Sunday, July 28, 2019

Kaffe Fasset Chevrons, the Annual Zucchini Report, Recipe

I love bright quilts.  It must be the inner child in me.  And lord knows, enough people have told me to "grow up" over the years.  Not sure that will ever happen...

**Note - this is a Kaffe pattern, not necessarily Kaffe fabrics.
The simplicity of the design really makes the bright fabrics pop.

S.I.D. and simple motifs.

What a lovely view on the back.

So... after last week's post a friend of mine made reference to me losing my title as Zucchini Queen.  Dammit.  I picked this little guy - it's about the size of my thumb.  I HAD to get my numbers (or number, I guess) on record.  It went in a pasta dish.
LAZY PASTA RECIPE - serves 2 with some leftovers

  • 2 cups of rotini.  Cook as per package directions.
  • drain (but do not rinse) the cooked pasta and return it to the pot, OFF the heat.
While the pasta is cooking:
  • 4 cups of assorted chopped/sliced veggies, lightly sauteed to whatever level of tenderness you prefer.  I used onion, zucchini (see above 😄), broccoli, celery, sweet pepper, pea pods.  I basically cleaned out the crisper.
  • 2 sausages that had been barbequed a few days earlier were thin-sliced and added to the veggies.  You can use pretty much any kind of meat you have cooked and waiting to be either et or pitched.
  • 1/4 cup of pesto - add this to the cooked rotini, then add the veggies/meat.
  • combine everything in the pot and leave it covered, off the heat, for a few minutes.


**I made a ton of pesto last year and froze it in 1/4 cup portions.  I still have a few containers left and will be making another batch for the freezer soon.


This is my evening view when I sit ruminating over the loss of my zucchini crown.  So.Sad.

ZUCCHINI REPORT 2019
Picked this week: 1
Picked YTD:        1

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Rosewood Quilt & Garden update

Just like with children, you're not supposed to have a favorite.  But I can't help having a few favorite customers.
This is ROSEWOOD, by Moda.  So pretty.

As usual, when I do "custom" quilting there is a ton of stitch-in-the-ditch.

When the s.i.d. is complete I go back and put in the motifs.

This quilt got lots of feathers.

GARDEN UPDATE & THE NO-ZUCCHINI REPORT

Well, this is really embarrassing.  Downright humiliating.  I have a buddy who lives on Manitoulin Island and she has picked her first zucchini.  Me?  I got nothin'.  There is no excuse for that - it's plenty hot (!) with a 44 c. humidex, and there's been plenty of rain - we had another huge t-storm last night.  I guess my plants just need a good talking-to.
In other more respectable news, I have quit picking asparagus.  I will let it just grow for the rest of the summer so it'll be nice and lush next year.  The peas are still producing, although they don't really love the heat, so unless it cools down a bit they might give up the ghost.
The garlic is ready to be dug, as far as I can tell.  I had a couple of heads that rotted, but they were volunteers, not my "real" crop.  Hopefully the real ones are ok.
The raspberries have started to produce.  Yay, Snoopy dance!  Normally I manage to freeze enough to get me through my yogurt-&-fruit lunches until late winter.
I picked my first cabbage this week.  I used one half for a coleslaw and shared the other half with a friend.  A whole head is just too darned much.
It has been so stinking hot & humid this week that no weeding has taken place, and my flower beds are really starting to look like it.  It's cooled down a bit today so maybe I'll get out there later.  I spent a few evenings in the veggie beds putting down my red-neck mulch of newspapers & grass clippings (this year, those clippings have been mixed with chicken manure from the down-the-road farmer).  That mulch ends up being a real life saver when it comes to weeding.  Yes, it takes a lot of sweaty work in the beginning but over the course of the summer it definitely pays off.

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Blue Stripes For Summer & Some Cooking

I've got a really interesting customer who designs her own quilts.  Medallion quilts are a challenge at the best of times, so I was VERY impressed by this one.

The quilting was kept simple (by that I mean visually, not technically - anyone who's done stitch-in-the-ditch on a longarm will understand what I'm saying).

Oh, I just LOVE pieced backs.

You can see most of the quilting designs in this pic.

OK, here's my "brag" shot.  That clematis was so gorgeous this year.  Likely because of the cool and rainy spring.  People didn't like that, but the perennials were sure happy.

My beautiful peonies, too!

SOME COOKING

I've had asparagus coming out my ying yang, and I'm still picking - not as much as in June but enough for a side dish once or twice a week.  Peas are getting added to the mix now too.  Yum.

  • Easiest asparagus cooking ever:  peel those stringy stalks, then chop into two inch-ish pieces.  Throw them in an olive-oiled saute pan with some chopped garlic and chopped ginger.  Cook for 5 - 10 minutes, depending on how soft you want the veggies.  One minute before you're done, add one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of sesame oil.  That one minute will melt the honey and blend the sesame oil.  Done.
STRAWBERRIES:
This is a delicious cake.  Because I make my own yogurt and I save the whey, I use whey as a substitute for the buttermilk.  Found on  Sweet Cayenne .  When the raspberries start producing I will try this recipe with raspberries, too.


Strawberry Buttermilk Cake from Back in the Day Bakery

This Strawberry Buttermilk Cake recipe is an easy cake you can whip up in no time on a nice spring day. It's perfect to make when you're expecting last minute company to enjoy with a cup of coffee! Adapted from the Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl and Griffith Day
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time1 hr
Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • ½ cup buttermilk I used lowfat
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 pound strawberries hulled and halved
  • Optional: confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and make sure you have a rack in the center. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9-inch deep dish pie pan. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if you plan to use a hand mixer), cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed. This should take 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla, mixing until just blended, about 1 minute.
  • Gradually add the flour to the butter mixer with the mixer on low speed until just combined.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold in any flour residue into the batter.
  • Add the batter to your prepared pie pan and use the rubber spatula to smooth out the top. Tap the pan firmly on the counter to remove any air bubbles and ensure the batter is evenly distributed. Arrange the strawberries on top of the batter, cut side down, into a design of your choice.
  • Bake the cake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees F and bake for 45-55 minutes more until the cake is set, the edges are golden, and a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack.
  • Dust the cake in the pan with powdered sugar before serving. You can slice it straight out of the pie pan.
  • Store the cake in a airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. It’s wonderful chilled or warmed!

OK, I'm going back out to the garden to weed now.  Still.  Again.  Whatever...

Monday, July 1, 2019

Happy Canada Day, and Quilt Canada

This is a great quilt to feature today, don't you think?  I feel so blessed to live in this great country.
Pantograph "Oh Canada".

Quilt Canada was held in Ottawa this year.  I had to grit my teeth to sign up for that - back many years ago when I was on the road with Royal Bank, everything "bad" that ever happened to me took place in Ottawa.  I accidently set a cash dispenser on fire, a childhood friend I bumped into stood me up for dinner, I was left stranded by a co-worker, etc, etc, etc.  But, you know, BEACH GIRLS, so I had to go.

THIS trip, my cell phone developed a bug that I still haven't managed to get rid of (must call Samsung...), and my credit card was declined at the Keg - even though it worked everywhere else.  Considering that I was there for the better part of five days I guess that's not so bad.

I took an Improv Piecing class with Krista Hennebury, which was a fun day.  Eventually I will set these bits into a quilt.

Here was breakfast one morning.  I loved the juxtaposition of the Froot Loops with the "healthy" breakfast.  That just made me laugh. 😄

This is the quilt that Diane had entered in the show.

Yes, those are all teeny-tiny little 9-patches.

Well, she was a big winner.  This is the ribbon for Excellence in Piecing.  Later in the week she found out she ALSO won Viewer's Choice.  Wow - big congratulations!!!

This was my favorite quilt from the show.  It evoked the fun times I always enjoy on my road trips with the girls.

A bit of a closeup.

This was the jaw-dropper for me.
One of the blocks.

Besides my improv class, I attended the lecture by David Taylor.  Hah, the guy is hilarious.  And he's very scornful of both fusible applique and raw-edge applique.  If you check out his his web site you will see why - all of his work is hand applique and it is INCREDIBLE. 

Another lecture was by Andrea Tsang-Jackson where she talked about the immigrant quilt and her summer as artist-in-residence.  She had the quilt with her and it was really something to see.

I was part of Laura Coia's Sew Very Easy Youtube Live show.  And when I say "part of" I mean that I paid money to be in the audience. 😉 This included a pattern and a bit of swag.

The free lecture by E-Quilter was very interesting too.  She presented a slide show from international quilt shows. 
Also this, in case you are working on any entries:

It was a great week, and now it's back to the grind.  Well, if you can call quilting a grind???