Sister's Choice Quilts

Full on Decorating

Thanksgiving was lovely. My daughter and her husband came with a smoked turkey and we feasted all afternoon. It was just the four of us, so I'm telling you, even after splitting the leftovers, we are not going to have to actually cook anything for days and days.

We got our main tree up before Thanksgiving and have been adding little vignettes and other decorations ever since. Honestly, it has been non-stop.  I cannot believe how much stuff we have collected over the years. I swear, I only put half of it out, and it's still a lot.

So much cooking, so much decorating, so much time on my feet. I am beat, I tell you. Hopefully, we will be able to get back to our homeschool schedule, at least for the first two weeks of December. I am looking forward to sneaking upstairs to my sewing room when the school day is over and doing a bit of stitching.

Hope you all had a lovely long weekend and a Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving friends. I hope you are all feeling as thankful and blessed as I am. Even though we may not be together this year, I am so grateful for my wonderful family.

Butternut Squash Soup

I am trying to replicate my son in law's recipe for Butternut Squash Soup. Which is the most delicious soup on the planet. Of course, he doesn't have a recipe. Basically, he told me to roast a halved butternut squash in the oven at 400 until it is soft. First, brush it liberally with butter and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Saute one chopped onion, one chopped apple, and some garlic in a Dutch oven. Add some broth to deglaze the pan. Add the cooked squash that you have scooped out of the skin. Salt, pepper. Add the rest of a carton of broth. Cook a half hour or so. Add a cup of half and half. Use an immersion blender and puree until smooth.  Then, add the secret ingredient.

Any sort of maple syrup will do, it just has to be the real thing. None of that Mrs. Butterworths or Log Cabin stuff. I don't even have an amount to tell you. I probably put in a couple of tablespoons. It gives the soup the most amazing flavor. You sure wouldn't know you were eating a vegetable, and that's fine with me.

Isn't that a fun photo above? You can see my husband laying out all his precious Christopher Radko glass ornaments on towels. He likes to look at them all before he decides where to put them on the tree. He gets so much enjoyment out of those decorations.

It is pretty domestic and cozy around my house these days. Hope the days leading up to Thanksgiving are good for you too.

Pineapple Express

My Red Pineapple quilt is now officially bigger than my design wall. I sure did cut out a lot of strips to make this quilt ten years ago when I started it! I think there is enough fabric to make it 6 rows by 7 rows. Plenty big enough for my queen size bed. Wouldn't this be a sight on the bed next holiday season? At this point I have 37 of the 42 blocks I will need. I have been making six blocks at a time and find that it takes me about two days to finish them. They are time-consuming little fellows.

I am using the Pineapple Ruler by Possibilities. It is ok. I can't rave about it, because I do see some issues with perfect accuracy, but in the end, the blocks are all coming out at a consistent 12 1/2 inches. I'll see what happens when it comes time to sew the blocks together.

It is a good project to work on while watching a sappy Christmas movie. Except I need some better recommendations. I started one called Holidate on Netflix and it was positively vulgar. So that was a fail. How can a holiday movie be obscene? That is just wrong. I'd love some recommendations of some of your favorite Christmas movies. Not the old classics, I save those for Christmas Eve. Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas Carol. Love those. I am looking for more modern romantic comedies.  Hallmark Channel type of stuff.

We are gearing up for the big feast on Thursday. Monday I made Butternut Squash Soup.  I will tell you about that tomorrow. Tuesday I am making cranberry relish and croutons for stuffing. Wednesday is Pie Day. I am planning a traditional pumpkin pie and a rustic apple tart. Of course, it will be too much for the four of us, but there will be lots of leftovers!

 

Early Decorating

Plugging away at the Fatquartershop's Sewcialites Sew Along. This is my interpretation of the latest block, "Gracious" by Vanessa Christenson. I like more symmetry in my blocks, so I sewed the units together a bit differently to get the look I like. My version is above, and the sample we were supposed to replicate is below.

NOTE:  This is not my block. This is how the block is supposed to look.  My green block is sewn together in a more symmetrical way, which I preferred.

We had a quiet weekend, for the most part, although I did get some sewing done. And then this happened.

I have heard so much lately about people putting up their holiday decorations earlier than usual this year due to the gloom of COVID-19 hanging over us with all its restrictions. My husband is always super keen to get the holiday decor up, and I didn't have the heart to argue with him this year.  He set the tree up and strung the lights outside earlier than we ever have before. We still have the ornaments to get out to festoon the tree, and I suppose that will happen this week.

How about you?  Are you decorating early this year and injecting some holiday cheer into things?

That's Better!

I tossed and turned last night, fretting about my botched block from yesterday. Honestly, I was going to throw it out, but instead just left it on the table in the sewing room and walked away. I got up at 6 in the morning and went right upstairs to the sewing room to have a look at it. Do you see how those half-square triangle units actually form flying geese? Ah ha. I took the block apart, but left the flying geese units, which were easily trimmed down to 1 1/2 x 2 1/2". Trimming 10 flying geese is better than trimming 20 hsts.

I had to toss the red triangle inserts because they were kind of stretched out. I think I like the block done in all blues better anyway. So, all was not lost, and I managed to salvage my work from the previous day.

I had some time to make another block, so I decided to add to my 6-inch blocks and make this one. It is a pattern from the Moda Bakeshop. I don't recommend the pattern because I found it to be hard to follow and poorly written. With some patience and perseverance, I did complete it and I really do like the way it turned out in spite of the inferior instructions.

Here is an update on my pie crust fiasco from yesterday. It turns out if you accidentally put cornstarch into your dough instead of baking powder, it turns the dough into cement and it is not even possible to roll it out. So, I ended up making THREE batches of pie dough. The third one was my tried and true regular pie crust recipe that turns out every time without fail. Should have started with that one in the first place.

What was I attempting to make? My son in Ireland has been making Cornish Pasties and my husband and I decided we wanted to do it too and send him photos of our effort. The Cornish are pretty rigid about their pasties and if you vary even a bit from how they say it should be done, then you aren't authentic. One of the ingredients is supposed to be rutabaga, so I was doomed from the get-go.

Anyway, the Cornish use a certain crust recipe, which is super flaky and pretty impossible to work with, at least for me. Hence, I was reduced to using my regular pie crust recipe on the third try. The filling is steak, potatoes, onion, a bit of carrot, and a bit of celery. And lots of salt and pepper and a dash of cayenne. My husband may have tossed some steak seasoning in there as well when my back was turned. My ingredients were not strictly traditional either, but it's what I wanted to do. Everything is diced pretty small and mixed together. You roll out the dough in 8-inch circles and fill them as I show in the photo above. 

My double crust recipe was enough for five pasties. I had some filling leftover. You bake them for 50 minutes at 350 and this is what we got.

My first effort may not win any beauty prizes, but I can tell you, it tasted delicious!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

One of Those Days

I am sharing this block because it is about the only thing that actually turned out right today.

Some days are like that, I guess. I won't say I should have stayed in bed, but it would have been a good day to sit in my chair and read. I would have gotten into less trouble.

I was putting the dishes away from the dishwasher and somehow knocked over a wine glass, which hit a highball glass, which...Well, you get the idea. There was a spectacular crash, and glass was thrown all over my entire kitchen and even into the hallway to the laundry room. It required several sweepings with the broom and a thorough vacuuming. Yikes, I even found glass in the dog's dish. We will be wearing shoes in the kitchen for the foreseeable future.

Then I received a notice that all my passwords have been compromised. That means I had to change them. All 27 of them. An hour and a half later...I was still fussing with it.

Then I made a pie crust for a special dinner I am making. It called for some baking powder, and what do you think I grabbed and added to the dough?  Mmm-hmm. Cornstarch. Same kind of can, don't you know. Arrrgh. I asked myself "What next"? and headed up to the sewing room.  I should not have tempted fate.

And this was the frosting on the cake. I spent two hours making this tricky block and was pretty happy with it, except the red triangles seemed kind of small. It was supposed to be 6 1/2". And when I measured it, the block was something like 7 1/2". Whaaaat? I can see being off a quarter-inch maybe, but that much? I had made every single one of those half square triangles 2" rather than 1 1/2". I may give it another try, but I am pretty disgusted with myself and don't even want to think about it. And I am getting so low on background fabric I sure hate wasting it.

So that was my day. I don't mean to wish my life away, but I am pretty glad to see the sun go down. I think it might be best if I turned in early.

Hope your day was better than mine!

One Little Red House

One little red house was all I got done yesterday, but with luck, more will be coming this week! The barn block was fun to make. I do not think I have ever made a block like this before. It was pieced on the diagonal and came out pretty well. For anyone reading my blog for the first time, this block is part of a sew-along hosted by designer Jessica Dayon. Click HERE for more information.

Work is progressing nicely, and the light is at the end of the tunnel. I need to start focusing on Christmas, especially since gifts will have to be mailed this year as the family can't get together in person. Would you believe both my children have finished their shopping already? I have broached the subject of at least discussing what gifts we will give to people this year with my husband, and he went running from the room both times. Sigh.

In other news, we have mold on the cheese.

So, for those of you who have a science background, can you answer a question? Will each item on the plate create its own colony of mold, or will the mold on the cheese spread to the other items? Will there just be one kind of mold on the plate or more than one variety?

Some teacher I am. 

Up To My Eyeballs in Alligators

I got a bit of sewing in on Sunday morning, but I have been swamped with projects for the past five days or so, having to do with my part-time job. I work as a writer for a marketing firm, and usually, my workload is quite manageable. However, we have taken on a new client right now and want to submit half a dozen articles to him at once to show what we are capable of. Consequently, I have been glued to my computer researching and writing. The funny thing is, I will get it all done and turned in by Tuesday and probably won't have anything to do for the rest of the month. 

The block in the photo above is Block #8 of the Sewcialites Sew Along that the Fatquarter Shop is sponsoring. The block is called "Soulful" by Joanna Figueroa. It went together super easily.

I got caught up with my Moda BlockHeads sew along blocks as well. Block 43 is on the left. Corey Yoder designed it, and it is called "Corner Delight." I made it in the 12" size. The little guy on the right is "Community" by Sheri McConnell and is only 4".

The BlockHeads project should be winding down in the next few months. For the layout I think I will do, at this point, I need nine more 6" blocks, six more 8" blocks, and seven more 4". I am going to have to crank up my effort on this project and make a couple of blocks each week. I think I skipped a few weeks because I wasn't a fan of the block that was offered. I am also having the sinking feeling that I may be running low on my main background fabric. As a result, I am going to have to work in more of the coordinating (same dye lot, different prints) backgrounds I have on hand.

Eva and I started our mold experiment four days ago, and so far, there isn't much sign of mold that I can see. The banana is pretty disgusting, and there is a suspicious spot on one or two pieces of cheese, but that's it. I can only imagine the amount of preservatives in the bread that must be keeping the mold away.

Here are four of our five plates, sitting on the counter in my laundry room, just waiting for something to happen. The fifth plate is in a dark closet to see if that makes any difference. We have done something slightly different to the contents of each plate to see what develops. If you are wondering why the bread looks weird, it is rye bread. Those dark flecks are seeds. I will keep you posted. I know you are holding your breath.

I hope you all had a great weekend. It is definitely November here, and all of us have been bundling up because it's been so chilly. Maybe that's why my mold won't grow.

Sewcialites Block 7, Mold, and Meatloaf

Every Friday the Fatquarter Shop introduces a new block of the week in their Sewcialites Sew Along. Kimberly Jolly, the force behind FQS has a YouTube tutorial/video every Friday morning.  I enjoy watching them because she often mentions items the shop carries, projects that are coming up, new fabric lines to look forward to etc.  It is very chatty and fun and lasts over an hour, which is nice to have going on while you are sewing.

The tutorials are very in-depth and are particularly helpful to new sewers, as she shares a ton of great tips. If you can't watch on Friday mornings, don't worry, the videos are on YouTube forever for you to watch when convenient.

I am amassing a nice little pile of blocks for this sew-along.  

Eva and I are having an exciting week of school. She loves science and we are up to our eyeballs in an experiment on mold. Yes indeedy.  This is going to take a couple of weeks to see through, but we will learn how long it takes for several food items to get moldy under various conditions. Woo hoo, bet you can't wait to hear more about that.

In other news, I picked up a couple of new cookbooks called America's Most Wanted Recipes, and have been having fun with them. The premise of the books are that the recipes are the most requested ones from well known restaurant chains. PF Changs, Olive Garden, Benihana's, and tons more. We made Mrs. Field's Pumpkin Spice cookies and Boston Market's Meatloaf. The meatloaf was sensational and made delicious sandwiches the next day.  The meatloaf recipe was in the book on the left.

Hope your week is going well!