Tag: Coastal Quilters’ fall auction

Turkey Tracks: “Ain’t This Fun?” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  October 19, 2014

“Ain’t This Fun?” Quilt Finished

 

It’s such a nice feeling to finish binding a quilt, fold it up, and call it done.

I finished “Ain’t This Fun?” this past week.

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You may remember that I used the string blocks that I made last March in Williamsburg/Norfolk with my Virginia quilting buddies–using selvage edges and leftover strips of fabric that were too big to throw and too small for a 1 1/2-inch strip.   After a week of quilting many hours, I had about 100 blocks.

What to do next?

Bonnie Hunter’s “Tulip Fields” quilt in her book STRING FLING provided an idea for setting the blocks and for the border.

Here’s what this quilt looks like on a queen bed–so you can see the size.

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Here’s the backing–which is a spring green, not really a yellow:

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And here’s a close up of the blocks–the quilting is a “spring” green–using a pantograph called “Denise’s Spirals.”

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I made this quilt for the Coastal Quilters’ auction in November.

It’s a lively, very fun quilt, and I had a lot of fun making it.

Turkey Tracks: Beet Salad

Turkey Tracks:  March 4, 2012

Beet Salad

This picture of a beet salad has been waiting to be discussed since the Christmas holidays when Mike, Tami, and the kiddos were here.

It was too good to just move on and ignore it, so here it is.

It all started when we ha some roasted beets…

Just wash some beets, put them into a covered pan, put the pan into the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour.  Less for small beets; more for larger ones.  A knife will slide right in when they are done.  I also put about a 1/2 cup of water into the pan just to prevent the oozing beet juices from burning.  Let the beets cool.  The skins will slip off easily if you rub the beets with a paper towel.  If the beets are still too warm to handle, stick a fork in each beet, hold it up, and rub the paper towel of the surface while protecting your fingers from the heat.

Lay out a bed of spinach and put the chopped beets (bite sized) over.  We had some of our dried cherry tomatoes, so those went on.  Diced, fresh are also nice.  We had some leftover cooked string beans, so they went on.  Sliced onion.  Red onion would be even nicer, but I’d never make a special trip to the store for one ingredient as I tend to cook with what I have on hand.  Blue cheese crumbled over all.  And the dressing is a very mustardy, sharp, garlicky vinaigrette–lovely with the sweet beets and onion.  Salt and cracked black pepper.

There wasn’t a piece left at the end of the meal.

The picture does not really do this salad justice.  It’s fabulous for a dinner party.

PS:  The tablecloth is a hand-crocheted piece with butterflies in the pattern that I bought at our Coastal Quilters fall auction for, I think, $30!!!!  It has lived on the table since and washes and dries easily.   Thank you, thank you to whomever put this piece into the auction.  It is loved and cherished now.