House and Garden

My garden is at its height right now. The tomatoes are starting to ripen, and the sunflowers are taking on gargantuan proportions.
The squash hasn't done that well. A lot of it goes moldy on the vine before it gets very large. I think it may not be hot enough for a respectable crop.
But the Swiss chard is glorious. I think chard is the most beautiful vegetable there is because the stalks take on such outrageous colors. Here I picked a handful of pink and red chard, but the orange and yellow stalks are even more lovely.

One of the beauties of living on the coast is that you can make and enjoy soup year round. This recipe, which I cloned from 3 others, is one that has become a favorite. Maybe the weather is cooling down where you live and you're ready to make soup.

This recipe for Lentil Soup is very healthy and hearty and has no meat or meat broth.


Cut into chunks:
1 large onion
2 large carrots
2 celery ribs
In 2 tablespoons of olive oil, saute these veggies over high heat for 5-10 minutes with:
8 cloves of garlic, smashed
a handful of chopped parsley
a teaspoon of dried thyme
a teaspoon of dried marjoram
Add:
2 teaspoons of salt
2 bay leaves
2 quarts of cold water
28 oz. can of tomatoes and their juice, chopped
1 1/2 cups of dried lentils, rinsed and picked over
Bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Cook covered for about 40 minutes, until the lentils are almost done. Then add:
1 1/2 cups of potato, peeled and chopped
2 cups of zucchini or other squash, cut into chunks
3 cups of chard, spinach, or other greens, washed, trimmed and chopped
2 teaspoons of cumin
a handful of chopped cilantro
Cook for another 20 minutes or so until the potatoes are done. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you have it, add a slug of white wine (3/4 cup). If your soup is too thick, feel free to add more water at any time.

While you wait for the soup, read a magazine at the kitchen table

...or stretch out in a sunny spot.
In no time it will be done.
You can adjust this recipe to meet your taste: eliminating ingredients you don't like and substituting others, or changing the quantities of different vegetables. This is an excellent soup for a crowd, as you could feed the neighborhood with it. It would probably be fine if you halved the recipe, but then you wouldn't have leftovers.

Serve it with a dark or crunchy bread and a glass of wine. Mmmmm.

Stashing

I recently saw some nice sweater patterns that require bulky weight yarn, and I didn't have any bulky yarn in quantities for a sweater. There are a number of tutorials on line for buying thrift store sweaters and unraveling them for the yarn, so I thought I'd try my hand at this form of repurposing craft materials. I found this acrylic and wool blend sweater in a color I really like and it actually unraveled easily. If you decide to try this, consult the many good tutorials available and start with a thicker vs. thinner yarn until you get the hang of it.
Yesterday was my favorite church rummage sale. I found 1/2 yard cuts of these home dec fabrics--there's probably 3 yards of the blue and rust one. There was quite a frenzy at the craft table perhaps because they didn't have as much fabric and yarn as they usually do. Twice I was told by other ladies that they already had dibs on something I'd picked up, but I feel like I got some great deals nonetheless.

You may recognize the bottom fabric here as a sheet. I love these bright florals. The color of the middle piece of home dec fabric is really pretty, and there are probably 4 yards or so. There must be 10 yards of the green, which is so ugly it's kinda cute. I got each of these for $1. that green fabric will be great for backings of some brown quilts that need quilting.

On the Road Again

Here are some photos of last weekend's get-away. The kids drove, and I got to knit in the car. I think I could get used to this.
We stayed in a cabin that belongs to friends of Michael's. When I got up on Saturday, this was the view from the deck. Once the fog cleared, you could see the ocean in the distance.
Michael get to play with Baby Emil.
And I got to play with him too. I don't get to hold too many babies these days, so this was a nice treat.

Here are the very busy and proud parents, Michael's older son Krsna and his wife Janisse.
Younger son Arjuna and his girlfriend Alyssa doing k.p.
The cabin has wonderful window seats and Allie did some homework and lounged with Roger
Alex brought a guitar a some bongos to pass the time.
We tried going to the beach, but it was so windy we literally got sand blasted. We beat a hasty retreat back to the car.

Here's a shot of the coast. Those are cars parked on the spit.

The owners of the cabin are big travelers and collectors. This African figure next to the fireplace is made entirely of beads . The base appeared to be paper and wire.Here's a close-up of the hands.

A Working Labor Day

School started last week, so I'm again in the thick of it. I did get away for the first part of this long weekend, but now I'm back getting ready for the work week.

I do have a few knitty project to show for myself. These days I knit during my downtime. It's portable and I don't need the machine nor a box full of embellishments. I can also feel the seasons shift into fall, and wooly items are a staple of my wardrobe for about half the year.

I recently finished this sweater for myself in a KAL (knit-along) on Ravelry, the mega-super on-line knitting community. The pattern is called Mr Greenjeans and is available free from Knitty, the on-line knitting magazine. This pattern has absolutely no seaming, and the color will keep me alert on dark winter days.
I'm on a fingerless mitts knitting jag. This is a fast easy pattern that lets you use up bits of worsted weight wool. The pattern, Fetching, is also available from Knitty.
I'm sending this child's sweater to the latest Afghans for Afghans campaign, which is collecting knitted items for children in Afghanistan. It's a worthy cause if you've got some wool, needles and a little time.

Pictures of my weekend get-away will be up soon. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Little Red Baskets

I quilted up my little basket quilt. Boy, red, black and white is an unbeatable combination.
The inner border fabric with the different sized polka dots came into my life as a cotton mini skirt. Most of the rest of the fabrics came out of the scrap bag.
The oregano in my garden has bloomed, and the bumble bees love it. I've had lots of bees in my garden this year and I love to go out and listen to them buzz.
There is another holy card transfer project on the design wall. This one is the Sacred Heart of Mary.

Another One Done

I finished quilting the other polka dot quilt I made for my nieces. I collected polka dot fabrics for a very long time, and I think I finally hit the bottom of my supply.
My loopy free-motion quilting seems to fit the style of this quilt especially.
Here's a shot of the back (with the light shining through). That yellow fabric at the center top is vintage 60s or 70s--I really love it. You can click on it for a better view. I don't like the tedium of piecing my quilt backs, but you do get to use up a lot of odds and ends that way.

Halloween Quilt (50 x 50)

I finished piecing my old and new Halloween quilt, using both a charm square pack I picked up at IQF and some old Halloween yardage I'd used years ago as tablecloths. The inner and outer border fabrics are the old stuff.
In the third block on the top row, you can get a better view of the blue fabric. Below that is a bit of fabric from a piece Debra just sent me. The brown on the end of the third row is a vintage 70s print.
I've got a big piece of this skeleton fabric, but I just sprinkled a few pieces of it here and there.

I even pieced the back of this quilt, so I expect to be ready to use it this year.
Louie advised me during the piecing. He's taking all the credit for the results.

Lady Bird Johnson Grove

Last weekend we took a stroll through Lady Bird Johnson Grove, a looping trail through a sliver of old growth redwood forest.


Enjoy some of the sights: the magestic
and the minature.
(I got to use that micro lens on my camera.)
A variety of ferns and other plants grow on fallen trees. What a feast for the eyes. What a lovely slice of heaven.

Old and New

I bought a packet of Moda charm squares at IQF. They have a funky Halloween theme and a lot of orange accents. I'm going to pair them with this cream and black print and make a small quilt with all half square triangle blocks.

I've got a few other fabrics to throw into the mix. Louie is playing Vanna White and pointing to them with his lovely orange feet. He figures that since the theme is orange, he wants to be involved.

I bought the orange and blue Halloween yardage back in the 90s when my kids were small. They've been hemmed to use for small tablecloths. I used to decorate with seasonal tablecloths when my kids were little, so these have a lot of sentimental meaning for me. I'm going to work them into the Halloween quilt as accent blocks and borders. The brown fabric is actually only two small chunks. I don't know where I got it, but it looks like vintage 70s cotton. I wish I had more. It's obvious that the some of the Moda prints are inspired by this kind of 70s pattern.

I'm going to start making the blocks as soon as I bind the quilt I just quilted for my niece. Oh, and I'll have to do some work too.

Shirts and Sheets (60 x 70)

This quilt finished up fast. The diamond pieces were pretty big: about 4.5", and the Y-seams weren't that big a deal.



I love the softness of these colors. The quilt has gone to the "to be quilted" pile that I'm working on (slowly).

Striking While the Iron's Hot

I'm on a roll in the sewing room, probably because I have to go back to work soon, so I'm trying to use the free time I've got right now.

In a bit of serendipity, I found some bird charms at Jo-Ann's that I immediately conjured a use for. I have this crazy block I made one of in Sharon B's embroidery classes that was sitting in the drawer.
I added some silk tie pieces, sized it up to 12 x 12, and backed and bound it. With the bird charms, it's now part of my 12 x 12 bird series.
I'm calling this one "Wisteria." Although it's a bird series, all of the pieces are named for flowers or plants. Go figure.
It's a pretty block and I put a lot of work into it, so now I can display it with the others.

Remember my red basket blocks?

I pieced them with some 4-patches, added borders, and last night I pin basted it.

If I get really ambitious I will quilt it soon.