Too many cherry tomatoes….

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

Being inspired…

Jul28

This is the Best in Show at the Maine State Quilt show. It is called Zen Garden. It was made by Maragaret Solomon Gunn of Gorham, Maine. It is machine pieced, hand appliqued and machine long arm quilted. It is even more beautiful in person.

This is the center.

This is the right bottom corner.

I am not working anything quite so ambitious. I however was inspired to pull out on ongoing (by ongoing I mean never ending) project. I really want to complete this wall hanging. I am hand quilting some feathered wreaths in the corners and on the edges. I have one more corner to complete. Which is shown here.

I will post a picture when it is complete.

Enjoy your Sunday, be creative.

Be Kind…

Faith

Giving back…

Jul19

my geraniums are finally blooming

I live in a wonderful coastal community in southern Maine. Every summer our Community Club has a Seaside Fair. We have local craft vendors, lobster rolls etc for lunch, a bake sale and a silent auction. The money raised goes the the Community Club to help fund scholarships, and other community activities.

In the winter when the summer people are gone we have movie nights, bean suppers, pot luck dinners and lots of wonderful gatherings to keep us connected during the long winters that we have in Maine. It is a wonderful group of sharing people.

I believe in giving back. I love to bake and I love to sew, so the logical conclusion would be that I would bake something for a bake sale and sew something for the auction table.

As you are all aware it has been very hot lately – I don’t have central air conditioning. UGH – my house is hot, but I needed to bake a pie last night. I figured since I was baking 1 pie for the bake sale I may as well make one for us as well. Nothing is much tastier than a homemade mixed berry pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. YUM!

Two Mixed Berry Pies

I also made a cute little bag for the auction. People always ask me how long it takes to make something like this. It took me about 2 1/2 hours last night. I am really happy with the way it turned out. I love to work in bright colors and this just seemed very summery to me.

cute summer bag

I hope that you are enduring the heat and I also hope that it breaks soon. It is very unhealthy for many and for others it just makes us cranky. I sadly fall into the cranky category.

Enjoy the weekend,

Be Kind…

Faith

new socks….

Jul11

One of my favorite things to knit is socks. They are small and compact and easy to take any where. They are perfect for car rides and when you are waiting. I made these socks for Mari – she is someone who appreciates hand made things. Mari makes beautiful flowers out of clay. It is very difficult to tell that they are not real.

It seems like I have been working on these socks forever. There are several steps to knitting socks, you knit along happy as a clam and then you need to do something that requires concentration. This is the point where I very often put the project down and pick up something mindless. Something that requires no thought just muscle memories that I developed when I was 8 or 9 when I first started to knit.

I am a self taught knitter. Don’t get me wrong, along the knitting journey I have had many friends who have taught me different techniques and ways of finishing but usually when I knit I am alone and I have to figure out how to get to the next step. I have a wonderful library of knitting books. Two that come to mind are “Knitting in Plain English” by Maggie Righetti and “Stitch ‘n Bitch” by Debbie Stoller. There are many others but at this point they are probably in a knitting bag with an unfinished project and there are far to many of those for me to track down.

Another new resource for learning to knit is Craftsy.com. This is a website that is full of wonderful videos that teach you almost anything “Craftsy” that you might want to learn. There is usually a small fee for the class but you can refer back to the video and also send questions to the instructor. I have found this to be a very valuable asset when learning a new technique.

Who would think that you can end up with a pair of socks when you start with this. Don’t start with a pair of socks, start with something easy like a scarf. Find a yarn shop near you and they will be a constant source help. LYS (local yarn shops) are always willing to help their customers with a project that was purchased at their shops. Let your creative side out – you will be amazed at what you can create and what a wonderful sense of satisfaction you will have when you complete something.

Be Kind…..

Faith

so much fun….

Jul9

My goodness it has been way too long since I have written anything. Spring/Summer is a very busy time of year. Gardens to plant, pools to open, beaches to walk on, Fourth of July parties to plan for.

Every year we have a family reunion on the 4th of July. All of our kids and grand kids come to the house for the 4th of July week – or weekend depending upon when in the week the holiday falls. This year the fourth was on a Thursday. By Wednesday evening everyone who was going to make it was here. Let the parties begin….

We eat, drink and be merry for the weekend and it is a wonderful family memory making time. I was up early on the fourth. These are some pictures of my backyard at about 5:45 the morning of the fourth.

We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful setting.

I love the American Flag and I fly it proudly and thank those who have sacrificed for our freedoms.

We had some fireworks in the yard. The neighbors enjoy them also. We have had so much rain this year that thankfully we didn’t need to worry about any fire dangers.

I love that we make wonderful memories with our family every summer. We laugh, play games, and tease each other. Love and fun are the main themes of the weekend. Walks on the beach, swims in the pool, and lots and lots of great food. We are all back to our normal (or not so normal) lives now and basking in the memories of a fabulous weekend together.

Next post will be back to quilting – I have been working on a lot of wonderful things but some of them have been gifts so they have to be kept under wraps.

Be thankful and Be Kind…

Faith

One of my favorite times of year…

Jun10

Today am not going to write much – instead I am going to let the pictures do the talking.

Iris split and transplanted from my neighbor Helen’s garden.

What a Beauty

Some of my peonies. I love them and so do the ants.

I love the way the purple of the Iris contrasts with the orange of the Poppies. I would never think to pair these 2 colors together but nature does it and it works beautifully.

My Dogwood Tree is beginning to bloom – when this is in full bloom it is absolutely amazing!

Some of the pretty colors from my potted plants:

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of some of my flowers –

When I am struggling with color choices for a quilt, I will look at the wonderful pictures of Spring and Summer. I usually can find the answer in the garden. If I would see the colors together in nature then they are OK together in a quilt. So when you are undecided walk outside – if you see it in the garden go for it you may be really pleasantly surprised.

Rain is coming tonight – we have had way more than our share of rain this Spring. I just hope that the weather patterns change soon or we will be having a cool, damp summer. Not good for the gardens or the local seasonal businesses.

Be Kind….

Faith

Spring in Maine…

May31

Bleeding Hearts

It is hot here! Crazy, last weekend we were all wearing sweatshirts and long pants. Yesterday it hit 87 degrees, today and tomorrow more of the same.

One of my favorite things to do every morning is to walk around my backyard and look at the flowers that are blooming. They are blooming in spite of the cooler weather. My husband spread 16 yards of very dark mulch in our yard this year. A lot of hard work, but it makes the yard look so pretty and the flowers just seem to pop with the dark mulch as a background.

Columbine

It is always fun to see what pops up out of the ground. We moved and transplanted a lot of flowers last fall and to be honest I sort of forgot what I put where. No, I did not mark anything. That is just not my thing, I would much rather be surprised in the Spring.

Who doesn’t love a Red Rose?

I also added some new perennials this year. We had pulled up a lot of old ground cover and needed to replace it with a garden. It is slow going because some plants made it through the winter and others didn’t. I am never sure what will survive and what didn’t.

This lovely little flower made it through the winter – can’t remember the name.

I always plant this adorable little poppies – they remind me of the crepe paper we used to decorate our classrooms with for holidays.

Poppies

I will be planting my veggies now that the ground is warm. Tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, eggplant, cukes, zucchini and lots of herbs. Yum!!! I also have a lot of annuals to plant in pots to beautify my yard. Love lots of flowers and color.

Enjoy your weekend – stay cool.

Be Kind…

Faith

quiltingonthecove

A peek at my life. My quilting, my cooking and a look at the beautiful place that I live!

Too many cherry tomatoes….

One UFO done…

New toy….

Fun weekend & Mabel visits Maine part 2…

Being inspired…

Giving back…

new socks….

so much fun….

One of my favorite times of year…

Spring in Maine…