The online class I’m taking with designer Tara Faughnan kicked off October 1st with her improv block “Zipper.”
I immediately went down a rabbit hole, and here’s the outcome of many hours and some days of playing with fabric and “zipper” combinations.
Tara gave us a palette, but I wanted to pull my own palette, having had fun with that exercise with the “Summer Camp” mystery quilt. The guidance on the mystery palette was build your palette and trust it. I did add white and one more pale color along the way–as I wanted a more “sparkly” look. And, a deep mustard, but never used it. I found I had enough dark colors already for this project.
I am going to save this palette for November’s block–just in case I want to use this current piece as part of a quilt. It’s likely, however, to be a stand-alone little wallhanging–it’s about 27 inches wide–and the project may need some sliver trimming to make sure it is square–for which I’ll use a 24-inch ruler. I don’t really have a need for a big pillow, and I’d like to keep this project…around here. I’ll probably hang it somewhere upstairs in my studio.
If you want to see Tara’s beautiful Zipper projects, check them out on her Instagram page. It’s well worth the time. Meanwhile, the most astonishing blocks are showing up in our online community for this project. People are so, so creative.
Saturday afternoon, DIL Tami and her mother Debbie visited the Medway Community Garden in Charleston. I was invited and couldn’t go, so Tami took pictures and the little video below of this pollinator garden.
A reminder, Tami is the Director and Co-Founder of The Bee Cause. She texted me with this message: “A beautiful afternoon at Medway Community Garden. The pollinators were plentiful in this beautiful pollinator habitat donated by The Bee Cause and installed by Charleston Parks Conservancy. We also got to meet and chat with the author of The Ark of Taste.” There was also a potluck supper.
A video of the garden.
And the new book:
From a review on the Slow Food USA web site: “The Ark of Taste is a living catalog of our food heritage and a movement to preserve gastronomic treasures passed down for generations—some rare, some endangered, all delicious. Created by Slow Food, the Ark illuminates the history, identity and taste of these unique food products, many of which were revived or saved from extinction by their Slow Food champions.”
And: “The Ark of Taste book features the stories of how some of these American products almost didn’t reach our table, with recipes from Slow Food chefs and profiles of growers from around the country.”
As you know from this blog, I have planted pollinator plants in my new garden. And Tami has been working hard in her garden in recent days. She is developing a space where she would like to plant a pollinator garden–and that space is near her bee hive.
On a very happy note, Tami recently harvested some honey from that hive, and she generously gave me 12 jars of that beautiful honey–which I am busily lapping up.
The dried blooms are from the Panicle Hydrangea “Limelight.” In Maine, these big blooms would turn a gorgeous deep red color; here with the heat, they just turn brown. I clipped these blooms when they were just starting to show flecks of red in the petals, but before they started to turn brown. I put them in this vase with no water and let them further dry out inside. They will hold their color through most of the winter.
Drying hydrangea blooms is tricky. I’ve found it best to wait until they are starting to dry on the plant before clipping them. And even then, they might shrivel up once inside.
I took the above pic and the little video below from inside the house. I love the way this plant moves in the wind. It was “quiet” all summer, and then, overnight, it burst into bloom, and it has been blooming for weeks now.
AND I’m in love with the new air fryer.
Look at the gorgeous brown, crisp skin on the chicken thighs below. And on the roasted zucchini squash and roasted sweet peppers. The chicken meat is so juicy and tender too.
And look at the 15-minute, or less, French fries with their skins left on. Plus, more roasted peppers. That’s leftover grilled steak and asparagus cooked in the microwave. I only use a very tiny bit of soft duck fat to coat the fries.
AND, I’m in love with bowl suppers.
These bowls are very inexpensive on Amazon and are just the right size. The gentle slope of the bowl sides keeps thing INSIDE the bowl. As I often eat a meal on the porch or in the little tv room (at night), the sloped bowl is a good choice.
This meal was cooked in the new oven: roasted whole chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli rabe, carrots in butter (stove top), warmed leftover asparagus and red peppers, and for dessert, raw apple and an espresso. It’s a feast–with great leftovers so I have time to do other things.
When I roast sweet potatoes, I cook several, smash them with butter, and freeze portions for future meals. I do the same for my sprouted brown rice: I cook the whole bag at one time.
I filter my water and use a glass and a glass straw. I have a glass for the car as well. I clean these glasses and straws daily. After researching when I moved here, I use “Clearly Filtered” to filter my water.
I have many things I am “in love” with, for sure. I’m feeling lucky this morning, and I’m grateful.
And, Oh My Heavens! I do love this quilt. Something about it just strikes my fancy big time.
*Note that the camera and my manipulation makes it look not square–it is perfectly square.
This “Summer Camp” mystery quilt was designed by Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle at the Modern Quilt Society–and back in the early summer I kind of stumbled on to online posts which had people choosing their palettes and making their first sets of blocks. I just could not resist joining in. No two quilts will be the same as we all chose our own fabrics, our own blocks, and our own settings (out of three choices). The MQS web page has a gallery of these quilts if you want to see others.
I quilted with a medium grey thread, using the Deb’s Swirls 14-inch pantograph. I wanted texture but not really intensive texture. And I had enough of this “Newsprint” fabric by Carrie Bloomston (Windham) for the backing. I thought it a grand choice for a very modern quilt. And I bound in the same “field”/background fabric I chose: Kona Juniper.
Here are some close-up pics of these very, very fun blocks.
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This quilt is my 216th quilt.
Now, back to Traverse, who has been waiting for me to sew down the Summer Camp binding so I can show it at next week’s Patchwork Gals meeting. The 12 wt. threads I ordered from Red Rock Threads for Traverse should come next Monday, so I’ll be able to do the row I skipped for the moment.
And it’s really cool this morning. I had to switch out my short-sleeve t-shirt for a long-sleeve t-shirt. I’m NOT complaining.
With one thing and another, I didn’t cook until early afternoon on Friday, so I ate a really late dinner meal (on porch with book!). I tried the convection feature on the new oven, but I’m not convinced the convection fan is working right, or at all. But the lamb rack was delicious nonetheless. So, I had easily-heated leftover food yesterday and for dinner today.
Yes, I like rare meat. Rare is where all the nutrients are. And, in the yummy meat fat, which gives me long, slow, steady energy. I roasted the peppers in the air fryer, cooked the frozen green beans in the microwave, and boiled the potatoes on the stove. I reserved my daily fruit for supper, but did have my after-dinner espresso, with raw milk and raw honey.
Yesterday was filled with small tasks, like the trip to Loews where I bought these beautiful cyclamens to replace the spent plant in that pot. (Yes, that pot needs to be scrubbed in the sink–a task for today.) I went back and forth with the red or the deep pink cyclamens, and settled on the red to pick up the red in the Croton Petra plant on the porch. I didn’t consider the red roses, but… It’s all good. And cheerful. And fresh looking.
Cyclamens are perennials. And they are fairly cold hardy. In the Mediterranean region where they derived, they bloom in the winter, die down in the spring, and come back in the fall. Pansies are great plants in the fall too, and Lowes was filled with them in so many beautiful colors.
Here is the Croton Petra plant on the porch–pink cyclamens would definitely fight with the Croton Petra. This plant is actually a tropical evergreen shrub, and outside it can get to be about three feet. They don’t like temps that go down to the 50s.
Tara Faughnan’s 6-month improv, creative block project (online class) started October 1. The first project is called “Zipper,” and I pulled this palette from my stash yesterday. Later today I’ll start playing. “Zipper” looks really fun–the block could make a nice pillow. Or, a block that gets put into an improv quilt alongside other blocks. The solids are more graphic, but there’s no reason someone couldn’t use prints if they wanted to do that.
I am waiting for more garment pattern tracing paper to come on Tuesday to finish tracing a tunic pattern I want to make–it is meant to go over the gorgeous leggings DIL Tami gave me earlier this summer. I tried two local stores for this paper, but neither had it. I wanted a top that could be layered and that covers my bum.
I did get the binding on “Summer Camp” yesterday, and I halted on Traverse to hand sew down the binding so I can show it at the next local quilt meeting. Traverse is pouting on the hassock, but I keep reminding her that I’ve ordered two spools of Aurifil 12-wt thread from Red Rock Threads to go in that lavender-ish bar you can just see at the right edge of this picture. (One of the two colors ordered will go well with that fabric and will be added to my 12 wt threat collection.) I was working on the row below, with the orange-ish elongated hexagons set on the gold/brown fabric, and it is coming out nicely.
I really love this “Summer Camp” mystery quilt.
Later today I’ll walk in this lovely cool weather, and I’ll do another round of watering the grass and plants. I’ve been watering every two days as it is so, so dry. And I do not see any rain in sight. I play my music while walking and sing along. When watering, I “Zen out” with the music and the hose–stopping only to visit with neighbors who stop by to indulge in short visits.
What a fun, fun project “Summer Camp,” the Modern Quilt Society’s summer mystery quilt has been.
Here she is, all quilted. I did find time to trim her after I took pics, and she is now waiting for her binding to be installed. Later today?
I wanted a pantograph that would give me some texture and curves, but not be too, too intense. I think this one worked well: Deb’s Swirls at 14 inches. The medium grey thread worked well too–on both front and back.
I spatchcocked a chicken and roasted it in the new oven the other day. Oh my! It cooked in the time it should have cooked and created a nice crisp skin on top. What a difference. It’s clear that the original oven was broken in many ways that impacted its operation, including that it just didn’t get hot enough.
I cooked both the collards and the potatoes in water on top of the stove. There is, also, an apple cut up off to the side. And a freshly made espresso to have with the apple.
I enjoyed this meal on the porch with a book in hand.
I finished quilting the last row at the bottom a few days ago. And I started the other side with that row of X’s and pink squares, having finally figured out a way to quilt that row without overwhelming the colors in the pattern–which has been my goal for this quilt.
Here’s a close-up of some of the rows.
And here’s the bottom row. I wanted something with a pattern, not just a straight line. And I didn’t want a dark navy because as I said, I don’t want the quilting to stand out so that it draws the eye.
That’s a size 6 Tulip embroidery needle and 12-weight Sulky cotton thread. I have colors in both Sulky (petites, which are inexpensive, so one can acquire lots of colors) and Wonderfil on hand. And I’m learning to bury my knots in seams as I can as the Artisan Cottons in this quilt (shot cottons) don’t like knots pulled through the fabric. The knots can throw a run so easily.
I think the Sulky is a bit thicker than the Wonderfil, but both are lovely. I’m sure Auriful 12-wts would be too.
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