Author: louisaenright

I am passionate about whole, nutrient-dense foods, developing local markets, and strengthening communities.

Girlie and “Happy” And Me

Yesterday, “Happy” (the quilt I’m hand quilting) and I took Girlie car to my local Toyota dealer so Girlie could get a recall part she needed. It’s about a 30-minute trip to the dealer.

I knew the inspection and installation of the part would take several hours of waiting, so I packed up “Happy” for this outing.

I commandeered a table and two chairs in the expansive waiting room and set to work–and that made the hours pass swiftly. Included were chats with people who were interested in this quilt and this hand quilting process. Some told stories of the quilts their grandmothers made for their grandchildren. ”Happy” is one of the 7 handmade quilts for my 7 grandchildren.

The orange threads you see are the longarm machine basting, which I clip loose as I move along. I am sewing grid lines down the lines of dark centers with darker tread colors.

By the time I got home early afternoon and organized my noonish big dinner, ate, and cleaned up, it was mid-afternoon. The day then turned lazy–no walk but to the mail boxes–but by bedtime, I was almost finishing the last grid line. And that all felt just fine. I must have needed a lazy day.

Next up, the big circles to be done in pastel threads. Then the centers of the circles. 

And today is a rainy day, but I will walk in between, and I’ll sew upstairs on the 1920-30s quilt top.

A Vintage Quilt

The fabrics in this quilt are all 1920-1930 reproduction fabrics. Most were hiding out (as a group) in my stash–and were bought nearly 20 years ago when a local Maine store’s owner retired and closed his store (Fabric Bonanza). I did purchase recently more of some of the colors that were lacking selection to make interesting blocks. 

The fabrics are reproduction, but the block and the setting are modern. The pattern is “Modern Vintage” by Camille Roskelley and Bonnie Olaveson, and I found it in the Better Homes and Gardens QUILT LOVERS FAVORITES, vol. 16, pages 86-89–before I donated the book to the Wando library.

The blocks will finish at 10 inches, so this top (my 218th) will finish at 60 by 70 inches, so a nice lap size.

BUT, here’s the problem. Look what’s still left in the fabric pile.

I played around a bit last night before stopping. 

I don’t know. Maybe these blocks could be combined. Maybe not. And I’m not totally sure whether or not I want to keep working on these fabrics. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I’ve ordered some Kona “natural” that should mostly match the muslin in the blocks for the backing and binding. And I found bits and pieces of muslin in my stash so I could keep on making more of the above blocks.

Or, not.

I am kind of anal about finishing a project–and this project WAS to use up ALL of these fabrics. 

“Serpentine Surprise” Quilt

It’s Sunday morning, and Brrrrr cold for South Carolina, and “Serpentine Surprise” is in the washing machine as I write.

Last year when I first got here, there was a spell of 17-degree temps that froze the two Rinnai tankless water heaters’ outside pipes at my son’s house for several days.  Getting them unfrozen required a hair dryer, hours outside, and wrapping the pipes with more temporary insulation for the second freezing night–but fortunately, no water pipes burst. Consulting with neighbors who know better than I do how to prevent frozen pipes in South Carolina, I started dripping my hot water before I went to bed last night–after the temps had started dropping below 30 degrees. The wind chill is a further factor, of course. Remember that our hot water heaters are on the OUTSIDE of houses here. 

All was fine this morning–Every day I have to run the hot water before hot water comes–which takes much longer in the winter. That strikes me as really wasteful, especially as we pay for water/sewer here. (I had a well in Maine–and outside water faucets were built for freezing weather–and an indoor heater and a water tank that stored hot water.)

BUT, I finished the binding on “Serpentine Surprise” last night–Kona Thistle, which I had enough of to use some for binding. Note, the top is NOT wavy; I just didn’t smooth it down properly.

Remember that this curvy “Serpentine” block that works so well with checkerboard blocks is from my online “blocks” class with Tara Faughnan. This block involves glue, and I do machine baste on the longarm before quilting, so I thought it prudent to wash her to dissolve the glue and to close up the basting holes. ”Serpentine Surprise” and her sassy self are going to live in my tv room on a chair.

I used my domestic and a walking foot to quilt this grid on her–and a very neutral Aurafil thread that does not stand out, front or back. The thread is a cross between a light grey and a light tan–which works well on the back as well as the front. And I had enough of this newsprint fabric by Carrie Bloomston in my stash to piece the back: 

I love the graphic nature of the two-color version of this block:

But I also love the scrappy versions:

And it was great fun to play with combining these two block versions, and to, also, play with using both versions in one block. 

I went down a rabbit hole with Serpentine and checkerboard blocks and played to my heart’s content–and that is the purpose of this “block” class. 

The 5th of 6 planned blocks comes out at the end of next week. And Dale Flemings’ book on “the 6-minute circle” method is now in the mail. I love having learned that method and am likely far from being “done” with it.

 

Giovanna’s First 2024 Project

My Maine friend Giovanna is a master knitter.

She sent me this picture a few days back–of her just-finished first project of 2024.

What a lovely pattern and such lovely colors.

Giovanna said she has not blocked this piece yet. It is a rectangle. 

PS: I made the quilt in back of this piece for Giovanna–some years back. It was such a lovely project–made from Carolyn Friedlander fabrics and her pattern.

A Holiday Monday

We have a cold period coming into town.

I’ve wrapped my outside faucets and will drip water inside when temps fall below 30, which is coming soon. These houses are NOT set up for really cold weather. Recall that the water heaters are on the OUTSIDE of one’s house down here in coastal South Carolina. And unlike Maine, outside water faucets are not the kind that can take freezing temps without breaking.

Many in Maine have sent pictures and links to pictures of the really bad and damaging coastal flooding there. Poor Maine. It’s had a LOT of rain all summer and now, every storm we get here in South Carolina moves right up the coast to Maine. There are many pictures of coastal buildings floating out in the water.

I cooked a lamb rack yesterday, after walking 1.6 miles. ( I added a loop and then went back with the car to clock how far I had walked.) The two added loops–at each end of my big outside road–will add up to a little over 3 miles, which I’ll do one of these days. One loop plus the normal 2 miles would be a little over 2.5 miles. I’ll try that right after my leg muscles–following a whole string of walking days now–stop complaining.

Lamb rack, which I so love, and leftover roasted red peppers, quick-boiled Brussel sprouts topped with raw butter, and more air fryer sweet potato fries–followed by the apple slices and my noon espresso. 

Then, I tackled the Serpentine quilt with my domestic machine where I keep a walking foot installed. I’ll do the grid the other way too.

I’m listening to William Forstchen’s sobering trilogy that starts with One Second After and scaring myself to death, LOL. Civilization can disappear…so quickly…especially in this digital age which requires a lot of infrastructure. And then what? It’s not pretty, that’s for sure.

And at night while hand quilting I’m watching Harlan Corben’s murder mysteries–there are 8 of them on Netflix–and each is 8 episodes. I am having fun guessing “who done it” and what happened and why. I’m on the third one now. On the first 2, I only guessed part of what happened on 1 of them before the end. So that’s fun.

Have a great day everyone.

My Squircle Blocks and Some Good Food

I think I’m done making more Squircle blocks (from Tara Faughnan’s online block study class). Done, I’d say, for the moment. I love this inset method pioneered by Dale Fleming.

Here is my collection of 5, 6, and 8.5 inch blocks. It’s not the best picture as I took it when the light was terrible in my quilt room.

And here is what that part of the design wall looks like now, with zipper, serpentine and checkerboards, lines, and Squircle blocks. Hmmmm… Is there an improv quilt possible? Time will tell. *Note, I’ve kept the same fabric palette for all of these blocks–though the palettes Tara Faughnan gives with each block are gorgeous.

Meanwhile, I have to feed myself daily–with good food. So, I oven-roasted some chicken two days ago.

Here’s a bowl meal with chicken, blanched Lacinato kale with some raw butter topping, and air fryer red peppers and French fries. *For the kale, just drop the whole leaves in some boiling water and after about 4-5 minutes drain and cut out the stems and roughly chop the leaves.

Followed yesterday by the chicken and roasted red peppers reheated in the air fryer in one drawer while sweet potato fries cooked in the other drawer AND baby bok choy sautéed with bits of apple and garlic and dried herbs. *Soften the apple pieces and garlic before adding the bok choy as it cooks fast. If you overcook bok choy it gets way too soft. You want to keep some of the crunch of the thicker bottom pieces.

I eat my main meal in the middle of the day and afterwards have some sliced apple or a berry mixture and an espresso.

Today I’ll roast a rack of lamb in the oven and, maybe, the butternut squash I have on hand as well–with my good olive oil, garlic, and fresh rosemary from the garden. There are, also Brussels Sprouts in the refrigerator.

And I’ll walk at least a mile.

It’s a plan!

“Sprinkles” Quilt

“Sprinkles”is made from 1 1/2 inch squares cut while I made other quilts from the Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society fabrics I cut up at least 4 years ago now. These small squares were cut from what was left when I made other quilts.

I sewed the light/dark 4 patches back in Maine when I was all packed up and waiting for moving day. I also have 2-inch squares from this project which I started sewing into 9 patches. Someday I’ll do something with those. 

I couldn’t get a good picture inside of the actual colors in this quilt, so I took “Sprinkles” out to the porch into daylight, and that worked better. My inside lights cast a yellow light.

I quilted with a medium grey thread with the pantograph “Bayside,” which is a favorite of mine for laying down a nice texture without overwhelming the quilt.

And I love, love this backing.

Honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever save 1 1/2 inch squares again. But I do like this little quilt a lot. The big squares are 16 inches. And the sashing is NOT C+S/Ruby Star, but was in my stash.

Bits and Pieces, January 2024

We had a really big storm that kept us pinned down all day Tuesday–very high winds and tornado alerts but not a whole lot of rain here on the coast. Schools were cancelled and most activities just…stopped.

I cooked. And I sewed.

Here’s more “rainbow” eating:

A bit of beef tallow, carrots, red pepper, and asparagus. I can’t think when I have pan sautéed asparagus, but it was lovely. 

Locally, lately, one can buy beef hamburger where about 25% added is liver/heart/other organs. Americans have stopped eating liver. And that’s too bad as liver and other organs are so full of nutrients we need and that we don’t get anywhere else. 

I made some hamburger patties and cooked them in the air fryer, along with a russet potato cut into four parts–so with the beautiful rainbow dish above, I had food for two main meals.

*Liver with heavy cream added at the last cuts the strong liver taste. Don’t overcook liver as that makes it tough. Slice it into strips and add after your veggies have softened–at the last, add the cream. A lot of cream. 

I’ve been playing with the new block that arrived from Tara Faughnan’s online block class on January 1st. It’s a method created by Dale Fleming called “the 6-minute circle.” Tara is calling this month’s block “Squircles.” It’s a fiddly block until you get the method–and then one is off and running and having lots of fun. 

I started with Tara’s recommendation of starting small–5-inch blocks–and then went on to 6-inch versions. Will try an 8 inch block today or tomorrow.

My rainbow versions are too narrow I think. But this is a very fun and addictive method. One person online called it the 60-minute block, which set me to laughing. I’m down to way less time, but it is a learning curve. However, the online community for this class is off and running, and their creativity and where they are taking this block is, as usual, awesome.

I do think these blocks WILL go with the others on my design wall. Pics to follow when I’m done.

Ah, air fryer sweet potato fries are so, so good–and so much easier and quicker than baking a sweet potato.

I’ve walked 3 days this week–and did 2 miles twice and 1 1/2 miles yesterday. And I’ll walk today.

We are getting another storm late today and into the night, but it is said to be not as strong as Tuesday’s storm which caused massive coastal flooding in Maine, including in Camden. 

More Eating the Rainbow

How pretty is this veggie mixture that I sautéed the other day?

Very pretty I think.

And it was delicious too. 

I started with the firmer veggies and with beef tallow as I was also cooking a leg of lamb: onion, carrots, red peppers, garlic, dried herbs, salt and one small Granny Smith apple. 

When these firmer veggies had started to wilt well, I added the chopped red cabbage–a small head. Cabbage will melt down quickly in heat. But I also wanted more green, so I had some frozen chopped kale in the freezer and added it.

The apple and sweet red pepper produced bits of sweetness that were a kind of surprise to the tongue. And cabbage in all forms is very, very healthy.

Note the big frying pan. The mixture made rather a lot of food. It kept well and reheated well. I thought at one point that it would also be good added to a soup one defrosted or started from scratch.

Sewing Binding Down On “Sprinkles”

Here’s another post I wrote and didn’t send some days ago. Now “Sprinkles” is done, and I’ll post more about this adorable little quilt soon. Meanwhile, I have a nice link below that gave me a really good method to match backing prints.

Look at this awesome matching of this backing print!

I saw a method in the October 2023 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine done by Maria Brooks. However, I don’t think I can put a picture of that page here without violating their copyright rules.

So I googled “How to Match Prints for Quilt Backing” and came up with this same method by Suzy Quilts. Note: using one of the thicker, cheaper glue sticks is a better bet financially for this method instead of the Sew Line glue stick (which I also love) which is more expensive.

Match a Print Seamlessly On Your Quilt Back