Finished

Disclaimer: this isn’t the quilt I planned to make when I posted a while ago. I made that one, and it looked fine, but it wasn’t THE quilt I wanted.

Luckily I had enough scraps to make another. And this one is perfection.

Before and After [A Foot Chest]

My parents gave me this old foot chest when I was home in July. It was in my room as a little girl, and I’ve always loved it. It’s spent the past 10 years collecting dust and mementos in their basement. I managed to lug it up to my second-floor apartment by myself, and now it’s once again in my bedroom, storing quilts made me, my grandmothers, and my great-grandmother.

Seriously, is there nothing that grey paint and Amy Butler fabric can’t fix?

A Quilt Begins

I’ve made six quilts in the past year. A few were gifts, a few were to sell, and a few were for me to use. Of the ones I’ve kept, only one has any real emotional significance to me, and that was the first one. The others are just pretty compilations of pretty fabric that keep me warm when it’s a bit chilly.

I want to make a quilt that means something.

So I’m going to.

I’ve never done a scrappy quilt before, but seeing as how my scrap box overfloweth, it’s probably time. Many scrappy quilt patterns I’ve seen on pinterest and elsewhere seem really complicated, which would totally cramp my “patchwork is awesome because you can do WHATEVER you want” style. So I won’t be doing those. Instead I’ll be making a color-blockish pattern with simple 10-inch blocks (easy to cut, easy to piece, easy to stitch-in-the-ditch).

What’s the meaning in a scrappy quilt? Fabric for me holds emotions and memories like pictures do for other people. Looking at beautiful fabric I can recall every project I’ve made with that particular print: the excitement, the frustration, the triumph, and joy on the face of the person receiving it. Fabric is my cognitive therapy.

The first step was to sort all the scraps by color: blues, greens, reds/pinks, and whites/yellows. This was probably the most enjoyable activity I’ve ever done. Seeing each little piece, feeling them, and then organizing them with their pretty brothers and sisters. You’ll notice most of this is Amy Butler and Sandi Henderson. I never pretended not to be obsessed.

And now the piecing begins! I have no real plan, which is how I like it. More to come.

Chicken a la Sis

My sister is quickly surpassing me in the kitchen. I’m ok with it, for the most part. Especially when she teaches me things like Chicken a la Sis.

What is Chicken a la Sis, you ask? It’s a chicken breast stuffed with 1-2 vegetables and cheese. The possibilities are endless: asparagus and mozzarella; red pepper, spinach, and gouda; spinach and Swiss; broccoli and cheddar, and on and on.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Saute your vegetable(s) in some olive oil and garlic until they soften.
2. Stuff the chicken with what you just sauteed. There are two ways to do this.

• Pound the chicken flat and thin, then roll it up with the stuffing inside, securing with toothpicks.
• Cut a small slit, then cut an opening in the side of the chicken breast (so the opening is small, but you can stuff to the outer edges all the way around.

3. Put your cheese in the chicken.
4. Bake at 400 for about 30 – 35 minutes.

 

What combinations can you come up with? Please share!

Baby’s Got a Brand New Wallet

Last December I ordered a dozen or so yards of Amy Butler’s Lark line. And boy, I’ve put it to good use. I’ve made: a queen-sized duvet and 2 matching shams, 2 throw pillows, a Blossom handbag, an enormous overnight tote, a Kindle case, a Cosmo bag, 3 coin purses, a Teardrop purse, a clutch for my sister, coasters, and I even hung 2 fat quarters on my living room wall.

Sadly, my hoard is shrinking. I used the last of my favorite, Heirloom Jade, earlier in the week. And when I say I used the last bit of it, I mean it. I literally have nothing left; no scraps, nothing. But I made something that I’ll see very often, which is good, because this fabric just makes me smile.

I’ve posted before about how I’m working through Amy’s Style Stitches book. I made my mom a Beautiful Balance checkbook cover for Mother’s Day, and modified that pattern to make a wallet for myself. If you’ll notice, ladies and gents, it comes complete with a zippered pouch on the back for change. I’m so proud of myself for figuring out how to do that.

Book-Style Kindle Case

Last night was my kind of night. I had a stroke of brilliance for a project around 7:30, the kind of stroke that can’t wait, and ran to my fabric hoard room to see if I had the needed the supplies. This project was even better because except for a small piece of fusible interfacing and a magnetic snap, I had everything I needed.

I rushed across town to Hancock’s for said supplies, made it 3 minutes before they closed, and ended up staying until 8:10 chatting the ladies who work there (fabric addiction… it’s like a sisterhood).

Pulling back into my neighborhood I stopped and bought a bottle of Shiraz. Because it was a beautiful, rainy night and I was making an awesome project with beautiful fabric.

I spent the next two hours putting this gem together. I don’t have instructions posted for several reasons. I may want to sell these and/or the pattern; I may teach these in the sewing classes I’ll be teaching this summer; and… ahem… due to the wine I may not remember exactly how I put it together. That last part being said, I need to make another to capture the steps and measurements, so if you’re interested in buying one, please let me know.

(Fabric used: exterior – Amy Butler’s Lark Heirloom Jade; interior – Amy Butler’s Soul Blossom Dancing Paisley)

Bubbupdates

I really appreciate everyone who wished Kane well during our scare the week before last. After our initial trip to the vet, he did much better for a few days. Then, he began having the opposite problem–he couldn’t hold his pee. He ended up soaking both of us after sneaking onto the bed one night. Back to the vet, where the polyp/mass/spot on the X-ray looked the same, and the doctor drew blood to check for adrenal diseases.

The blood was mostly normal, but indicated a deficit in his thyroid production. So, my svelte, 1%-body-fat, solid muscle boy has hypothyroidism. The good news is this is a very treatable condition, and the herbal thyroid support supplements and Western thyroid medication are fairly inexpensive. We go back in 3 weeks to check the mass/polyp again, and for more blood work to see if the herbs have corrected his thyroid deficiency. (He’s also on several herbal supplements to break up whatever that mass is, so he can flush it.)

I haven’t seen any blood in his urine, and his overall demeanor is back to normal. He may even be a bit better than he was before this; some of the herbs target and quench his “fiery” constitution.

So, we keep moving forward.