8 Years in the Making: Part Deux

Last year (also just over a month ago!) I made a wedding quilt for my cousin and her boyfriend fiance, now husband. They had been dating for 8 years! I even managed to finish the quilt, including quilting and binding, in time for the wedding which was on December 21st. Incidentally it was the best wedding ever. It was at a restaurant/bar/bowling alley/arcade so we ate, drank and bowled!

Oh yeah, the quilt; Focus, Sabrina. When I last wrote about the quilt, I was struggling with a decision about the border. You can read all about that here.

Apparently I just couldn't make the decision so I asked my cousin for input and she picked the border fabric! Here it is.

And here is a horribly lit overall shot of the quilt. I was worried the border would be too big, but I think it actually works pretty well which is wonderful because I did not feel up to making another set of the zig zag thingamaboppers.

Here is a shot of the happy couple [plus a John Goodman mural] at their wedding.

They have now been married for over a month now. Huzzah! Except that it makes me a total slacker for just now getting to the blog post about the quilt. I'm also a total slacker because I'm not feeling up to writing about anything I'm currently working on. Le sigh.

Back to it

I was able to finish so much stuff in the final days leading up to the start of spring semester. I am going to be teaching over-full time, so my time now belongs to students.

First off, I picked a design for Mug Rug Revival! I hope my partner likes it!


I even quilted it up and finished the binding. Zomg, I love this backing fabric. I had just enough in my scrap bin and it was difficult to part with it. Please give it a good home, partner!



















So here is the finished product! The heart is so much bigger than the mug because I think love is bigger than caffeinated beverages (unless of course you love caffeinated beverages!).

Here is some super tasty rye bread. It turned out so delicious! Two loaves of it went into the freezer to be provisions for the semester since I won't have time to cook. (Recipe here)


One of the loaves went towards Rueben sandwiches. They came out so incredible! We bought the kraut at a local German restaurant because their kraut is magically creamy and delicious. Couple that with nice corned beef, swiss, and homemade Russian dressing and it would be difficult to not be amazing. (Russian dressing recipe is over here)


Then we have some feijoada (pronounced: fay-joe-ah-duh) with sauteed kale and rice. This is a Brazilian recipe and was so insanely tasty. There are 6 leftover bags of this in the freezer!  I kind of frankensteined the recipe out of two that looked decent. My original struggle with this recipe was the cuts of meat they all called for. Originally this was a slave dish in Brazil, using the cheapest cuts of meat, but now it uses some fancy stuff that I couldn't find locally. I used 2 pounds of black beans, 1/2 lb of bacon, 1.5 lbs of beef tips, and 1.5 pounds of pork sausage. Basically I used all the veggies and seasoning listed in both recipes, but added the veggies towards the end. (Recipe 1 & Recipe 2)


We also made Greek food. I didn't take a picture of the tirotrigonas (cheese puffs) but here is the pastitsio. So delicious but so messy. When I was a little kid, an elderly Greek woman told me that "pastitsio" actually means "every dish is dirty" which is totally believable, but I still try to make it at least once a year.  One whole leftover pan of this stuff is in the freezer! This is a family recipe but I could get it for you if you really want it. :)


I also got the mini heart sample quilt back from the quilters and finished the binding up.


Here is a close-up shot of the quilting which was done by Kenneth Butler of the Quilt Cottage.


And here is a horribly lit overall shot of the quilt! It really didn't turn out as bad as I expected, though it still isn't my style.

Lastly I made up some reusable snack baggies for my cousin and her brand new husband. They are taking a cruise for their [delayed] honeymoon, and I am a big proponent of taking snacks off the boat with you on cruises. I mean, you totally payed for the food! 

Anyways, two of these have velcro closures and two have foldy over type closures. I like the velcro ones a lot more because they keep in little stuff like blueberries and nuts but I can see the allure of both so I would suggest trying both and seeing which fits your needs. I used rip stop nylon from JoAnn's for the lining on both (meaning I subbed it for the melted plastic bags in the flippy turny one). This was done for two reasons: 1) I take my own grocery bags so I really don't have leftovers and 2) My chemical engineer boyfriend says that as long as the bags aren't scorched, there shouldn't be any issues whatsoever but for some reason, melted plastic near food just stresses me out. [Said the girl who once ate food that was microwaved in a styrofoam container]. (Velcro bag tutorial & foldy bag tutorial)

Today was my first day of classes and I am exhausted already. This might be because I have had to be up ridiculously too early every day this week for various reasons that are luckily not ongoing. It could also be because I just had almost a month off from teaching. Oh well. Six and a half weeks until spring break! 

Dread.

First things first: DOWNTON! I'm stressing out! Ahh! We don't have a TV so I'm watching UK versions my amazing pen-pal sent me and am finding it challenging to stay on track and not jump ahead in the hopes that the storylines will get happier. The only thing stopping me is this consuming feeling of dread that things will not actually be happier in the upcoming episodes.

Speaking of dread, I might not be ready to start teaching again. Winter break has gone by way too quickly. I haven't accomplished half the sewing and cooking goals set for myself. How sad! I am going to be teaching over-full-time again this semester and when you factor in that the commute I'm used to of 10 minutes each way (is it fair to call that a commute?) will now become 40 minutes each way. Yuck. That is going to result in so much less sewing time.

Here is the stuff I have finished up. First off a repurposed old t-shirt that I'm [eventually] turning into a grocery bag. My Star Trek bag is getting so many compliments that I just had to add a Star Wars bag to the mix. I love confusing people especially when those people are strangers at the grocery store!


This bit of stitching will be worked into the bag somehow. I'm not the tidiest of stitchers, but hopefully I can put it to good use.


I also whipped up some bread bowls to freeze since there will not be enough time to make any exciting food this semester and a homemade bread bowl can jazz up nearly any soup!


Over the holidays I learned that cooking in someone else's kitchen is difficult. To thank the people who generously let me commandeer their kitchens, I offered to make them some potholders. This first one is for my boyfriend's aunt. I had made the EPP star just to see if I could do it neatly (turns out I can) and thought this would be the best use for it!


Check out that echo quilting! This was a first for me and I think it came out fairly well considering I kind of forgot to baste everything. Props to my boyfriend for posing as a design wall at the farmer's market!


I also made another trivet for my boyfriend's bff's wife (she also received the fox one). This one is backed in shelf lining stuff to make it grippy (huzzah for that stuff being machine washable!).


I decided to try a new bread recipe because Active Dry Yeast was on sale. I made challah bread from this recipe. This recipe was easy to follow and tastes wonderful! My only issue is that the bottom of the loaf is a little too dark and crunchy despite being taken out a little before the minimum suggested time. I'm blaming my oven.


Oh! I also made (and mailed) this cat/space themed grocery bag for a wonderful friend. She is as close to a crazy cat lady as someone can get without actually being a crazy cat lady so this fabric made me think of her. It is so kitsch and catty, but dare I say it a little tasteful! Sadly I can only find one of her three cats' doppelgangers in the fabric. The blue space fabric is the lining as well as the straps.


Lastly, I finished the main body of yet another big blocks quilt. It is all Dr. Seuss fabric or oddly matchy matchy prints. Oh and there are a few solids thrown in for good measure. This is destined to be a sample quilt for a LQS, but I didn't grab enough fabric for the border.


My goal for the rest of the week is to finish up all of my syllabi and prep for the semester as quickly as possible so that I can head down and power through a bunch of sewing and cooking freezer food to last the 6.5 weeks until spring break. I can do anything for 6.5 weeks.

Coming off a Downton High

The past few weeks have felt like a whirlwind. Winter break from teaching has been flying by! I have been filling the time with sewing, cooking, and Downton Abbey! Zomg. Sundays are going to rock for a while!

Anywho, here is a quick recap of what I have been up to! First off we have coconut curry that was super tasty (recipe over here).

Then come the Swedish meatballs (recipe), homemade egg noodles (recipe), and lingonberry jam (from IKEA).


The imperial red IPA mentioned previously has finished fermenting and now all we are waiting on is for it to finish carbonating. I can't wait to taste the final product! So far it tastes like it might be my favorite beer we have ever made! Buuut, we also brewed some barleywine that is fermenting [like a beast!] at the moment. Check out all this hop sediment in the bottom of the red!


After Christmas, my boyfriend spent a day helping his BFF build a work bench so I decided to go on a fabric buying road trip! I visited Gone Quiltin' in Bandera, One Quilt Place in Fredericksburg, and Creations in Kerrville (all in Texas). They were all wonderful shops, but Creations felt like heaven!!! I spent over two hours there!!! I had not yet seen the incredible Frida Kahlo line and absolutely fell in love with it. I might have brought too much back with me, but it will get used.


I have also been working on some monochromatic EPP 8 point star blocks for a secret project.


I also made a chess pie following my great Aunt Cuba's recipe. This pie tastes like happiness and sunshine.


I have even made some progress on the houndstooth "quilt." I am using the " " because this is destined to upholster the cushion on my cedar chest. I am not too sure how to make the cover fit the cushion exactly but still be roomy enough to take off for washing. It will come to me!


Last night the boyfriend and I made some stir fry with lots of added veggies (recipe) and some insanely delicious coconut rice (recipe). This made for amazing leftovers today.


I also worked on a sample pattern for The Quilt Cottage. The owner and I are having a competition of sorts; We each picked the fabric for one version of the same quilt and are seeing which one came out best. I picked the fabric for this one because I do not believe Valentines Day should be confined to reds and pinks. If my BFF's new baby turns out to be a girl, I'm quilting this up for her.


Lynda picked the fabric for this one. I finished them both up today and will drop them off tomorrow. They both have their charm.


Lastly, I also finished a trivet for my boyfriend's BFF's wife. The fox is appliqued onto a dark tea-dyed muslin that makes me think of leather. The flying geese did not come out how I envisioned them, but that's okay; either she will like it, or she won't! :)