Author: louisaenright

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

Lunch Break From Garden

Turkey Tracks: May 23, 2021

Lunch Break From Garden

I am just in from working in the garden all morning.

I grilled two little lamb chops to go on my lunch salad—the grill is just at my kitchen door, and it doesn’t take but a minute or two to fire it up and let it heat.

The lettuce is from the cold frame—which is overflowing with lettuce goodness. I’ve been happily taking bunches of the lettuce to friends. And now I’ll include some fresh herbs as the chives are ready to cut.

This salad also has leftover halved boiled Brussel sprouts, carrot, a yellow pepper, cucumber, Vidalia sweet onion, and mint, regular and garlic chives, and some tarragon. I top everything with salt, dried herbs (dill and Penzey’s Sunny Paris mixture, and drizzles of a really fine olive oil from Organic Roots. (I can’t do vinegar.)

AC killed one of the garter snakes who live here two days ago. I thought the snake had escaped him, but he apparently dogged it out into the open, where he shook it. I found the carcass down on the rocks in the lower wall in front of the house the next day. I knew he’d gone back after it as he had streaks of blood on his coat and there were no marks on him.

These garter snakes are such pretty little creatures, with their vivid green stripes and bits of red here and there. Their presence signifies one has a healthy garden I think.

I’ve saved two more from the jaws of death—one yesterday and one this morning. One, if it is the same snake. And this time I made sure each snake was in a good hiding place.

I spent a chunk of the morning watering. It is so dry. And when I came in for lunch, there was an alert on my phone about a line of thunderstorms heading our way.

I hope so. It is getting dark. I brought in my buckets, shoes, and gloves just in case.

Gardening Wore AC Out

Turkey Tracks: May 22, 2021

Gardening Wore AC Out

Yesterday AC and I spent most of the day outside working.

I weeded in a place where I could throw weeds down a hill. AC thought his job was to chase the debris that sailed through the air from time to time.

By the time I took a shower late afternoon, we were both exhausted.

When I got out of the shower, here’s what I found:

Normally he would be curled up, waiting for me, and when he saw me, his tail would wag happily.

Once dressed, I was too tired to do more than listen to my Audible book while I enjoyed a coffee.

AC was too tired to snuggle with me. (I’m glad he seems to have topped chewing his bed in recent months.)

He was too tired to eat his dinner until we were ready for bed. He ate while I cleaned the kitchen.

I watched the beginning of MRS. WILSON last night. I thought it quite good.

And today I mowed. If we don’t get rain tonight, I’ll have to water tomorrow. The soil is dry enough to blow away.

I’m writing on a lunch break—and will likely head out to try to finish weeding the bed I started yesterday.

Likely…

I’ve Never Had Hair This Short

Turkey Tracks: May 18, 2021

I’ve Never Had Hair This Short

And I’m liking this, for me, dramatic hair cut.

It is so easy to keep neat looking. My longer hair was just a mess, all the time!

And look! I can “look” without glasses after the cataract surgery this winter. I only need glasses for fine print or really “up close” small things. So, I’ve just scattered them all over the house. What a blessing!

I worked really hard Sunday on household and garden tasks. The 4 kayacks and the girl’s bike went out of the garage, so that very big job is all but done. I’m sure I’ll find more small things that need to be rehomed, but all the big items are now gone and will be used and enjoyed by others. And there was a really nice catch-up visit with friends who took the kayaks and the bike.

I painted the back of the entry closet doors that were dingy and dirty after 17 years, and installed the new doorknob on a metal screw that fits perfectly—thanks to Shane Chontos getting out the stripped screw and cutting down the new one for me. I mowed—the grass was lush and long! And I put up the windchimes—so now I have been hearing them tinkling and calling me to come outside.

In celebration, yesterday I took a day off and played with AC and sewed. We went over to the big field at our Snow Bowl—a favorite spot.

AC runs with his whole heart, and he’s really fast. I think he thinks that getting the ball and bringing it to me is his “work.” He is always looking for ways to “work” with me—which recently has been showing even more as when I weed, he stands with his nose over my hands and will grab a big clump and help pull it out and shake it free of dirt. I’ve never had a dog be so engaged with me in ways like this dog is.

He is tired in this picture, but you can see he can be out with me with no leash and will stay right with me. In the woods when we hike, he branches out, but if I call him, he comes immediately, and he never lets me get where he does not know where I am.

It was warm yesterday, and after running so hard, I thought I’d take him over to the water and see if he’d like to cool off. Oh my—he immediately went into the deeper water where he would not venture last summer. I think he’s still keeping his feet where they can touch, but he was actually swimming in places too. His joy is contagious, for sure.

As he was totally wiped out afterwards, after lunch I got in some really good sewing time—also possible as I had leftovers that meant I didn’t have to cook. Here is AC on his bed beneath the longarm machine.

The design wall is filling up again with such fun projects—I’m playing with 3 at the same time. One will become a leader/ender project I think—and is using up scraps. The other two are really fun blocks—and they are going along well.

I’ll put up pics when I get a few more blocks done. Today, though, is cleaning and laundry day. And after my coffee, I’ll get right to that weekly job. And I still need to weed wack all the borders outside after mowing Sunday.

It’s all good!

Creative Quilt Binding Tutorials

Turkey Tracks: May 16, 2021

Creative Quilt Binding Tutorials

Well these binding methods are fun.

Who knew?

I love the creativity that quilters constantly invent.

This post comes from the Aurifil thread blog, Auribuzz.

https://auribuzz.com/2021/04/23/five-for-friday-quilt-binding-tutorials-2/

Enjoy!

“My Bokeh” is Done

Turkey Tracks: May 15, 2021

“My Bokeh” is Done

“Bokeh” is a photographic term for when one manipulates the camera so that it makes the background fuzzy in a picture. In my mind, the darker colors are the “background” here—they are softer and less sharp in that way, though one could easily think that what is also interesting is how all the squares are like the pixels in a photo.

I really enjoyed making this quilt—and after I had an acceptable piece to say I tried it—I went back and made it all bigger as I was not ready to stop at a wall hanging size This one is now a nice lap size, and I used pretty much all the fabric. I added white and cream to the palette.

This project was one of this year’s The Color Collective online classes, hosted by Amy Newbold of Sewtopia. Tara Faughnan is the designer, and she picks the palette colors for each of the six yearly projects that she teaches to TCC students. I think this palette is particularly nice. (A guest designer staffs the 7th month, and this year that person is Latifah Saafir.)

I quilted from the front with an organic kind of doodle—using a wheat/gold thread that worked for the front and the back. I added in lots of curves to soften all the straight lines.

The backing is an architectural pattern—and I would not have thought of using this warm color until I had the top with me in a local fabric store. It was so much more interesting than any of the other colors represented in the quilt.

I am now working on Latifah’s project, and it is really fun.

And look what I had for lunch today!

This lettuce started out late last fall—as it was seeded into the cold frame and covered for the winter. Then, there is that moment in early, early spring when the light is changing, when the snow is melting, and when I walk by the cold frame and can see green down in the dark earth. It is still a long time before the cold frame cover can be removed permanently, not just on warm days, and before I can start harvesting the lettuce and sharing it with friends. Underneath the egg is a bit of leftover rice/lamb/veggie stir fry, and the white is a cottage cheese that I can tolerate on low histamine days.

These are the last of the daffodils, and the first of the very fragrant viburnam white “balls.”

The cool spring has been really good for the daffodils and forsythia this year.

The “Wild Thing” Top is Together

Turkey Tracks: May 14, 2021

The “Wild Thing” Top is Together

My prompt for the Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild “Bee Inspired” improv challenge was “Shapes.” And, I set up a palette of clear, bright SOLID colors and hoped people would have fun playing with making shapes.

It took me some time to get the wonderful blocks I received into a coherent quilt top, but I’m really happy with how it came out.

The top is 87 wide by 81 long—so I found an equally wide 108-wide backing in Belfast yesterday at Fiddlehead Artisan Supply. I’m going to bind with the bright aqua that is in the quilt and have ordered some aqua thread for the longarm.

The top does seem to be a happy “Wild Thing.” I know I’m happy with it.

“Peaceful” Has Landed

Turkey Tracks: May 13, 2021

“Peaceful” Has Landed

On Tuesday, the big log cabin, “Peaceful,” arrived at its home—the home of my niece Lucy Howser Stevens, her husband Colby, and their three adorable children, who now have a doggie family member.

I love this picture:

But I love this one even more!

Dogs can love children deeply, and apparently this dog does. And dogs also love quilts!

Lucy chose these colors: grey and blue. And after much discussion. with me, she chose the lavender “chimney” (Kona “thistle”), which works really well in this soft, traditional quilt and which is there to remind her of her mother’s once-favorite color: purple. I really like this quilt—so much so that I’ll make another one in light and dark greys with a black chimney in the very near future. What’s been fun has been working with colors I would not have chosen on my own—the blue and grey. I don’t ordinarily like working with someone else’s colors, but this quilt has been a joy to make from start to finish.

Lucy and Colby are now in their first purchased home, and they are in the midst of making it their own, with home projects which include lots of painting of rooms. They will now choose the paint color for their bedroom.

I used the Creative Grid 12-inch log cabin ruler, and I really love how easy that ruler made this quilt block. I quilted with a light grey thread—and you can see the architectural backing in pictures below. As the quilt is 96 inches square, I used a 108-wide backing and a dark navy print for the binding. The pantograph is one I’ve used many, many times: Anne Bright’s “Simple Feathers.” I also purchased a Dream Cotton king batting rather than having to piece a batting for a quilt this size.

Here’s the backing—the quilt is mirror-image square, so the backing can go on the bed in any direction.

There are sheep, birds, stars/moons, villages, words, flowers, trees, leaves, paperclips, and all sorts of happy, whimsical organic prints in this quilt. The sheep are there to remember Lucy’s Uncle John, now deceased.

“Peaceful” is plenty big enough for their bed:

And look at that grey pillowcase with it!

It was a pleasure to make this quilt for Lucy and Colby and their family. Now I know that something special I have made will bless their lives together and their family.

On to the next!

This Bag Project Caught My Eye

Turkey Tracks: May 8, 2021

This Bag Project Caught My Eye

Aurifil’s blog, Auribuzz.com, posts a “Five For Friday” posting each week. This week this post features bags.

Wendy Chow’s (A Weekend Quilter) little gift/treat bag caught my eye—and her complete tutorial for it is on the blog post.

https://www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/c/article/quilted-treat-bags

And here is the whole Auribuzz post if you want to see the other featured bags.

https://auribuzz.com/2021/05/07/five-for-friday-bag-tutorials/

Zipper Pouch From A Mini Quilt

Turkey Tracks: May 7, 2021

Zipper Pouch From A Mini Quilt

How did it get to be Friday already?

It’s another beautiful day, so I’ll spend at least one hour weeding. Of course, when I get outside in the garden, I usually stay longer. It’s always, “just finish this bed,” or something like that. But the birds are singing, AC is delighted we are “working” at something, and the fresh air is so delightful.

Here’s a fun project—which comes via A Quilter’s Table blog.

https://mailchi.mp/aquilterstable/issue-101-more-from-a-quilters-table

How to make a Mini Quilt Zipper Pouch

Bits and Pieces, May 6, 2021

Turkey Tracks: May 6, 2021

Bits and Pieces, May 6, 2021

Well!

Somehow my post I thought I published May 1, didn’t get posted. In part because wordpress now puts all drafts in a separate place, not on my main listing of all my posts.

I can now say that along the way of all my clean-up/clean-out projects I pulled a muscle in my upper back that has been REALLY painful. AND, I used a water bottle for heat, wrapped it in a towel, and it felt so, so good. But it blistered my upper back. Who knew?

Today is the first day I haven’t been in a lot of pain, and that feels really great.

So, I mailed the big log cabin, “Peaceful,” and I’ll post final pics when it arrives at my niece’s home next Monday—hopefully, God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise.

BUT, I did get “Bokey” quilted on the longarm, and here it is, getting its binding installed:

I was going to quilt with an interesting geometric pantograph, but my longarm wouldn’t hold to the line and kept jumping off in really ugly ways, so I stopped, took out those stitches, went to the front of the machine and quilted freehand, which I actually like to do. This episode is one of the reasons I am trading this machine and getting a new one—which has a hopping foot that will move upwards when it encounters fabric thickness.

But, I really like how my quilting came out, so it’s all good:

You will see why I chose this warm gold colored thread when I show you the quilt with its backing.

Everything is so green and lush outside! The lettuce in my cold frame is ready to be eaten now:

The daffodils have just been beyond glorious this year. And this is the time of year when I vow to plant more, and I chuckle as I always wonder why I ordered more bulbs when fall and planting time rolls around. Down in the meadow, there are hundreds and hundreds of daffodils now. I planted them the first fall—in 2004–so it’s been 17 years as of June.

The raspberries I planted last spring are THRIVING. They have sent up shoots all over the place. And I’m spending time today getting the weeds out of the strawberries—to the left of the raspberries. They just run loose in that space, and last year I filled two gallon bags for the freezer.

And I’ve mowed twice.

I need to do massive weeding—but the black flies are in full force at the moment. So, I wait for a breeze rather than slavering myself with something natural (peppermint essential oil, for one thing) that will repel them.