Archive | August 2013

Latest Quilt challenge….

Fabrics for Challnge

Back in April we signed up for a challenge at Evergreen Quilters – we were given 21 8″ blocks. I wrote about it here – https://quiltingonthecove.com/2013/04/03/faith-in-me/. I had an idea of what I wanted make but I have to admit that I procrastinated for over a month and then I started cutting and paper piecing the background. I used my Electric Quilt program to print up several various 4″ log cabin blocks. My plan was to use the fabrics to make a background for my garden. The lower part of the quilt is the ground and the steps into the garden. There is a stone path and as your eyes work upward the sun is setting. I was thinking of a fall sunset with all of the reds and oranges as the sun goes down. Ok, so you may need to use your imagination but that is what creating a quilt from a disjointed pile of fabrics is about.

Flower Garden Challenge Quilt

I added bias cut stems and 3 dimensional flowers. I am really pleased with the final outcome.

3 Dimensional Flowers

I neglected to take a picture of all of the wonderful creations that my fellow quilters made. Silly me, but they were amazing!!!

I have a ton of projects in the pipeline – several with deadlines. So I will be very busy in the next few weeks. I also have pickles to pickle and salsa to make so it will be a crazy few weeks. Life is good – fall is coming and I am ok with it all.

Be Kind…

Faith

Too many cherry tomatoes….

Aug25

Too many tomatoes!

I planted 3 Sweet 1000 cherry tomato plants. So I have tons of wonderful sweet cherry tomatoes. The solution to that is fresh Checca Sauce. This recipe is adapted from Giada DeLaurentis – Everyday Italian Cookbook. It uses a lot of cherry tomatoes and it is fresh and delicious.

Here is the recipe:

12 oz. of cherry tomatoes halved (I used more like a pound)
3 Scallions (white and pale green parts only) coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 oz. of Parmesan cheese coarsely chopped
8 fresh basil leaves-torn
3 T olive oil

4 oz fresh mozzarella cut into 1/2″ cubes

1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper

1 lb angel hair pasta

In a food processor, pulse first 6 ingredients, just until tomatoes are coarsely chopped – do not purée them. Transfer to a bowl and add mozzarella cheese and salt and pepper. Toss the sauce with cooked pasta immediately.

Delicious

Enjoy!

Be Kind….

Faith

One UFO done…

Aug24

My quilt guild has a UFO challenge every couple of years. This year I signed up to finish 4 quilts. They are all pieced and only need to be quilted. Two of them have been UFO’s for over 10 years. One is all hand pieced star blocks done in Christmas fabrics. I love the top and I need to find just the right long armed quilter to quilt it for me. The other one is a Dresden plate quilt block that is machine pieced and machine appliqued. Hopefully they will be done soon, but they will not be done by Monday when the UFO challenge is taking place.

I did finish one of the quilts that I signed up to complete. I started this quilt my years ago at a quilt retreat in the Catskills. It was a wonderful retreat and a fun class.

Part of what took me years to complete was the hand quilting. I quilted some feathers in the corners and along the edge.

I machine quilted the rest of the quilt with metallic thread. It gives the quilt a little extra Christmas sparkle. This will either be used as a wall hanging or a table topper. For now it will be stored in a closet in a pillow case to keep the dust off of it, but come December it will be used to decorate as well as reminding me of a great fall weekend with friends.

I have also been spinning yarn with my new spinning wheel. Here is a picture of the yarn that I have spun. I am happy with it. Not bad for a novice. I really love it and hope to, take a class soon to really learn what I am doing right and wrong.

First spun yarn

Have a nice weekend,

Be Kind…

Faith

New toy….

Aug8

I have wanted a spinning wheel for about 25 years. I go to county fairs and I always go to the sheep barn and the Wool Nooks and watch the spinners spin. I have been looking for second hand spinning wheel for years with no luck.

I have finally decided to bite the bullet and go buy one. I purchased a Louet S10 double treadle. I bought it from a wonderful yarn and equipment shop in Bath, Maine called Halcyon Yarn. It is a shop that is full of amazing yarn, fiber, equipment for knitting, spinning and weaving. I could spend hours just browsing through this shop.

I brought home this box…

Then, like a little kid on Christmas I opened it and started to assemble it.

It was quite easy to assemble it…it came with a bag of fiber so I started to spin as soon as I could. It looks very easy but it does take practice. I have some yarn spun as you can see here,

I will be spinning a lot in the next few days. It is very relaxing and so far it is as wonderful as I thought it would be. The potential for spinning beautiful yarn is huge. I don’t expect fabulous things at first but with practice I will figure this new skill out and enjoy it immensely. I need another hobby right???

Sometimes we have to be bold and just do it! That is the way that I feel about my new wheel. Maybe if I had a bucket list I would be able to check it off of the list. I know that it is a dream come true and something that I have been contemplating for many years. I will have fun, I will knit something fun with my handspun yarn and someone I love will receive it as a gift. Life is good!

Be Kind…

Faith

Fun weekend & Mabel visits Maine part 2…

Aug6

Jacoby Ellsbury hitting a triple

What a wonderful weekend I just had. Friday night we went to Boston to see the Red Sox. We met our daughter in Boston, sat at the bar at Jerry Remy’s, had a couple of cold beers and some nachos and just talked. It was wonderful to have some time to just visit and be silly. Our daughters boyfriend met us later for dinner and then we went to the game.

We had fabulous seats and had a really nice evening. Got back to Maine at about midnight. Phew long, but great day. Sadly the Sox lost.

On Saturday our son and his girlfriend came to visit. Of course they brought their 5 month old, 70 lb. English Mastiff named Mabel.

Mabel is a very large, very sweet dog. She has her crazy times as do all puppies but then she gives you a big sloppy English Mastiff kiss and all is right with the world.

Mabel

The weather was absolutely beautiful. The temps are perfect, no humidity. We had some wonderful meals together, the kids and Mabel went to the beach for a walk.

A man and his dog.

We have determined that Mabel does not like the water. We tried to get her into the pool but she wanted no part of that. When we brought her to the beach she skittered away from the waves. Some dogs like the water and some just don’t. Mabel is a don’t.

Mabel thinks that she is a lap dog. Which is fine now but someday she may weigh in at 150 lbs.

Mabel loves the yard and the freedom to check out the flowers and the bees.

She also likes to sunbath. Overall I think that Mabel likes visiting Maine. Every time I see her she has grown a lot. I have to say that I love this dog. I love her goofy antics when she is chasing a ball and sliding all over the floor. I love when she pounces on an ice cube and sends it flying across the floor. She is a puppy disguised in a very large dog body. Mabel is fun!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend also. I hope it was spent with people you love, that always makes the weekend better.

Be Kind…

Faith