Asparagus & The Cost of Groceries, and the Current Quilt

 FOOD

I'm currently at the beginning of a couple months where I will pick asparagus every day.

This week I've made:

GREEN CURRY CHICKEN WITH ASPARAGUS  DH and I don't find it hot, but if you're not used to cooking with a curry paste you may have a different experience.

ASPARAGUS & CHEDDAR QUICHE (this freezes quite nicely, and I use a homemade pie crust).

I have to admit to being SHOCKED when I saw this...

Holy Mackerel!  $7.99???  I had to employ my mental coping technique of adding an imaginary question mark.  

Apparently this will "mentally" put you back in control, at which point you can say "um, nope" and walk away without causing any embarrassment to yourself.

QUILTING

If you follow me on either Instagram or Facebook you may have seen my last few posts about working on this quilt.  The top was pieced by my program partner in the Binbrook Quilters' Guild.  She used this as the sample while she ran the Block of the Month program for the guild, so there will be several of these quilts completed by the members over the next little while (quilt pattern by Phoebe Moon Designs, with permission granted to us to run as a b.o.m.).  LINK.  

The guild is paying for all the materials, I'm donating the quilting, then the guild will donate the completed quilt to Glanbrook Community Services who will use it as part of their ongoing fundraising campaign. 

The last several days have found me working on computer designs to do the remaining quilting - the s.i.d. is pretty much complete, although I may do a bit more as I progress.  This is design version number...4?  It has taken an inordinate amount of time to figure out something here that made me happy.  There is a LOT of negative space on this quilt which will show off some beautiful designs, but I need to control that so it doesn't get too crazy/busy.  

I don't want it "quilted to death"  because that makes quilts pretty stiff.  This design should give me lots of quilting, but still leave the quilt with a nice drape. That inner white star that appears in the background is such a weird shape that it's been giving me fits. 

That's a terrible pic, I know, if you're trying to actually SEE what the quilting design looks like.  Sorry about that.  Anyhow... my basic plan was to stick to:

• straight lines
• feathers
• curls

Feathers are a little tricky sometimes because they're quilted in many different shapes, which can look (to me) like different shapes.  And that's what I'm trying to avoid... too many different things going on will ruin the cohesion holding the designs together.  The sashing design of pumpkin seed & line doesn't fit into my "plan", but it IS the same shape you see in the block pattern, so I'm calling that OK because it's repeating the same shape as something that's already there.  I may yet change the mid-size border design (curls & pearls) to something more... feather-ey.  I'll probably quilt other areas and leave that empty while I think on it.

BLOG POSTING

Why have I been gone since the end of December?  I dunno.  Had nothing to say?  Winter doldrums?  My brother being a stupid asshat and continuing to criticize me for no good reason, which put me in a crabby mood for months?  Sadly, yeah, I'm going with the brother theory.  He's my only remaining immediate family, and probably 50% of our conversations devolve into him giving me shit for something, or insulting either me or DH.  So once again I have had to put him on "ignore" status for the sake of my mental health.  If you have siblings who love and respect you I sure hope you appreciate how lucky you are.  Sigh.

 

I CAN'T leave this post with a tone of misery.  Here's one that makes me laugh at myself.  And that helps. 😄

Focus Print Quilts, Medallion Quilt, & Gardening

These are the BEST quickie type of quilt.  Choose some gorgeous fabrics and add a border or two.

They make lovely lap quilts, sofa throws, bed coverlets, or tablecloths.

 I studied this one at great length.  I've never made a medallion quilt even though I've been quilting for 25 years.

It looks pretty straightforward, with large piecing.  I'm definitely giving this a go...

Gardening...I've been eating fresh kale, that lived over the winter.  The crazy thing is, it showed up all by itself last year - I didn't plant it.  Sometimes it pays to be a messy gardener, deciding in November that "to heck with it - it can stay there and die a lonely death under the snow & ice".  I guess it had already gone to seed, and then came back to haunt poor DH. 😆

And I've been picking asparagus for over a week.  Yum!!  Don't laugh...yes it take a few days to collect enough for a proper serving at this time of year.  In June I will probably be begging people to take some.

The problem with leaving blog posts so long in between is that I forget what the heck has been going on. 

• I took a six week writing class which was really (!) good.  Instructor was Deborah Kimmett.   I've been (trying) to write a bit every day, but you know... facebook.  
• On nice days I try and get out in the garden because I'm a fair weather gardener.  
• Hubby had a birthday so I baked a chocolate cake for him.  I got the icing out of the freezer, and checked if he was around to see that the label on it was 2017.  SUCCESS!  I did not poison us!  Ha ha, marital duplicity. LINK to the recipe - Martha Stewart Chocolate Frosting.  This makes enough for TWO double layer cakes, hence a batch that stays in the freezer for, um, a while.  Honestly, I really HAVE to put this in the freezer or I would eat the whole batch.  It's not super sweet, and the dairy makes it sooo creamy - mmm.
• Speaking of the freezer, we're having frozen, uh, stuff for dinner tonight.  He's getting the frozen leftover spaghetti, and I'm getting the frozen ??? that looks like either chili or stew.  Maybe Chili Chili Bang Bang from the Looneyspoons cookbook?  It appears to be vegetarian, but I'm not quite sure...