An Equal Opportunity Sewist

Second “practice” quit, while certainly not perfect, is so much improved that I will be able to take it to the county health department where there is a need.  I purchased this book recently which includes a series of “lessons” that walk you through some of the patterns for all over quilting.  I’m finding it very helpful.

Written by a local quilter

Last week, some of the quilt bloggers were doing a “Meet My Machine.”  I decided to keep a count of the machines that were mentioned.  Some sewists used more than one but I did not count any that were mentioned as collectibles and I did not count single purpose machines such as quilters or sergers.

3 Babylocks; Crescendo, Elizabeth and Elure+

16 Berninas; Sport 801, Sport 802, 125 Activa, 1580, 153QE (2), 440QE (5), 750QE, 780, 1230, 350PE and Virutoso

1 Brother Pacesetter

4 Elnas; Explore 340, no model name(2), 7300

2 Husquvarna Mega Quilter, Husquvarna-Viking

6 Janomes;  4120QDC, TXL607, 1600PQC, Horizon 7700QCP, DC2011, no model name

3 Juki; TL2010Q (2), TL98Q

1 Kenmore 385

4 Pfaff; 1548, Quilt Expressions 4.0, no name, CV

5 Singers; Quantum Stylist, 201K, Featherweight (2), 301

1 Viking Sapphire

I included my Bernina and my Featherweight but not my Bablylock Tiara as it is a quilter only.

Sweet Potatoes with Spinach

26 degrees this morning, bleh.

The original recipe is here at Pinch of Yum.  It was then adapted by barefeetinthekitchen.  I have not really changed the Barefeet version except to downsize it and I left off the cheese.  Cheese and sweet potatoes don't seem to go together but maybe someday I'll give it a try.

Sweet Potatoes with Spinach
½  lb sweet potatoes

½  tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 handful baby spinach leaves

1 tablespoons sour cream
kosher salt, to taste
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Scrub, poke and bake sweet potatoes at 350 degrees until fork tender, 45-60 minutes depending on size.

When the potatoes are done, remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes, slice them in half and remove the skins.  Smash with a potato masher.  Add the sour cream, salt and pepper. stir to combine.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter and add the garlic. When the garlic is fragrant, after about a minute, add the spinach. Toss with tongs to coat the leaves thoroughly and continue tossing as the spinach wilts.  When spinach is cooked and tender, add it and any remaining butter in the pan to the potato mixture. Stir well to combine and serve.

This is amazingly good.  I will be having this often, probably tomorrow!  Tonight I had it with a baked pork chop with apple and onions, also very good.

Done

Blue Rose

The last of the donation quilts for Wasatch Elementary  This one is about 68x78.  It's very windy out today and a little hard to get a flat picture.  There are three rows folded over the top of the line.

I really like how this quilt turned out and I only bought the solid dark blue fabric.  I had the lighter blue rose fabric and the batik I used on the back.  7 yards of fabric used altogether.  Score!!

I wonder if anyone will see the roses in the lighter print on the front.  The batik on the back coordinates amazingly well.

Thanks to Sheila for donating her time to quilt it on her long arm.  Such a good friend!

A Great Set Up

Quilt is 70"x80"

Because of the outside light, I had to wash this photo out a bit.  I finish the binding by hand sewing it  on the back side.  I put the front side of the binding on with the machine.  Using the ironing board this way lets me adjust it to a perfect height to alleviate shoulder pain and when I get tired of sitting on the wooden stool, I can stand for a while.

This arrangement also keeps the dogs away from the quilt.  That's a very good thing as this is a donation quilt.  Plus, I can look out into the backyard and watch the greening taking place. YAY!

W.O.T.D.

Floordrobe:  A form of storage for clothing which requires no hangers, drawers, doors or effort.

Bowls for Humanity

Bowls on my calendar, pretty funny.

The Food and Care Coalition posted this on their website:

"Bowls for Humanity, an event which features locally made pottery, artwork, and soup, is typically the largest fundraiser hosted each year by the Food and Care Coalition.  In previous years, up to 1,000 members of the community have been in attendance."

The last time I went was probably four years ago because it was downtown in the Covey Center and their new facility was either not started or still under construction.  Working evenings kept me from it for the next few years so I was determined to get there this year.  I watched the clock all afternoon so I could be there when the doors opened and find the perfect bowl,.

The event started at 5:30 and I decided to leave early and stop at Staples on my way.  I needed a new tape for the p-Touch and Staples was on the right side of the road.  Well you know how that goes, once in a store I fall into browsing mode and then I had to wait for help, etc.  It was 5:40 when I left and it was just a couple of blocks to the Coalition and as soon as I turned on to the street I could see they had orange vested and flagged  Crossing Guards and Parking Attendants.  Wow.  The lot was almost full.

16 tables of bowls were outside under tents.  Almost 1800 donated bowls!!   High school and college students as well as professionals contribute the bowls.  Bowls ranged in price from $5 to $20 with most in the ten dollar range and a few really amazing bowls in a silent auction.  Soup and bread were included with the bowl.

It was pretty much of a mob scene of happy, chatting people and a long line of people paying for their bowls.  Turned out to be no line inside for those of us paying with cash.  Ha!  I was looking for a wee bowl and found it right away and then found another I liked too.  You could have your bowl washed and then filled with soup but I passed on the soup since I had soup at home to eat but the soups they had simmering smelled mighty good.

Yes, the small bowl is a little crooked.

Each of these bowls was less than $10

It's probably a better idea to be collecting bowls rather than chairs.  I looked around with a critical eye the other day and decided I have four too many chairs in this small house.  Four, fps.

Ok, I'll put it away.

 

But really, can you blame me when you look at this darling little Santa baby!  This is the little tree that usually sits on the table next to the window and reading chair.  Last year brought new counters, cabinets and most exciting a new outlet, so that's where I set up the wee tree and with all the grey, very cold winter days I had it plugged in all the time.  Quite cheerful!

My friend Helga crocheted the outfit.  The baby is 6 inches and the mittens and boots are only an inch big!  It just makes me smile.

It might get to 70 degrees today so I guess I can put it away.

Craftsy

Do you know it?  It's a craft community with classes and dialog.  They offer quite a few free classes, free patterns etc.  It's not just sewing, there's all kinds of stuff you can learn.

Yesterday, I learned that an equals sign (=) with a tilde (⁓) over it stands for approximately.  At least that's what the knitting teacher said when she wrote it on the white board.

First time I have used the word tilde this year.  You?

I Heart Spinach

There are only three vegetables that I really like frozen, corn, peas and spinach.  (Which is why I recently threw out a bag of frozen mixed vegetables with a best by date of 2009.)  Buying spinach in a 1 pound bag rather than the solid 10-oz. block works the best for me.  I like to add it to scrambled eggs and to rice as well as soups and casseroles.  Tonight I tried this recipe and it will be "in the rotation" as it was fast, easy and very, very good.

The original recipe came from this here and this is my version:

Tortellini Skillet – adapted from  Hungry Harps

1 teaspoon olive oil

6 oz chicken sausage (2 Italian Parmesan bun sized sausages)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pint home grown tomatoes (or a 14 oz. can)

8 oz frozen spinach, defrosted

½  cup chicken broth

1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning

8 oz. tortellini, fresh or frozen

 Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat, remove sausage from casings and add to pan with the  garlic. Break up sausage and cook until it starts turning golden brown.

 Add tomatoes, spinach, chicken broth and Italian seasoning to skillet. Stir well.

 Add tortellini, stir well and bring ingredients to boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until tortellini is cooked. 

 3 servings  (Leftover tortellini get really soft and mushy so for optimum enjoyment, it would behoove you to add only as many tortellini as you will eat in one sitting.)

A Big Find

The sorting here really never ends and today I found what I knew was here somewhere....U.S.  postage stamps!

I guess the safe place for them was the envelope from the post office but the envelope itself was tucked in a small miscellaneous box of stuff.

Seventy one Liberty Bell Forever Stamps, eight assorted 41¢ stamps, one 4¢ stamp and seven flag stamps which are not marked but are also 41¢ stamps.  Those were the ones in the envelope and I also currently have at my fingertips, fourteen holiday Forever Stamps, five 26¢ stamps and two 37¢ Ogdan Nash stamps.  I know there are other stamps floating around the house.

If I can keep track of these stamps, I am pretty sure I will never need to buy stamps again.

Or perhaps I should just be sending more mail.

Never Ending Excitement

 

Now that the temperature is above freezing at night, I am filling the outside water dish.  The boys find this so thrilling that they only drink from the inside water bowl at night and request to go outside during the day.  By requesting I mean that Jack carries around a shoe until I ask him if he needs to go out and Dylan just lays his head on my chest and stares at me until I telepathically get the message.

Really, it's the same water silly boys!

5 lbs of Carrots and a New Toy

 

Maybe not a toy but certainly not a necessity as I do have a blender.  A blender is kind of a pain to clean and kind of a pain to store.  The stick blender, or immersion blender, is easy to store and easy to clean.  It is one more thing with a cord though.  Perhaps I can get rid of the blender.  Please speak up if you think that would be unwise.

I've been wanting to make the Smitten Kitchen's Carrot with Miso Soup since I saw it on her website in January.  This recipe was actually from a year ago and she made a different version this January.   This is my version:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds carrots, peeled, sliced and divided

½ pound sweet potato, peeled and sliced the same size as the carrots

1 large onion, chopped

4 regular sized cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

1 ½ tablespoons chopped or grated ginger, or more

4 cups of chicken broth

1 (15-oz) can of vegetable broth

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon of unseasoned miso paste

Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat.   Add onion, garlic and half the carrots; sauté until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add chicken broth and ginger.  Cover and simmer until carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.

In a small, covered saucepan, simmer remaining half of the carrots in the vegetable broth.

Purée soup in batches in a blender or all at once with an immersion blender right in the pot.   (I under blend mine so there are some noticeable carrot pieces.) Blend the miso and about half a cup of the soup in a small bowl then stir back into the pot.  Remove carrots from small saucepan with a slotted spoon, then add vegetable broth until soup is desired consistency.   

Taste soup, adding salt and pepper or more miso to taste.

Note:  I added the sweet potato because I only had a pound and a half of carrots when I made the soup.  I decided I wanted more carrot chunks and a broth-ier soup so I ran to the store this morning to get more carrots and a can of vegetable broth since that's what the original recipe called for.

I love this soup.  One of the best I have ever made and it seems like there is cream in it although there isn't.  In fact there is almost no fat in it either. 

Miso I used (Korean) from Asian food store.  $2.19

On the Needles 3/2/13

As usual, a day late in posting this but it's coming along!  In class on Thursday, Elizabeth gently reminded me that I should be knitting at home not just in class.  Pitifully, I have been knitting at home but just not enough.

The bottom edge is 23 inches and the sides are 10 inches.  I don't think the bottom edge really is the bottom edge.  The part in the middle is not the neck opening, at least I don't think so.  All part of the surprise.

Practicing, Practicing, Practicing

I had done some practicing on smaller pieces, 12x18 and thought it was time to try a larger piece.  This quilt is 36x36.  Jan and I took a class in 2001..  She was making a queen sized quilt for her daughter who was getting married.  I was planning on a full size which is about 80x90.

This is what I had pieced together.  There are more blocks made and more fabric left to make more blocks but really it was at the beginning of my serious quilt making craziness and not many of those pinwheels meet at the center.  I thought it would make a good practice piece and it did.  I learned about moving the quilt around on the table and also how the machine and the operator have to deal with those lumpy pinwheel centers where so many seams meet occasionally.  Top and bottom tension adjustments are a learning curve as well.

So while not something I will even bother to bind and put in the DI box, it was a good piece to practice on.  The extra blocks I callously just tossed.  Now I will go back to 12x18 pieces and practice some more.

I never think to take a stained glass picture until after it is too late  It's a fun effect.

a new blankie for Dylan