Progress, of sorts...

So I haven't made any progress on my Project Modern quilt, but... I made an entire baby quilt in around 24 hours! Here are some pictures of its creation...

The top, no borders...

Top and bottom borders added...

Borders done!

Sandwiched, pinned and ready to be quilted!

Half-way finished with the quilting...

Done!

The plain back...

I used three flannel prints for the top with solid blue and pale yellow for the border and back. This was very much something of an improvisational quilt, I just started cutting strips of fabric, then started sewing them into bigger strips, then pieced those together! I really liked how it turned out, I even teared up a little when I gave it away... but I know it will be used! I still have a little of all the fabrics, so maybe I'll use them in something for Two when I get the time...

I've been doing a decent amount of creative cooking and baking, too! Last two Fridays ago (has it really been that long since I posted?) I made a couple of 9" deep dish pizzas topped with tomatoes, lots of cheese, sweet Italian sausages, peppers and onions. I actually thought to take pictures! Here they are...

The pizzas!

Nice, deep dish with layers! (And a very happy Two in the background)

And I also decided pretty much on a whim to try out the chocolate stout cake recipe from King Arthur Flour. That was pretty good, too! Rich and heavy, but yummy! No pictures of that, but I made it! This last Friday I made thin crust pizzas again, they're so good! Saturday night I tried out Emeril's recipe for pierogis that turned out pretty well. The recipe didn't halve well, so I just made a lot of them and froze a bunch to save for another night. I also tried out KAF's bacon cheddar scones Sunday morning. The recipe called for chives, too, but I didn't have any on hand, so I just left them out. I just made a half recipe of mini scones and they were pretty great! So a lot of baking going on here! And some temporary insanity with quilting! Hopefully I'll have more progress to post, soon!

Catch-up!

I haven't gotten too much crafting, or baking, or interesting cooking, or much else done in the past few days. I did create that little backpack (turned into more of a shoulder/messenger bag) and wish I could share it, but I forgot to take a picture of it before I wrapped it up and gave it to the little birthday girl. She loves it, so I must have done something right! I may have to start taking orders from some of my friends, too! That could be a lot of fun, I just don't think I have time to take on too much else. I've been trying to catch up with housework on top of taking care of the little guy and everyone, but with our two really ridiculously hot days (I'm talking over 100 outside, 91 downstairs inside, no A/C hot), I fell even more behind and now have to play catch-up with the chores. Yuck. But, I need to get things back in order and just have maintenance chores so I can get started cutting and piecing my Project Modern quilt in addition to finishing the strippy quilt. I think it's going to need a name. That will probably just have to wait until it's done, and it has less of a deadline than my laundry basket does... yes, my inspiration for the first Project Modern challenge is my laundry basket. The basic design isn't likely to change any more, but I may play with the orientation and coloring of it. Right now it's going to be more or less completely black and white. And I'm kinda liking that. I'm also toying with the idea of doing a little piecing on the back. I've been falling in love with a lot of quilt backs with just one small pieced area, so I may include, that, too. Just have no idea how or what! Maybe mostly black with one asymmetrical white stripe? Hmm..... first, chores!

Project update and yummy food!

So it's Tuesday, and I haven't posted anything since Friday, and a few experiments and projects have been conducted. The sugar cookies were quite delicious, but I ran out of time to ice them for the block party, so they're just sitting unfrosted in the cookie jar, slowly getting eaten.

Sunday I decided I wanted to try something new for dinner. There are so many beautiful apples available right now, I thought I'd make something with apples and pork, since they go together so well. I ended up with some ground pork and the inspiration to make my own version of a meat pie. I began with some apple-honey cured bacon (six slices of bulk from the meat counter), rendered it down and removed it from the pan. I added in one and a half sliced onions and two diced apples (I used one Granny Smith and one Jonagold) to let them caramelize and cook down. I let those cook for at least half an hour by themselves in the bacon fat. Then I added in the ground pork (about a pound, I think it was) and three diced yukon gold potatoes. I added in some cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, rubbed sage, salt and pepper (I think that was all... I just went with some classic apple and pork spice pairings!) and let the meat brown up. To help soften the potatoes and create a little gravy I added in some chicken stock, then some apple cider and a little flour. I don't really measure much as I'm cooking, so it's all just what looked good to me at the time! I put it all into a homemade pie crust (bottom and top!) and baked it at 375* for about 30 minutes, until the crust was golden. I then let it cool for a few minutes to let it set up and dished it out. It was delicious! Even our friend who does not like fruit (!!!) really enjoyed it! I was happy there were enough leftovers for the three of us for lunch on Monday and not just for the two of them! This is definitely a "Tess creation" that is going to stay in the repertoire! And if I may say so, the crust was perfect! I'm glad I went ahead and practiced making my own... I think it's a good skill to have!

In non-cooking news, I made some decent progress on my quilt. I decided I needed a couple more strips of pieced strips, then I had the revelation that they did not need to be placed vertically, but could go horizontally! I had been struggling with how to form the top with only three strips place vertically and still have it large enough, I made two more and still couldn't make it work in my head, and then I just turned them and voila! I really think this is going to work out wonderfully! Here are some pictures of how it's going together...

The three original strips

The five current strips

This is how I plan on piecing the strips together, with solid charcoal grey. I may end up needing to make some more scrappy strips to make it as large as I want it, and the side sashing is going to be the same grey. Each stripe is 5.5 inches, so roughly 5 inches finished. As is is right now, then, the finished main part of the top will be 55 inches long. I haven't measured the width yet, but I'm thinking it will be a good "lap" quilt to keep on a couch, right? Any criticisms or comments are welcome and appreciated!

Well, I think I may go try to get some more work done up there! I'll update more progress as I go!

Ah, Friday...

So the baking bug has hit me the last week or so. Tomorrow evening, we're having a block party and I need to bring a side dish (I'm going to try out a pasta salad with kidney and green beans), but I think I'm going to bring some cookies, too. Or I might just keep the cookies for us and our friends... we'll see. The dough is in the fridge chilling right now. I've been wanting to try the sugar cookie recipe and icing techniques my mother in law introduced me to that she learned from one of her friends who typed them up beautifully. The dough tastes really good! I can't wait to see a finished product. I'm trying to decide what shape to use. Basic circles with pretty designs? Rockets? Fall leaves? The leaf cutter I have is a bit on the big side, and I only made a half recipe, so I'm leaning toward smallish circles... any input or ideas would be appreciated! I'll be sure to take a post photos of the finished product!

Also, yesterday was the first card swap my group held of the school year! I got some great cards from all the ladies in the group. I may take some pictures to put up to share, for sure of the cards I made and perhaps of some others. I have some ideas for other cards I'd like to make, and those will definitely go up to. If I think of it, I'll take photos to show my "process" which is rather organic and haphazard. Most of my friends think I'm somewhat insane for how I work. I rarely have a plan in place before I start, if I do at all, it's just the colors or stamp set. So yes... that is what I'm thinking about right now... sugar cookies, and cards... oh, and the quilt I have in progress.... I'm working on trying to figure out how to finish it, or at least the next step toward finishing... I still need to take and post some photos of the progress I've made... perhaps later today or tomorrow.... ciao ciao!