Addiction

A long while ago, Tazzie tagged me to show my quilting spot. Until this week, the only hand sewing I've ever enjoyed was binding. I think I like it because it's the final step and it feels so good to finish a project. (Also because I always watch tv or a movie while I do it.) Now that Nadine has hooked me on hexagons, I really do have a spot! I made these while watching Season 3 of Project Runway downloaded from iTunes. If Santa brings some dvds, I'm sure there will be lots of hexagons in my future!

Tree Skirt

Patti recently posted a picture of a beautiful tree skirt she made, so I thought I'd post a picture of the simple one I made a few years ago for my grandparents and my aunt. It was the first time I foundation-pieced anything (on muslin) and the first time I bound anything curved. I also used gold thread to quilt it by machine - the only time I've used anything but basic cotton. The silly thing is that most of the quilting is in the ditch! I think I figured out how silly that was halfway through, because there is also some more visible zig-zagging going on. A zig-zag was the only decorative stitch on my machine then and I definitely hadn't tried any free-motion at that point! The pattern is Thimbleberries Star Dance Tree Skirt, but I left off the appliqued stars (it's no longer on the Thimbleberries website, but there seem to be several of these patterns available on ebay these days.) It was a fun project - I should make one for myself one of these days!

There are a lot of bird fabrics in there, since their house is full of all things bird. Actually, I was thinking of organizing a bird fabric swap some time in 2007 - any interest?

A First!

I made my first hexagon - actually, my first seven hexagons! They were a lot of fun and I can see why people have warned me that they are addictive! Many, many thanks to Nadine for her help! These are all green fabrics from my medallion project. Lots of comments on the last two rounds and what I should do with that turned corner block. I'm going to leave you in suspense about my decision - you'll just have to wait until I post a picture of round six! It's in the works, as are rounds seven and eight. I made about a million HSTs on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have some time to sew them together in the evenings this week. These little hexagons are destined to be part of a very small (top-secret) project I have to finish first!

Finally Something on the Quilting Front

It's been almost a week since I last sewed anything. Sunday evening I attached rounds four and five to my medallion project, but I wasn't happy with the corners on the flying geese round. Tonight I replaced them with these that echo the center. (The first ones were too busy.) The center is 24"x24" and now the whole thing is 45"x45". I'm aiming for approx. 90"x90". I have a sneaking suspicion that these rounds are going to take more and more time as they get larger and larger! Luckily I can use some of my 'reject' geese in the stars for another round!

Just before posting this, I noticed the upper right hand geese-row cornerstone is facing the wrong direction! Now I need to decide if I'm willing to rip this out again! Ack! I can look at it in the morning with 'fresh eyes'.

Thanksgiving (lots about food, nothing about quilting)

What a difference a year makes. Last year I celebrated Thanksgiving with my brother's host family in France - we celebrated on a Friday night (his birthday), so I was home alone when the turkey arrived complete with a head and some feathers!! This year I had an adventure with two friends driving out into the Finnish countryside to collect our turkey - decidedly headless and featherless - much more in my culinary comfort zone. Here's last year's pre-roasting photo and this year's post-roasting photo.

Judy posted her menu, so I thought I'd post mine here.

garlic mashed potatoes (made with sour cream)
sweet potatoes with orange slices
brussel sprouts glazed with balsamic vinegar
wheat bread and mushroom stuffing
cranberry sauce
cranberry bread
squash rolls
turkey (sans tête et plumage)
gravy (thanks to Gisela!)
white wine (also thanks to Gisela!)
cranberry juice
pecan pie (à la mode)
pumpkin pie (à la mode)
chocolate banana cake (thanks to Thomas!)

A few recipes for my guests who asked and for anyone else who might be interested:

Grandma Gen's Cranberry Bread
2 cups flour (just under 470ml)
1 cup sugar (just under 235ml)
1 egg (well-beaten)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (7.5ml)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (2.5ml)
1 teaspoon salt (5ml)
juice and grated rind of orange + 2 Tablespoons margarine or butter + boiling water to make total 3/4 cup (180ml)
Sift dry ingredients together. Add liquid, then egg. Mix until well dampened.
Add 1 cup chopped nuts (optional) and 1 cup raw cranberries (halved) or lingonberries (whole). Bake at 177C (350F) for 60 minutes.

Susan's Squash Rolls
1 Tablespoon yeast (15ml - maybe a tad more)
1/4 cup warm water (60ml)
2/3 cup milk (160ml)
1 cup cooked squash (butternut is best, pumpkin, acorn, something orange and fairly wet when cooked - frozen puree works well, too)
1/3 cup brown sugar (80ml)
1/2 teaspoon salt (2.5ml)
1/3 cup melted butter (80ml)
2 cup whole wheat flour (470ml)
2-3 cups unbleached white flour (470-700ml)
Proof yeast in warm water. Combine the milk, squash, sugar, salt, and melted butter. When this has cooled to lukewarm, add yeast and whole wheat flour. Beat well. Stir in unbleached white flour until dough is stiff enough to knead. Turn onto floured surface and knead well, adding flour as necessary to prevent sticking. This is a soft elastic dough and very nice to work with.
Place dough in a large buttered bowl, turn the dough to coat it with the butter. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour, punch down. Shape into tangerine sized balls and place on buttered baking sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise for about 30-45 minutes.
Bake at 205C/400F (190C/375F in an especially hot oven) for 20 minutes.
Brush tops with melted butter after removing from oven.

Cranberry Sauce

3 parts cranberries (whole)

1 part sugar

1 part orange juice (or water)

Combine over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil, cranberries will burst. Reduce heat, cook for 10 minutes. Cool completely before serving. If you're using juicy cranberries (not the firm Ocean Spray variety), you might need to halve the liquid.

I make a basic butter pie crust kind of like this.

Pumpkin Pie
3 eggs
2 cups (470-500ml) fresh, canned, or thawed frozen pumpkin puree
1.5 cups light cream (350ml) (or 3/4 cup heavy cream + 3/4 cup milk)
1/2 cup white sugar (120ml)
1/3 cup brown sugar (80ml)
1 tsp cinnamon (5ml)
1 tsp nutmeg (5ml)
1/2 tsp ginger (2.5ml)
1/4 tsp cloves (1ml)
1/2 tsp salt (2.5ml)
Whisk thoroughly. Pour into preheated (but not completely baked) pie crust. Bake for 30-45 minutes at 375F/190C - until the center is set, but still quivery, like jello. Cool completely before serving - cold, room temperature, or slightly warmed.

Pecan Pie
toast 1.5-2 cups (350-470ml) pecans (whole, chopped, or a mixture)
Whisk together:
3 eggs
1 cup (235ml) sugar - white or brown
1 cup (235ml) syrup - light or dark Karo syrup or light/golden syrup or treacle syrup (can you tell I've made this in several different countries?!)
5 Tbsp (75g) melted butter
1 tsp (5ml) of vanilla extract OR 1 Tbsp (15ml) Vana Tallinn OR 1 Tbsp (15ml) Kalhua
Add the nuts to the mixture, pour into a preheated pie crust. Bake until the edges are firm and the center is set, but still quivery (again, like jello). Recipe says 30-45 minutes, but it always takes longer - closer to 60 minutes, at 375F/190C. Cool completely before serving (again, serve cold, room temperature, or slightly warmed).

I don't really use recipes for the other dishes, but can give more details if anyone is interested! Happy Thanksgiving!

The Bear Paw Verdict

So, the darks have it. I liked the light when I drew it two summers ago, but once I had everything in front of me, I wasn't so sure. Most importantly, my brother voted for the dark sashing and it's going to be his quilt! (It took him a while to respond - recovering from being a grilled cheese sandwich for Halloween and away for an ultimate frisbee tournament in Rhode Island, etc...) Thanks to everyone who left a comment.

I thought I'd post a few more pictures from my mom's visit. We crossed the longest bridge in Finland to Replot and then to Bjorkeby. It was awfully chilly that day!





A couple people asked me to say a little more about the princess cake from an earlier post. It's a sponge-type cake, sliced into several thin layers, layered with jam, topped with whipped cream, then covered with marzipan. Delicious.

No-Knead, No Quilting

I finally made the no-knead bread I mentioned the other day. I actually love kneading bread, but I have to say, this is the most delicious bread I've ever made! The crust is nice and crisp (like from a French bakery) and the inside has lots of little tiny air pockets, making an awesome texture. The recipe is from the New York Times on November 8th and you can actually watch a video of the process here. The only trick to this incredibly simple process is having the patience to let it sit for 18 hours!

No quilting to show today - only had a chance to connect some of the geese together for Round Four.