Turkey Tracks: My Life in Maine – Page 66

Turkey Tracks: Improv Sauteed Cabbage

Turkey Tracks: December 31, 2016

Improv Sautéed Cabbage

I hardly ever use recipes any more.

I collect the good clean food found in one of our co-ops or that comes from my summer CSA or garden and just…cook it.

The other day I had one small cabbage, the size of a large softball, left from the summer CSA, Hope’s Edge. Cabbage keeps really well in a produce drawer. I don’t wrap it.

I had some leftover meatloaf, and it was lunchtime, and I was hungry.

So I put the meatloaf into the oven to warm–takes only about 15 minutes–and started sautéing the cabbage in some of my Wilderness Family Naturals centrifuge extracted, unheated coconut oil. (I order this coconut oil by the case and am always willing to see a jar to someone at cost as it is much cheaper to bulk order.)

I added a hunk of raw butter for added flavor and browning and good fat, some chopped shallots, some Penzey’s spices, local sea salt, and pepper. Penzey’s spices are highly rated by the Weston A. Price Foundation.

It’s looking good!

And it was…

The meatloaf got a little brown on top as someone stopped by to give me something. This one had added grated carrots and a handful of the greens I dried and whirred into tiny green flakes in the food processor last summer. (A recipe for meatloaf is elsewhere on this blog.)

But this lunch was delicious, nourishing, and filling.

Turkey Tracks: Done! Fun!

Turkey Tracks: December 30, 2016

DONE! FUN!

As many of you know, I started A LOT of projects over the course of last year–like agreeing to make 99 Farmer’s Wife blocks (Laurie Aaron Bird).

And, starting SEVERAL English Paper Piecing projects (Katja Marek).

And, making blocks for a future improv quilt with Coastal Quilters friends.

And, getting the right borders and backing for the big Hexie quilt–which needs a good name (Edyta Sitar)

And, planning and making TWO baby quilts.

And, working on another quilt made from the 1600 four-patches I sewed out of the 2″ square blocks two summers ago.

And, collecting the makings for a BIG travel bag.

And, starting the day after Thanksgiving, working on “clues” for Bonnie Hunter’s 2016 Mystery Quilt “En Provence.”

Trust me, the list is MUCH longer than just these items.

So…. It is fun to see many of these projects coming to fruition. At last. DONE!!!

***

Here’s what a pile of the 99 Farmer’s Wife blocks looks like:

Here are the last five blocks:

I’ve got the blocks up on the design wall–using a method thought up by Lynn Vermeulen, who separated her blocks into different color piles before laying them out. Great idea, Lynn.

I am letting the blocks bubble on the design wall before sewing them together, and already I’ve swapped blocks out quite a bit since I took this picture.

Can we talk about this project? If you are thinking about doing it and foundation piecing the blocks, be warned that you must be somewhat sadomasochistic to even think about it as this project does bring both pleasure and pain. I think that whoever did the foundation piecing plans didn’t really know that much about foundation piecing. Some of the more difficult blocks are needlessly difficult–and if some had been drawn as the hand-piecing instructions showed, they would have been much easier. Additionally, many times the seams did not but up, which made for a really bulky block. So, I found myself taking out the papers to flip over a seam if I could and/or cutting into a seam to make the top flip so seams would but up. I pressed open a lot of seams as well, which is not ideal in terms of quilt wear. I really hope that if Laurie Aaron Bird produces an updated book that she will have someone new look at the foundation piecing patterns.

Having said that warning, the blocks are lovely, and the quilt is exciting.

I’m up-to-date on the Bonnie Hunter clues and will be starting this week’s tomorrow. Here’s last week’s:

The 4-patch red/neutral quilt is finished now and bound. I’ll take pictures tomorrow and post them here. This quilt is “So Sweet.”

The second baby quilt is underway.

The big hexie quilt that I started Thanksgiving 2015 is ON THE LONGARM! This quilt is on the cover of Edyta Sitar’s HANDFULS OF SCRAPS.

Next up on the longarm, the Farmer’s Wife quilt.

I have two pieces of the Katja Marek THE NEW HEXAGON millifiore quilt completed–and am hyperventilating about whether it is working or not. The top block seems very…bold? But this quilt does have a place for bold, and it is too early to tell. These are rosettes 1 and 9, and I am working on 11, which will sit next to rosette 9 on the upper border. I wanted to use neutrals and fall/winter colors/themes. Time will tell.

This project will be a challenge for the Coastal Quilters for 2017.

Turkey Tracks: I Killed My Christmas Cactus

Turkey Tracks: December

I Killed My Christmas Cactus

It took a few years, but I killed it!

I’ve had them for years before now–back in Virginia–and never had any trouble with them.

I don’t have much sun coming into the house here in Maine–the overhangs around the house block most direct sunlight. And the few windows where I do have sun produce too much sun and are just in the wrong place for keeping plants over the winter.

I tried the plant I killed in many places in the house, but its leaves were limp and listless and obviously sick.

So, the other day I asked a local nursery what was wrong.

Too Much Water.

Up here in Maine, these plants can go for two months with no water–especially in the winter. They need to get really, really dry. The limp leaves are a sign of root rot.

Makes sense.

In Virginia the climate and light is very different–and I suspect water in a pot dried out faster so root rot did not set in.

Let’s see if I can get this new one to thrive.

Turkey Tracks: Becca’s Kitty and Becca’s First Longarm Quilt

Turkey Tracks: December 23, 2016

Becca’s Kitty and Becca’s First Longarm Quilt

Friend Becca has two half-grown black kittens that are hard to tell apart–brother and sister.

They are adorable.

They are coal black, but the female one has a white spot on her chest. I may have finally learned to tell them apart.

I was over there the other day to admire Becca’s FIRST LONGARM QUILT all finished–she did it here on Lucy the Longarm, and it will be on a bed by now–and the female kitty begged and begged to come into Becca’s Etsy store, Sew Me A Song. None of the family’s pets are allowed in the Etsy Store and especially not half-grown kittens.

Then we looked up to see this:

Here are some pics of Becca’s quilt–it’s her version of Bonnie Hunter’s “Scrappy Trip Around the World”–which is a free pattern on Bonnie’s web site Quiltville.com. I LOVE Becca’s fabrics–so fresh and exciting and fun and so NOT like my older traditional ones… I’m slowly switching over, and that is a totally wonderful journey.

Becca used a navy and white strip to bind this quilt and quilted free hand with a medium grey thread. To see more of this kind of binding take a look at Red Pepper Quilts blog.

Here you can see Becca’s backing fabric and how nicely the grey thread is playing on both sides of the quilt AND some of the really fun fabrics Becca uses. She had fun with this quilt. She wrote names into it, made hearts, made all kinds of squiggles, and just played.

Here’s a pic of the “trip” pattern–which is really, really fun to make. The blocks, when put together, start forming diamonds.

Here’s my “trip” quilt from a few years back. It’s the difference of night and day:

I love mine–all made from 2 1/2-inch strip sets precut from other quilts and put into bins. Each fabric reminds me of a quilt I made for someone. And this quilt gets used every day. BUT, I love Becca’s fabrics more. Change is always good, and this change is providing me with loads of new joys–which include learning new things.

Turkey Tracks: Knitting Selvage Placemats

December 21, 2016

Knitting Selvage Placemats

There are TWO selvages on any width of fabric.

(Fat quarters have just one.)

One selvage can be colorful with round dots to show the different dyes, cool sayings, the name of the fabric, the name of the designer, and so forth. Indeed, fabric makers are getting quite creative with these selvages now as quilters are making all sorts of products using them, including dramatic and gorgeous quilts.

When I first started quilting over 20 years ago, we were always cautioned NOT to use the selvage as the selvage was “different” than the fabric and would not handle or wash the same way. So, we just threw them away.

The OTHER selvage is often plain, and for years I’ve thought about what might be done with those.

I’ve tried knitting old t-shirt strips. They are ok, but a bit thick. I have a small rug upstairs made from t-shirt strips. It sits under the dog bowls.

BUT, what about these OTHER selvages?

I cleaned some up, which means getting the ripping threads under control, and looped enough together to make a long, continuous strand.

Time has shown that making LOTS of long strands is better than trying to make one large ball. It’s easy enough to attach new ones. I also learned to loop the long strands together and to wrap them into a loose knot so they don’t tangle and retangle with the other long strands in the bottom of my knitting bag.Here is the first placemat, completed this week:

Not bad. I got a big crochet hook and went around the edges with a single stitch just to refine it a big.

This lone one is very cute on my dining room table actually. It needs some bright cloth napkins. Aqua maybe. Or, green. Or red. Whatever.

I could have also bound off the edge and turned the work, picked up stitches from the short side, and knitted there a bit. That would have been the start of a rug I think, where I bound off and turned the work at regular intervals. Finished panels could be joined into a bigger rug. The Mason Dixon knitters already figured that out. (See Kay Gardiner, Ann Shayne, MASON*DIXON KNITTING.) (I’m sure there are earlier blog posts here on this folks. Search on the right sidebar search button.)

But heaven knows I don’t need anymore rag rugs at the moment. You can see earlier posts about all the rag rugs made on a primitive Appalachian hand loom–using old sheets, fabric strips, etc.

There are an astonishing number of selvages in this placemat. I just pin the whole project to the design wall, loop new selvages over one of the knitting needles, and when I get a hunk of them, I clean them up. loop them up, and spend some time knitting them into the work.

Turkey Tracks: Clue 4 is Done

Turkey Tracks: December 18, 2016

Clue 4 is DONE!

But not without a learning lesson…

…44 learning lessons to be exact about it.

So, NOTE TO SELF: when you are tired and it is time for dinner, STOP. No matter how close you are to finishing something.

These Tri-Rec units do have some key things to which one should pay attention.

When putting the first purple piece, yes, match up the bottom and sew to the top/wide side. When pressing, use a dry iron and just pat the seam down as the OTHER SIDE is on the bias and very stretchy.

When sewing the next strip, DO NOT just rip through the pile without checking how things are coming out every so often.

I did 44 of these without checking things:

DO pay as much attention when laying down the other purple side. Yes, the bottom needs to line up, BUT those two little triangles at the top do as well. I got fixated on the bottom and ignored how the top was so NOT matching up.

Why didn’t I see this problem? Because I was too busy pushing pieces through the machine.

Here’s how the bottom should look:

Here’s how the top should line up==the triangles at the top should MATCH. The edge of the neutral piece may be a bit stretchy, but it will fall in when you sew. You could pin it to be sure. And, again, don’t be ironing the first side down with steam or lots of pushing/pulling without thinking about the opposite, raw, bias edge.

Then you will get a unit that has a nice straight top that only needs the protruding triangles trimmed.

If your top is NOT straight, take out the seam and start over.

I hope I have saved some of you from ripping out 44 purple pieces and resewing!!!

(This unit is from Bonnie Hunter’s 2016 Mystery Quilt “En Provence.” All instructions and “clues” are on her blog, quiltville.com. Look for the tab on the top of her blog header–along with a lot of other wonderful tabs filled with free quilt patterns, tips and tricks, how-to videos, etc.)

Turkey Tracks: Winter Comfort Food: Leek and Potato Soup

Turkey Tracks: December 18, 2016

Winter Comfort Food: Leek and Potato Soup

The classic combo of leeks and potatoes is…classic.

I alter Julia Child’s recipe a bit by using a chicken bone broth as a base instead of plain water. AND, I do wilt the leeks with about 1/4 cup of raw butter before throwing in the potatoes and the broth.

While the above very simple mixture cooks–about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are really soft, I go hunting for what Emeril Lagasse used to call “the boat motor.” It’s so much easier than trying to hand smash the soup, or putting a really hot liquid into a blender or through a food mill.

The result is a velvety smooth soup.

You can make this kind of soup with any kind of veggie combo actually. Squashes work like the potatoes to give the velvet texture.

Add a drizzle of raw cream or more butter and a sprinkle of something green, like dried herbs, chopped fresh parsley, etc.

And, enjoy!

Turkey Tracks: Snow Day and Quilty Update

Turkey Tracks: December 17, 2016

Snow Day And Quilty Update

I love snow days, and this snow is light and fluffy due to the extreme cold. Temps have been on the MINUS side of zero for the past few days.

I am hunkered down and have pottered about all day so far, but have paid bills, updated CheckbookPro, read and responded to email, blogged, and will go and sew after a late lunch.

I have finished last week’s “clue” for the Bonnie Hunter 2016 mystery quilt, “En Provence.” I’ll start this week’s clue after lunch–a unit that uses more purple and neutrals. It’s a good thing I added a few more fat quarlters to my neutral stash for this quilt.

I’ve had this quilt on the long-arm all week but have not accomplished much on it. I’m using the clam shell groovy board and a light thread.

This quilt is suddenly looking quite seasonal to me with its red and greens. I’m almost wishing I had put a green backing on it. Megan Bruns picked out the outer border fabric, which is a 1030’s red schoolhouse print. Very retro.

I am in the home stretch on the Farmer’s Wife blocks however. Really like how this block came out.

I finished the first, the BIG, rosette in the Katja Marek “The New Hexagon” millifiore quilt. And I REALLY like it. Thought about going back in and making the cotton boll fabric from Cotton + Steel (one of my all-time favorites) all line up, but that would throw off the outer blocks with the rust-colored diamonds so that they would look strange. As is, the outer ring has a lot of movement, no top and bottom, and if you rotate it in your mind, you can see that there is an organization to it. It is hard to visualize how these big rosettes are going to come out I think. One just has to grab fabric and get along with the whole thing. It is unlikely that anyone ever sees a big quilt straight on anyway–unless it is going to hang. And this one is going to be USED.

So…

Stay warm, take time to enjoy these dark nights of peace, and eat well.

Turkey Tracks: December 5, 2016

Bonnie Hunter 2016 Mystery Quilt “En Provence”:

Clue 2 Done

Turkey Tracks: Quilt Label Problem

Turkey Tracks: December 1, 2016

Quilt Label Problem

I’ve never had this problem happen before now:

What on earth???

I use Sharpie precision (very fine) permanent ink pens to write on labels.

I prewash my fabrics, so I never wash a quilt before sending it along–and this time, because I used a blue marking pen for the quilting grid, I did. As an aside, I will say that I absolutely loved how washing the quilt makes it look. Soft, cuddly, altogether wonderful. I may be a new convert to washing right after finishing a quilt.

So, now, I was horrified that all my labels would run like the one above.

So, I began testing the markers–and micron 08 archival pens–on muslin and running them through the washer. I like the Sharpies because they don’t dry out quickly. Friend Megan Bruns suggested I store all pens upside down in jars to prevent drying out. The gel pens, in particular, dry up pretty fast.

Here’s the first test:

The silver gel pen washed right out. but look at the rest. Not a smudge!

So, maybe it was the COLOR of the pens. Like the teal/green I used in the label above.

Here’s the second test:

Some smudging on the teal IRONED marking. the rest is clear. I did iron the label on the quilt. Why I don’t know. Maybe because I was going to wash it right away and wanted to heat set the label.

So, I do not have a clue as to why that particular label ran so badly.

It will have to come out, of course.

Maybe it is a good idea to prep the label and wash it BEFORE putting it into the quilt.

Comments from you all would be welcome.

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