Mini Work in Progress

The work on my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap II often looks a lot like this.



These are some of 96 units which will finish at 1/2 inch by 1-1/2 inch.

There's been lots of cutting and counting and lots of chain piecing. It's an unusual feeling to be making a quilt from matching quilt blocks, cut from the same fabrics. I don't usually work that way. The batik fabrics are creating quite a bit of variation . . . I like the effect and hope the recipient will, too.

This is what my 12 pieced blocks look like . . . from a certain angle ;-)



I'm also considering some of this pretty hand-dyed thread for the quilting . . . but first, I need to get busy with some itty bitty sashing and get the top assembled.



My best laid plans of making a second quilt has temporarily stalled–I'm hoping I love this one enough to motivate me to keep sewing in itty bitty land long enough to complete a second one of these for me. For the moment, I think it's going to take all the focus and concentration I can muster to finish this swap quilt on time.

Eat Your Colors!

Do you eat your colors or . . . is the most colorful thing about your meal the packaging? I'm not sure where I read the phrase "Eat your colors," but I realize that I'm doing it enough these days that my mind has made the connection that colorful equals good.

I was thinking about that when I was making lunch today and snapped a photo of this colorful Thai Carrot Soup, from Natalie Rose's book, The Raw Detox Diet.



It contains carrots (obviously) and ginger, garlic, lemon grass and curry. Before I tried the recipe, I knew I was going to like it.

For four servings of Thai Carrot Soup, you'll need:

15 carrots, cut into 1 to 2-inch slices
32 ounces (1 quart) vegetable broth
2 tablespoons lemon grass
1 small onion, chopped
3 tablespoons curry (or to taste)
3 tablespoons Spike
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 to 3 cloves garlic
Fresh cilantro

Place the carrots, broth, lemon grass and onion into a soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until the carrots are medium-soft (you should be able to pierce with a fork.) Let it cool. Put small batches into your blender and purée. Once it's all puréed, add the curry, Spike, ginger and garlic until it suits your taste. Serve with fresh cilantro.

I will tweak the ginger/garlic ratio next time, but I'll definitely be making this soup again.

The Pause that Inspires?

You are a Comma

You are open minded and extremely optimistic. You enjoy almost all facets of life. You can find the good in almost anything. You keep yourself busy with tons of friends, activities, and interests. You find it hard to turn down an opportunity, even if you are pressed for time. Your friends find you fascinating, charming, and easy to talk to. (But with so many competing interests, your friends do feel like you hardly have time for them.) You excel in: Inspiring people You get along best with: The Question Mark

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This is my check-in for week 6 of Walking in This World.

The theme of this week was Discovering a Sense of Boundaries. One of the tasks was to Recall and Rescue of a project spoiled by indiscriminate input. I immediately thought of this quilt project in progress, how I asked for some input on one aspect early on and opened the door to asking for and receiving the opinions of others and how all that well-meaning collaboration stalled my work on this quilt. Can I rescue this project and complete the quilt? Only time will tell . . . but I'm committed to an attempt.

Morning Pages: 6 of 7 days.

Walk: I had hoped to get closer to the beautiful winter landscape at a nearby golf course, but there was just too much snow. I walked the length of the course along the street.




Artist Date:

I went to a thrift store in search of a quick project. The cold temperatures and frequent snow storms have me thinking hat these days . . . something warm and beautiful. I thought some wool fiber (or a hat that could be remade) would give me a head start on a new hat.

This mens wool sweater caught my eye and only cost two dollars.



Which, after a trip through the washer, looked like this.



The resulting felted sweater is much thicker (and much smaller) than I expected, which required a revision in my design idea . . . I'm now headed in a completely different direction.

The Rest: I have been afraid that our group decision to take a week off will kill my momentum. What an interesting bit of synchronicity to find that the title of the reading for next week is Discovering a Sense of Momentum ;-)

My plan for our extra week is to review some of the tasks I didn't complete in weeks 1-6 and to get a headstart on week 7, since the theme seems to have my name written all over it.

Kitchen Window Meme

Lulu's Bay asked bloggers to share the view from their kitchen window.



The view from the window in the kitchen in my townhouse at this time of year is usually one of snow plows and snow blowers and neighbors scraping ice from the windows of their cars in the parking lot. But, between here and the parking lot, the snow is deep and crisp and quite pretty. It has been so cold that there are ice crystals in the snow that sparkle like diamonds when the sun is shining.

To be honest, my "view" more often looks more like the one below. Yesterday, there were birds singing and hopping in the bushes under the window. Johnny and Grace Hopper heard them, too, and came to investigate and frightened the birds before I could take a photo of them.)



For more kitchen views, check out the list in the side bar of Lulu's Bay. Almost everyone on the list has a much more beautiful view than mine ;-)

Miscellanies

Yes, miscellanies is really a word.

I haven't blogged much of my progress on Amy's Project Runway-inspired challenges, but I have been inspired by her twist on the challenges the designers on the show face each week and got as far as starting projects for most of them . . . until last week when the designers created garments for the WWE Divas.



Even Amy's broad interpretation didn't help. I confess I had nothing and was almost ready to concede defeat with this one. Then . . . inspiration struck at the oddest moment, while I was picking up some produce and miscellaneous other stuff at Walmart. So I headed over to the fabric department and found some animal prints for my project. I was thinking leopard fleece and a cozy warm earflap hat, but I found this pair of faux suedes . . . and probably something a little more refined.

In the lull between the storms yesterday, I also made a post office run and picked up more string squares lotto blocks--these are from Hilda, Laurie and Sandy.



And another birthday block, this one from Deb.

Mmm Mmm Good

This is my new favorite lentil soup recipe.



SPICY LENTIL & TOMATO SOUP

(based on this recipe on allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1 cup lentils
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced roasted tomatoes (mine had garlic in them)
  
• 2 cups veggie broth
  
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup sour cream, for topping (optional)
• 2 sprigs fresh basil leaves for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Lightly brown the onions in the oil.
   
2. Add the tomatoes, pepper, lentils, cumin and basil to the pan along with the broth and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
3. When the lentils have softened, puree half the soup in a blender and return to pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. For a special touch, put sour cream in a squirt bottle, and squeeze a spiral onto the top of each bowl of soup, and garnish with a sprig of fresh basil.

It's thick and spicy, warming and filling. I failed at making the sour cream spiral, but it tasted good, anyway and was a nice cool, creamy counterpoint to the soup.

48 Down, 96 To Go

Here are the first 48 units for my quilt for Doll Quilt Swap II.



The photo is only a bit smaller than actual size; each one will finish at 1-1/2 inches square. The next set of 96 units will be even smaller. What was I thinking?

Hearts & Sparks

It was probably because I had recently made these sweet 6-inch heart blocks for the February block lotto. (The pattern is here.)





Yesterday in a forum discussion on quilting.about.com, about what someone might make from a stack of 6-inch squares, people starting talking about the Disappearing 9-Patch and Christine suggested including 6-inch quilt blocks into the mix. The idea sparked for me. I immediately thought of the heart blocks.

I woke up thinking about the idea. I had to try it. But first I had to make more heart blocks.




As soon as the blocks were made, the rest was easy peasy.



Step-by-step photos and directions blogged here.

Until Christine mentioned it, I had never considered the D9P as a setting. She sparked all kinds of ideas for me now. But first I think I'll do some floral stash busting and make a colorful little hearts & flowers quilt that I know a little girl will love.

Disappearing 9-Patch

When Christine mentioned using pieced blocks in the Disappearing 9-Patch pattern on the Quilting Forum, I thought it was brilliant. I immediately thought of the 6 inch patchwork heart blocks we're making this month for the block lotto and what a great setting this could be for them.

I had to try it . . . and then, I liked the results so much I had to share.

1. Start with 4 pieced blocks. (If you like these hearts, you'll find the pattern here.)




2. Add 5 squares of fabric the same size as the pieced blocks and make a 9-Patch with the pieced blocks in the corners. If your blocks have a right-side-up AND you want all the blocks to be right-side-up in the finished quilt, start with two of them, in diagonally opposite corners, upside down.



3. Press your 9-patch block, then cut into 4 equal quarters.



4. Rotate the two upside down blocks (or any opposite corners if they are non-directional) and sew the 4-patch together.



5. All done!

Thinking About Personal Territory

This is my check-in for Week 5 of Walking in This World. The theme was Discovering a Sense of Personal Territory. Although this passage refers to artists, I think that it's interesting food for thought for everyone, whether you see yourself as an artist or not.

As artists, we must be alert to what people ask us for and reward us for being. Our partners and friends do condition us in behaviors quite unconsciously. We must be alert to what they reward us for with their thanks and reciprocity. These things condition us and they also are the conditions in which our art will or will not.

It is interesting how much we can learn about our relationships with others by just paying attention.

Artist Date: Mother nature foiled my planned artist date this week; going forward, I need a foul weather back-up plan.

Walk: I bundled up and walked around the downtown of a small town near me, in search of a bakery and paczki–a Fat Tuesday treat in the Polish tradition. (I forgot my camera, this photo courtesy of Sheri's blog, Northern Quilter.)

Morning Pages: Every day ;-)

The Rest: I dragged my feet this week, in denial of ways some people in my life have invaded my personal territory.

Our WiTW study group has decided to add an extra week into our weekly adventure. Our goal is to be collectively ready to begin Week 7 on February 22.

A Good Mail Day

I went to the post office yesterday (between snow storms) and picked up this beautiful birthday block from Kate:



After working on some 1.5-inch squares for my quilt for the Doll Quilt swap, this 14 inch block looks huge to me.

Also in the mail were the first 16 of the 40 January lotto blocks I won–these are from Cindi, Juli, Kate, Nell and Rhonda.



These are 6.5 inch string squares. (Directions for making them are here.)

Making Minis . . . and Some Hints for the Doll Quilt Swappers

Lately, I've been thinking small . . . and I'm not just talking about Walking in This Word and baby steps.

I'm signed up for Ginger's Doll Quilt Swap 2 on the quilting forum. The fabrics on the left will likely turn up in the quilt I make for the swap.

I say "likely" because I keep changing my mind about fabrics AND design. Last night, my bedtime reading was The Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns.

I woke up with a brainstorm . . . and feel like I should get busy before I change my mind again . . . especially since some of the swappers have already mailed their quilts (they're due in March).

When I joined the swap, I was kind of hoping to be able to use these itty bitty Bricks and Cobblestones blocks that I made a few months ago. I decided they didn't feel like what my swap partner wanted, so eventually they will probably become a doll quilt for me. The Cobblestones (squares) will finish at 1-1/2 inches.



The pattern for the full size Bricks and Cobblestones is here.

Another mini-in-the-making at my house is this incredible 10 inch block that I won last Spring at the Blue Ridge Quiltfest. Ellena made it and I've been a little afraid to do anything with it for fear of spoiling it.



Perhaps I need to take some baby steps on this project soon?

Bargello Madness

I finished piecing my Scrappy Bargello. It's 64 x 90 inches.



The pattern is a great, quick (even if I didn't finish on Sunday) easier-than-it looks pattern. I am a little surprised that the very diverse fabrics I used worked as well as they did.

Miniature Quilts

Small and Miniature quilts

Peni shared photos of some of her miniature quilts with the Doll Quilt Swap group on the quilting forum on about.com. Peni is a very talented quilter and, like her large quilts, these minis are just too wonderful not to share.

What's Your Recipe?

The Recipe For sophie

3 parts Style 2 parts Mischief 1 part Rebellion Splash of Fascination Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong!

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

Stashbusting with Bonnie and Brenda Leigh

The top isn't done yet . . . but I made a lot of progress on Bonnie's Scrappy Bargello today–you can see her great big finished top here. I spent a good part of the day sewing 2.5 inch strips into panels and stopped just before the interesting part begins.

During the mind-numbing sewing, I tuned in to The Closer marathon and watched as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson sovled crime after crime after crime.

Does it count as stash-busting, even if the quilt isn't yet finished? The five panels I sewed today contain a little under 5 yards of fabric. An even better benefit to me was that while I pulled fabric for those 200 plus strips, I organized and folded a little less than half my stash. I'm hoping organization is contagious and I will continue to be motivated to finish organizing and folding soon.

Re-discovering a Sense of Adventure

It's time for my check-in for Week 4 of Walking in the World–it feels good to feel back on track with this. The theme for this week was Discovering a Sense of Adventure; in some ways, I feel that I am RE-discovering it and continue to both look backward and forward, designing a life that brings back the best of what was while continuing to grow in new directions.

Artist Date: I headed to the City Market this week, to explore and have lunch. I'd never been before, probably because I live close to a great produce store/nursery (home of last week's artist's date). I expected some version of the great North Market in Columbus–my favorite place to go for lunch at the NQA show last summer.



Instead it was small, dark and deserted. I didn't have my camera with me, but I'm not sure there was a shot that wouldn't have been depressing. While I picked up a nice lunch, I left feeling it was an unsatisfying artist date . . . so I went from there to an art supply store and bought my artist some toys: a small sketchbook, new charcoal pencils, a kneaded eraser and some watercolor crayons.

Walk: I'm so glad I made time for the walk on Tuesday. As predicted the weather turned very ugly that night and after two days of bitter cold and windy days, we're now being covered in snow.

Morning Pages: 6 of 7 days. Since various kinds of lists keep appearing in my morning pages, I bought a bunch of blank index cards and keep a couple tucked into my journal to use for those lists of things to buy, things to do, people to call, etc.

The Rest: I notice that when I think in terms of taking baby steps, I make more progress because I'm not overwhelmed by the big changes I want to make. Even the small sketchbook makes the idea of drawing a lot more approachable. I don't have the sketching habit yet, but I managed a handful of sketches this week and really had fun.