I finished the final touches on the Hawaiian Quilt last night. After many hours, lots of finger pricks that resulted in blood, and more than my fair share of cussing, the quilt is completed... and I LOVE the way it turned out.
You might remember this quilt from my manic weekend of quilting post. This back was pieced from Hawaiian fabric that a friend of mine had from back when she used to make her own hula dresses. She has been diagnosed with cancer and gave me a huge box of the fabrics because she decided that she wasn't going to be able to do hula much more. So I used the fabrics to make her a quilt.
The other side of the quilt features more of the colorful Hawaiian fabrics, but pieced into some very calming white-on-white blocks. So one side is bright and colorful, and the other is a little more soothing.
The binding was hand-stitched (hence the cussing and bloody fingers), and the quilting is a simple stitch-in-the-ditch between the white blocks. I used pure white batting of a medium loft in the quilt so it will be light weight but fluffy. This will be a birthday present for her this weekend (she turns 80 on Sunday)! So happy birthday to Beverly... I hope this Hawaiian Quilt brings you happy memories and a lot of comfort.
I am very excited to share that I finally get to cross something off the
UFO list! Last night I finally finished, and I mean COMPLETELY finished
one of my projects. A friend had given me some beautiful fabric for my
birthday and while I was at the quilt retreat last weekend I made a
table runner out of it. I got the top done, the backing, batting, and
quilting finished while I was at the retreat. And last night at Craft
Night (aka "Bitch 'n Stitch") with the ladies, I did the binding. The
runner is for my dresser top, and the colors of the fabric match my room
perfectly, so that is great!
It's the perfect length for the dresser, fitting right in front of the mirror.
The quilting is very simple - stitch in the ditch for the border, and basic channel quilting in the center.
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a safe and delicious Cinco de Mayo. I wanted to share with you the wonderful weekend that I had. I was given the opportunity to join the North End Quilters at their annual retreat in Orting, WA. This was my first time at this retreat, and it was amazing! The facility is really quite awesome - you have to check it out! http://www.thewildrosequiltshop.com/ The retreat facility has a six foot table and outlets for each person, cutting tables, color-corrected lights and natural skylights, a full kitchen, five bedrooms with two twin beds each, ironing stations, and my favorite part: a quilt shop down below, just in case you run out of fabric, thread, batting, ideas...
And the little town of Orting was very cool, too! It is nestled at the base of Mt. Rainier, and you just can't ask for a better view!
So armed with my six foot table, my trusty Janome, my rotary cutter, and several projects, I spent the weekend quilting like a maniac. None of these are 100% finished, as they still need backing, batting, quilting and binding, but the tops are on. So not quite ready to be crossed off the UFO (Unfinished Objects) list, but getting closer! I apologize for the low resolution photos, but these were taken with my phone.
Runner for my dresser - needs the binding finished.
Hawaiian quilt - this needs batting, backing, quilting and binding.
Red and White quilt - this needs batting, backing, quilting and binding.
I will share more when they are finalized. I hope you all had as much fun as I did this weekend!
Back in ancient times, also known as the early days of Mike and my
relationship, Mike did the majority of the cooking. This mostly went
very well for me, as Mike is a great cook, but back in those days he was
not known for eating the wide variety of food that he does now. So when
I was craving some variety in the meal plan I would occasionally step
up and cook something. And even back in those days I liked to
experiment in the kitchen. Yes, there is a point to this brief family
history. Please be patient and try to keep up.
So one
day I found a recipe for Chicken Paprikash in a Cooking Light magazine.
This was a completely new recipe for me, and I am pretty sure it was a
dish I had never tasted before, homemade or in a restaurant. I was
pretty excited about the new recipe and I made it for dinner. It was
pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. Mike ate all of his, which I
took to be a pretty good sign. So I asked how he liked it. The response:
'It's not bad, but my Mom's is better'. Yup. You heard correctly.
Needless to say, I was marginally annoyed. Well, slightly more than
marginally, but I am not one to hold a grudge. For long.
So
I didn't bother to make the recipe again. Some things you just can't
compete with. And eventually the memory slipped to the back of my brain
and got put in cold storage. Until one day, over a year later, when we
went to Mike's Mom's house for dinner... where she served Chicken
Paprikash. And you know what? His Mom's was better. WAY better. This
could be due to the pound of butter she used (slight exaggeration), but
whatever the reason, her's was definitely better. And amazingly, this
didn't bother me at all. In fact, I might just ask her to make it again
one of these days!
In any case, the recipe I am sharing
today is NOT her recipe. It is also NOT the Cooking Light version. This
is adapted from a recipe that I found on www.allrecipes.com.
I changed it quite a bit to make it slightly healthier. The reason that
I am happy to make this version is that it is NOTHING like Mike's Mom's
version, and therefore cannot be compared (and subsequently deemed 'not
as good'). So I hope you enjoy this lighter version of Chicken
Paprikash.
Chopped onion, because I put onion in everything.
Onion and garlic sauteed with the butter and spices. Yup... all that red stuff is paprika!
Added the water and started cooking.
One hour later...
This is the mixture from the sour cream (I used light), reserved juices from the can of tomatoes, and the flour.
Stirred in the sour cream mixture and the tomatoes, and voila!
Heat butter in a dutch oven (or you could use a LARGE skillet) over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, salt, red
pepper flakes and paprika. Stir together and saute until onion is
translucent. Add chicken pieces and pour water over all. Cook over
medium heat for 1 hour, adding more water if necessary.
Stir in
tomatoes, reserving liquid. Stir liquid into a medium bowl with flour
and sour cream; mix until well blended, then slowly add mixture to
chicken, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture is thick.
