho. And just a nice straightforward turned cuff hem at the top with the curtain rod threaded through. It’s shorter than I had planned because of that, but it works fine  so I am happy with it.  I am turning the scraps into a new fall pillow/blanky/bed for Tasha, because she asked for one:

Please mama, can I have this?

 

 

 

 

So of course, I had to whip something up for her that very instant! It’s done and just waiting for a pillow insert. I am very pleased with how it came out, too. I pieced the scraps together and put some fusible interfacing on them to make them even more poofy (technical term there, poofy) them sewed them up into a pillow case form. Insert pillow, finish the seam and voila! Instant kitty bed! Or couch pillow, which is what it will turn into when she gets bored of it in three weeks, which is the usual around here. But hey- I made two things this week! Yaay me!

Now if I can just find a pillow form to fit this…

The World’s Biggest Meatloaf

Did I ever show you this?

I don’t think I did. This is the quilt I made for the new baby in the family. A nice, simple, basic, old-fashioned Winnie-ther-Pooh print, and some soft cotton flannel. Yummy and soft. Easy-Peasy to make, and done in a flash. Well, okay- it took me two weeks to make, but that’s because I took my time and broke it up into steps. And the binding gave me some trouble, so I had to rip out the stitches and do it again. ahem.

Now I need one. No, seriously- this is the best thing I’ve ever made, and I want one in my size, pronto. Except it’s summer, and 80 degrees in the shade, and I am running the air conditioner just to bake a meatloaf for dinner tonight. Ack!

Meatloaf you say? Yes, I did. Want to know how to make one? Here’s how:

2 packages of ground beef- this can also be made with ground turkey, it’s yummy either way. I bought a 1.75 lb and an 1.80 lb package. We are making enough meatloaf for two weeks- it’s part of the Summer Plan. You’ll see how later on.

1 large onion, minced.

4 medium carrots, minced.

2 large stalks of celery, minced.

2 packages sliced white mushrooms, minced.

I washed, peeled, sliced and chopped all these as appropriate to it’s condition, then threw them into the food processor and blitzed them a few times, then dumped it all together into the biggest bowl I could find. And yes, I washed my mushrooms- they were dirty! Let them sit over the sink in a colander, and they don’t get mushy.

4 slices of bread- including the heel, and the crusts. I like the crust! It adds color, and tastes good. Blitz them too into fine crumbs, add a quarter of a cup of milk and stir until all the crumbs are good and soaked, then add them to the bowl of vegetables.

Now, stir everything together well, divide into two equal parts and put them into two separate bowls. We’re working with a lot of meat, and it’ll be too big to fit into one bowl- plus, it’ll be easier to combine.

To each bowl of vegetable/bread mixture add two beaten eggs, a quarter of a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, a teaspoon of steak and chop spice mix, and a half a teaspoon of dried thyme. Add a package of ground beef to each bowl, and mix thoroughly. I like to take off my rings, wash my hands, and just get in there! It will be really wet at first, but just mix everything together well, then shape it into a ball.

Now grab a cutting board and lay out your foil onto it- about double the length of the board should do it. Turn the meat out onto this and shape it a long rectangle, about two inches thick. You want a big long shape, to take advantage of the amount of meatloaf mix, but not too high or it will crack and cook unevenly. Wrap the extra foil over the top and seal all the edges. Leave the whole thing on the cutting board, set the two packages side by side, and place the whole kit-and-caboodle in the freezer. Voila! Dinner in the freezer.

So, what do you do with two gigantic meatloaves? Well, first off it will take almost two hours to cook them, so plan accordingly. I start them at 45 minutes, then start basting them with the pan juices (make sure you give them a half a cup of water in the pan to get those lovely juices going, too). My first one was done in about an hour and a half. I like to cook them off in the cool of the morning, then slice off servings and pan fry them in the evening. Served with mashed potatoes and orange glazed carrots, that’s your basic meat-and-potatoes-meal. Next, I fry slices in a pan and serve them in sub rolls with cheese melted over the top and drenched in marinara sauce for meatball subs. Then, I use some slices for spaghetti and meatballs. Ohh, I’m getting hungry! And that’s three meals from one recipe!

Now, I paid about 12 dollars for two packages of meat this Sunday. Yikes! But- that made enough meatloaf for 6-7 meals for two people! That’s about a dollar a meal. And that’s pretty good for the first week of summer, I’d say! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meatloaf sandwich to put together for my lunch…

Friday musing

From this:

to this:

Yaay! The Watercolour quilt top is finished. I am taking my time working up a backing for it, and I might even assemble it differently than I had first intended. It’s more of a warm weather quilt, after all. So, I am thinking just a nice, thin layer of flannel for the batting on this one. A little light in-the-ditch quilting. We’ll see. Right now I am finishing an easy-breezy Lavender skirt for running around in this weekend. A-line, zipper-and-button closure, quilt binding style waistband, and a turned hem. Beautiful! And just in time for Spring and Summer picnics, movies, farmers markets, and who knows what else…

Friday Musings

Work with- and where- what you have!

The counter in the bathroom just happens to be the perfect height for cutting fabric. This jumbled mess is for my new Watercolour quilt. . .