Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

The Practical Guide to Patchwork

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the amazing Elizabeth Hartman and her fun Inspired Modern Quilts Craftsy class.  After I signed up for the class I of course ran out and bought BOTH of her books!

The first is The Practical Guide to Patchwork (don't 'click to look inside' - that's just the photo!).  This is Elizabeth's award-winning book and it's a beauty.  If you've never quilted before this book covers all the basics - everything from fabric & supplies, to planning a quilt, to step-by-step construction.  She also includes 12 quilt projects for beginners and beyond.  They are ALL gorgeous quilts and I can't wait to make them!  With all the alternate colorways included with each project, the possibilities are endless.

This is a really stunning, soft-cover book with beautiful paper, really great photos, lots of tips, and detailed instructions.  I LOVE IT!

Next week I'll tell you about Elizabeth Hartman's next book, Modern Patchwork - I'll give you a hint: it's another beauty!!!

You can take either of Elizabeth's Craftsy classes, the FREE Creative Quilt Backs  or the paid-content Inspired Modern Quilts, by using the safe link to the right of this post.

Apple Pie Apples

A lovely reader, MaryAnn, sent me the official recipe for the Apple Pie Apples I wrote about earlier in September.  I thought I'd share the follow-up with you.  I made the baked apples by slicing off the tops of Granny Smith apples, scooping out the insides with an apple corer to make the 'shell' and then re-filling the cavity with sliced apples tossed with cinnamon and sugar.  I prepared a batch of my usual pie pastry and cut it into 1/4" strips with a fluted pastry wheel.  I wove it across the apple tops and baked it in a baking dish with a bit of water covering the bottom.

While the baked apples were delicious and cute, for the work that was involved preparing the shell along with the waste of the all that scooped apple (my dog was in heaven!), I think I'd rather just make an old fashioned apple pie!  You have to make the pastry anyway so you might as well have a whole pie!

Coq au Vin

This recipe for Coq au Vin is even nicer than the one I shared back in 2010.  It's also just as simple to prepare and I'm so glad I tried the recipe one night when I was stumped as to what to make with my package of boneless chicken breasts.

Simply brown some seasoned (salt & pepper) chicken breasts in some olive oil and remove to a casserole dish (you'll need to cover the dish in the oven so if you have one with a lid, use that!).

In the same pan you browned the chicken, add 1/2 cup chopped onion, 6 slices of bacon, diced, and 12-20 peeled pearl onions, (reminder from my post on Wednesday: easily peel pearl onions by blanching them in boiling water for 3 minutes, trimming the root end, and popping out the perfect pearl from the outer skin), 1/2 lb. of small (or quartered) mushrooms, and one minced garlic clove.  Heat and stir until the bacon is crisp.

Add 1 Tbsp flour to the pan and stir for one minute to cook off the raw flour taste.  Stir in 1 cup of wine (recipe calls for red, I used white with excellent results...so just pick what you have or prefer). Stir until boiling and slightly thickened.

Add some parsley sprigs, thyme sprigs (I used fresh but you could use 1/4 tsp dried), and a small bay leaf.  Pour the sauce over chicken; cover and bake at 325 degrees F for about 1 hour.  The chicken is sooo tender and the sauce is amazing!  Enjoy!

Quilt File Box

I shared my recipe file box with you way back in 2010 and now that I'm collecting so many quilt patterns and idea sheets, not to mention all the free tutorials and e-books from Quilting Arts at Quilting Daily, I really needed to transfer that idea to my workshop.

I used to keep a folder with all the print-outs in it but it just became too full, disorganized, and was filling up my valuable drawer space.  With the new file box, I can keep the pages separated in sections: patterns, instructions, quilt projects, Craftsy course materials, etc.  Each labelled folder is in its own hanging folder.  I alternated the hanging folders by colour so it would be easy to differentiate them.

This system is working so much better for me and I can easily file, and then find, what I'm looking for.  The file tote box also has a handle so I can grab the whole thing if I want to take it to another room.  It was fun to organize all the papers but it also made me realize how many more quilts I want to make!

How to Peel Pearl Onions

I love onions and I really love pearl onions.  These tiny, sweet baby onions are so wonderful to add whole to recipes and are perfect to roast alongside a chicken or piece of beef.  I happened to mention to my mother that I was using pearl onions in a dish for dinner and she commented how she loved them as well but hated how difficult they were to peel.  It surprised me that after all the years in the kitchen, mother didn't know the special trick for peeling pearl onions - they are actually easier to peel than regular onions.  I figured if she didn't know, you might not either...and I should share the trick right here and now.

To easily peel pearl onions, simply blanch them in boiling water for about three minutes.  Rinse in cold water and then simply trim the root end and squeeze.  The perfect little onion will pop right out of its outer layer, ready for whatever recipe you're making.  It's so easy!  There's something about those cute little whole onions that make any meal seem almost fancy!

Quilting Arts/Quilting Daily

I've recently discovered that every Wednesday on PBS we get a show called Quilting Arts.  It is hosted by Pokey Bolton and offers half an hour of commercial free art quilt techniques, artists, and projects.  I just love it!  The only problem is here in Canada we are getting old episodes (the '800' series) and since I've missed so many, I'm really disappointed to be so far behind!

Every show just makes me want to quilt!  There are so many easy and beautiful techniques to try - all explained and demonstrated in a very easy format to follow.  The website (Quilting Daily) has all the show previews as well as so much more!  There is a wealth of information: galleries, on-line shopping, free resources, videos, episode information and downloadable patterns, resources, and instructions.  I could spend hours on there!

I did subscribe to the Quilting Arts magazine - published 6 times a year.  I can't wait to get my first copy and be inspired with all the amazing art quilt information.  In the meantime, I have PLENTY to read as you can download more than 20 e-books, FREE!  I just download the ones I'm interested in and save them in a file on my computer.  When I have time, I read them on 'full screen'.  They are great and cover so many interesting topics about quilting - from free-motion quilting tips to making a photo quilt.  This is an excellent resource to have at the click of the mouse!

I find it amazing the amount of free information one can get on these websites.  Quilting has such a wonderful community and I am grateful to be able to access all of it.  I want to spread the word about this fun and free resource library - you can learn so much!  Check it out and save those e-books!  I'll let you know how I like the magazine when I get my first issue!

Applesauce Spice Bran Muffins

These Applesauce Spice Bran Muffins are a different take on a usual bran muffin.  There are quite a few ingredients but you are making 2 batches at the same time so you'll have 24 muffins to last a while!

I like to serve the muffins fresh and hot from the oven and then freeze the rest to enjoy another time.  If you microwave them for about 25 seconds they almost taste just as oven-fresh!

Craftsy Quilt Classes on Sale!

FYI, there are 4 Craftsy quilting classes on sale right now: Beyond Basic Machine Quilting, Design It, Quilt It, Inspired Modern Quilts, and Color Play for Quilters.  If you missed the weekend sale, you can still get these classes at a discount!

I'm currently taking all of these classes and each one offers an excellent take on a specific area of quilting.  Feel free to email me if you have any questions or use the link to the right to find out more information about any of the classes or to watch free previews.

While I work away at the fall quilt I shared yesterday, I'm also thinking about what I'm going to do next.  The Inspired Modern Quilts class has me thinking more about modern design and Angela Walter's designs work perfectly for the quilting part.

I'm also getting ready to start my Painted Pictorial Quilt project too - the paint finally arrived, the batiks are washed and ready, and I'm hoping to cut out the pattern pieces later tonight!  I'm soooo excited to get started!  I'll post the details when I've got photos of the steps so far!

Have a great Sunday, everyone!  I'm off to the store for groceries and then I get to stitch!!!!

t-shirt quilt

I've always saved my old t-shirts that had some kind of meaning to me as souvenirs.  Concert shirts (Ozzy Osbourne, Frank Zappa - lol!), tv shirts (M*A*S*H, Doogie Howser, MD), and funny shirts ("We are womb mates"...when I was pregnant with twins) all ended up in my 'memory bin' and I often thought it would be great to have a way to preserve and display those fabric memories.

Fast forward a million years and I now have the new-found love and skill for quilting.  My shirts are too moth-ball-y to use but now my kids have plenty of memories wrapped up in their t-shirt collections.  I watched the great video below from Missouri Star Quilt Company on how to get started with a t-shirt quilt.  The trick is stabilizing the stretchy knits with lightweight fusible interface.  Once the blocks are cut out, they can be treated like any other quilt block.

Here are the first shirts I've prepared.  As DD gives me her old ones, I'll cut off the sleeves, neck, and sides and iron on the stabilizer.  Then I'll trim them to 12-1/2" blocks and stack them in the storage case until I have enough to make a quilt.  Once I have all the shirts I can pick a suitable colour for the sashing fabric and put the blocks together.  Depending on how many t-shirt blocks I end up with, I can choose to add 'regular' blocks in a co-ordinating fabric in between them.  It will be a fun and useful souvenir when the quilt is all finished.  (And a much better way to save meaningful shirts than a bin under the stairs with moth balls!

Fall in the City Quilt

I have been working on this quilt since the beginning of August - longer than any other I've done!  Cutting all the fabric took about three days but piecing it went very quickly.  The quilting is what's taking the longest time since I am using Angela Walter's designs and techniques that I learned in her Machine Quilting Negative Space class.

This was the first time I purchased an entire quilt kit.  The Fall in the City Lap Quilt Kit is by Melissa Burt for Connecting Threads and was under $40 bucks!  I only added the backing fabric from the Maple Skies Collection and some thread.  I thought that was a very good deal!

The pattern instructions were very clear and had good colour illustrations.  As I said, there was a lot of cutting involved but the quilt went together easily.  I think it's a beautiful design with a modern feel.  Today being the first day of autumn, it's the perfect quilt to be working on!  I love those fall leaves and colours.

I'm making good progress with the quilting.  I've done a wood-grain design down the long sashing panels and then various other modern, free-motion designs in the squares.  It's actually quite a large lap quilt at 58" x 74.5"!  I'm trying not to rush but I'm really excited to see the finished project, all washed and crinkly!

You can use the link to the right to check out Angela Walter's class on Craftsy and the links above to visit Connecting Threads for this collection of beautiful fabrics.  Below are all the photos of the work I've done so far...