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

Mini Mock-Up & Thread Testing, Plus Loose Ends

I really want to do something creative on the Circle quilt but I'm not a relaxed enough person to just wing it. That means plenty of pondering, review, research, test sandwiches, and in this case, a mini mock up of the actual quilt. The exercise was fun and was worth the effort for a few reasons.

Of course, being able to audition thread and quilting designs on the actual fabric one intends to quilt is a realistic eye opener of how the results will look. I have used a bunch of different Batik fabric colours and all that white background so I want a thread that will look good on all of them. The weave and weight of the Batik is different than the quilting cotton so I also want to see how the threads behave and what size needle works best.

I could have just made a test sandwich of squares of both fabrics but I suddenly had the idea to make a tiny version of my quilt using the leftover scraps. I used my Olfa circle cutter to quickly cut out the circles and I just glued them to a piece of background white Moda. I even went as far as a skinny border although those strips didn't stick down as well. I think it's really adorable and when I have finished my experimental quilting, I'll quickly serge the edges and use it as a mug rug or machine pad. It's about 14-1/2" x 11-1/4". I can play around with the quilting too!

I haven't used the circle cutter more than once (and that was just to see how it worked when I initially bought it) and I was really impressed! It is so smooth at cutting the circles using the small 18mm blade. I re-watched the 'how to' video on the Olfa website and followed the instructions for perfect results. I can see doing some raw-edge applique polka dots in the future - it's really fun and easy!

I've been busy cleaning up the loose ends in my workshop: I made backing for the Piece of Cake II quilt and then spray basted the layers. I have given up hauling everything to the garage to baste (which means having to wait until it has been cleaned of winter muck and is much warmer) since I really wanted to get this job done now. I set up my tables in the basement, opened all the windows, and sprayed sparingly. It worked SO well and I am going to stick with this method for sure. I got the Circle quilt and the Piece of Cake quilt smoothly stuck to their batting and backings and now they are draped over another table just waiting to be quilted.

I also made the binding for the larger Piece of Cake quilt using some pretty red print Miss Kate fabric. This Camille Roskelley project was made entirely from my stash so I'm really happy I could make it work. I also feel less pressure with it because I have done so many quilts now that I can relax and have fun finishing this one which didn't cost me any extra money. I have been considering my options and might try a double cross-hatch quilting design since I've never done it before. While I was in the groove I made the binding for the circle quilt as well; both bindings were stitched on my darling little Singer Featherweight.

Finally, I finished graduation albums for my son and daughter and a sweet album of my mom. The kids have taken many photos of her doing silly things (she was a willing participant!!!) so I put them all together in a small slide-in scrapbook. It looks great and will generate fun and fond memories of her every time we look at it. It feels amazing to knock out all these creative UFOs I've had piled up since we moved and life got 'crazy'. I powered through cleaning the house (which always feels good) and even made hubby an apple pie (for Pi day, 3.14), which he has been patiently waiting for (his favourite). All in all it has been extremely productive around here lately!

Mini Frittatas

Quiche, omelettes, strata, frittatas...I love all egg dishes for breakfast or brunch, especially when they have lots of veggies.  These mini frittatas were fun to make because I could add ingredients to each muffin cup. I made two varieties: spinach & feta and tomato-basil from a recipe in an old issue of People magazine. Both options were amazing and luckily there were enough that I could have one of each. You can find the recipe HERE if you'd like to try them.

One thing I noticed was that the frittatas stuck like the dickens to the muffin pan. I've heard there are parchment muffin liners available but I haven't found them yet. I thought maybe it was time for a new non-stick pan and when I went to pick one up I saw silicone muffin cups. Some are 'joined' in a pan shape but I'm not sure if you're supposed to put them in your metal pan as a liner or just use them 'as is', perhaps on a cookie sheet. I didn't buy them but I would love to hear if anyone has used them and what they thought! Regardless, I'll definitely be making these mini frittatas again. There are so many other ways you could change up the recipe and flavours depending on what you add to the eggs. By changing the veggies, the kind of cheese, or adding meat (ham, bacon, cooked sausage) you can customize breakfast to your liking.

Dining Room Sewing

I moved my improv stitching upstairs to the dining room so I could use my vintage Singer in the cabinet. I've had trouble with this machine and getting it to run with the foot pedal. I haven't stitched on it for a long time and had noted in my book that I needed to use an alternate controller. Sure enough, it resisted sewing at first but I fiddled around and finally got her motor going. It's a bit of a pain to move all my stuff and the table is really low, but it's great to be able to use this machine again.

I have put together a few more improv blocks, trying to trust the process and not think too much or too far ahead. It was nice to be able to pop into the room while making dinner or when the family watched t.v. and sew a few strips at a time. I love the sound the old Singers make while they stitch and this relaxed method of piecing makes it very fun to work on "Gladys". The blocks come together quickly (maybe too quickly - I don't want it to be over!) but since I really don't have a concrete plan I can continue to make them and have some options at the end.

Thanks to a recommendation from my quilty friend Maureen, I've ordered The Improv Handbook For Modern Quilters: A Guide To Creating, Quilting, And Living Courageously by Sherri L. Wood. I'm very excited to read about her process and perhaps get some inspiration and guidance for putting my blocks together in some kind of quilt! Until then, I'll continue to zip along with the old 1950s machine, using up my scraps, waiting to see what happens at the end.

Franken Backing

Sewing the backing is never on the top of my list of fun things to do and it's even worse when I don't have enough fabric. As it is, with regular-width fabric, quilt backings usually need to be pieced. That requires having a seam either vertically (if you are using a couple lengthwise cuts of fabric yardage) or a seam widthwise. Selvedges need to be removed and dealing with such large pieces of fabric can be cumbersome. There is extra wide fabric available nowadays for backings so piecing is not required but I haven't bought any and try to make what I have on hand work for my project.

For the circle quilt I had some co-ordinating Batik fabric in my stash but it was literally just a couple inches too small to work. It is not worth the risk of having exposed batting if the backing isn't larger than the quilt top and I usually like about 4 inches of overage on all sides, just to be safe. With this quilt, not only did I have to cut the yardage and piece it horizontally for length, I also had to come up with a solution to make it just a bit wider. I auditioned a couple other Batik fabrics I had but nothing looked quite right.

In the spirit of making this quilt from my stash, I looked to the remainder of the stripped fabric I initially joined to make the circles of the quilt. It was a bit of a mess because of chopping willy nilly to fussy cut the circle arcs but I was able to get a long enough strip about 10" wide to insert into two lengths of the gold fabric. I think it looks really good, echoes the design of the front of the quilt, and adds a splash of colour to a boring quilt back. There are a zillion seams to deal with and quilting might become more challenging because of that but overall it was the perfect choice. Now I have the backing pieced and ready, along with the batting, so today will have to be basting day (also not the most enjoyable task!). After the quilt is assembled it will be fun to decide on a quilting design. I am considering a square meander or some fancy custom quilting but I will take some time to test stitching samples and thread colours before taking the plunge. These things can't be rushed!

Scrub Daddy

Well, this is fun! My daughter brought me a gift she knew I'd love...for cleaning pots and maybe even my Instant Pot. The Scrub Daddy is a cool sponge that is made of a weird foam that is firm when cold and soft when hot. So you can power away baked-on food residue by rinsing the Scrub Daddy in cold, or even ice, water when it's really scrubby and textured. Swish it around in hot water and the sponge is perfect for regular dishes and normal cleaning.

It has eyes where you can insert your fingers to get a good grip and get into those tight spots and the 'smile' is the ideal size for feeding in your spoons. The mouth cleans both sides of cutlery at once. This is a pretty innovative product and actually was featured on an episode of Dragon's Den (a show where entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to investors). No chemicals are required, it lasts a long time, doesn't scratch, there are other versions and colours for different applications, and it's easy to keep clean and fresh in the dishwasher or microwave. So far I'm really liking the results and it scoured away that film I got on my Instant Pot (harmless but stubborn to clean) so I'm happy. You can find more information at the Scrub Daddy website HERE.

Dried Beans & the Instant Pot

I am thrilled with how the Instant Pot pressure cooker cooks dried beans. I have made baked beans with navy pea beans from scratch many times, baking them slowly in the crock pot or Dutch oven. However, despite soaking overnight and boiling, I could never get them tender enough. With the IP, they come out perfectly - soft but with texture and bite.

The first batch of baked beans I made were awesome, using my regular recipe but with pre-cooked beans from the pressure cooker. I also used my 'own' kidney beans in my chili and they were so good! After that I wanted to try some other bean dishes so started with basic white kidney beans in tomato sauce. It takes only about 20 minutes and the flavour is wonderful. The recipe is from Hip Pressure Cooking and I added sautéed mild Italian turkey sausage to make it more substantial. There is a flavour hit added with fresh sage sprigs and crushed garlic and I think next time I will throw in some diced onions as well. I loved the beans prepared this way and it is an easy way to add dried beans (cheap, healthful, and tasty) to our meals, either alone or as a simple side dish.

I'm going to research other bean recipes and I've picked up a few varieties of dried beans. They are much more economical if purchased dry in a bag versus canned, with less sodium, improved flavour and I found, larger in size. Black eyed peas are something I've always wanted to try so I might start there.

It's been a very busy few days as my kids were all back home. We've been running around and I've been making some of their favourites so the regular routine has been altered with not much time left for sewing or crafting!

Wonky Log Cabins & Improv

I knew my next quilting project had to be something that would work with my vintage machines. They haven't been sewn on in about a year so this was something I wanted to correct. While I get a gorgeous stitch on any of the old gals I find it difficult to get a precise 1/4" seam allowance. I can get really close using the guides on the needle plate or an after-market 1/4" foot, but not the kind of perfect 1/4" that is necessary for a really fussy patchwork piece.

What better way to make use of an antique machine than to create a modern quilt piece. After making several detailed quilts in a row, requiring accurate cutting, measuring, sewing, and following a pattern in detail, a free-form, spontaneous improv quilt seemed like a nice change. Of course, I still did my research! Letting go of rule following is really tough for me so I needed to make sure I had guidelines to at least structure my thoughts and loosely plan my course of action.

I started with the two things forming the backbone of my quilting knowledge: books and Craftsy. Create Your Own Freeform Quilts by Rayna Gillman, has been on my shelf for a few years now but I've never done more than flip through it. After reading her easy process for stitching strips of fabric together in mindless meditation and then cutting them up again and again, I was inspired to use up old stash and abandoned quilt blocks. There are no unfinished quilt tops in my cupboard but several experimental test pieces are definitely waiting to find a forever home in some form or another. Next, I turned to the INSPIRED MODERN QUILTS Craftsy class in my library, with instructor Elizabeth Hartman at the helm. I've done several lap quilts from the class and love her modern and tidy style. While Elizabeth is known for her organized piecing of many units of patchwork and currently has gorgeous woodland animal patterns in her on-line shop Oh Fransson!, she does offer several Lessons on Modern Crosses, Improv Pods, and Wonky Log Cabins. The latter was just what I was looking for and my starting point for my project.

I am also a member of QNN.tv and a fan of Quilt Monkey. On it, co-host Nick shares his Liberated Log Cabin blocks so by combining what I've learned from all 3 sources, I was ready to dive in. I chose to base my quilt on a curated tote of fat quarters and yardage. That will give me plenty of fabric to form a core of blocks and background and then I can raid my stash for an extra pop of colour and print with some favourites I haven't used as of yet. My 1957 Featherweight was the first vintage machine to get a crack at the improvisation and even though she is 60 years old and hasn't been sewing in over a year, she purred like a Featherweight should right out of the cabinet. I have never made any project on this particular machine so I was excited to put it through the paces and see how she behaved after her initial test drive.

I think things are going well and these are the blocks I have completed so far. Of course, 'completed' is 100% up to my whim and I may end up adding more or leaving some out when it comes time to put the whole quilt together. I like what I see on the design wall already and have a few ideas of what direction I might go - while still keeping an open mind about the process. According to Nick at Quilt Monkey, we aren't supposed to overthink things as we go, and as I said, that proves easier said than done for me personally! I'll keep going, zipping strips under the needle and see what fun results I end up with. I'm enjoying the process and it's very addictive not having to worry about cutting accurate sizes and achieving that perfect seam width. I don't need to know what piece goes where or which print matches; so much fun it's hard to stop!

Curved Play Quilt Top Done!

I am SO glad I didn't give up on this project. It was super fun to do and I am very pleased with the results. Now just to decide how to quilt it! Strip Your Stash is an awesome Craftsy class and I just love how creative and relaxed the process is. I can't wait to do more with my stash and scraps!!!!

Smoky Bacon Mac & Cheese

Tempted yet again by a recipe from the Today Show, this time a couple of variations on traditional macaroni and cheese. This Smoky Bacon Mac & Cheese was similar to the Craftsy pressure cooker one I shared in THIS POST in that it swaps out standard Cheddar cheese for fancier fare. Molly Yeh uses smoked Gouda, pepper jack, and parmesan for a pasta casserole with a bit of a kick. By adding in some applewood smoked bacon and cayenne, I thought this mac and cheese was a flavour powerhouse.

I waited until son was home for a visit because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist second helpings of the rich, cheesy, gooey concoction so sharing was the best defense. I usually use the skim milk I have in the fridge but for this recipe I went out and bought whole milk. I figured with bacon and all that cheese in there anyway, might as well go the full monty and use the homogenized milk called for.

The Smoky Bacon Mac & Cheese was spicy and very rich. I loved using the medium shell pasta rather than typical macaroni noodles and the dish felt like a sophisticated, grown-up way to serve mac and cheese. The topping was good although I prefer mixing breadcrumbs with melted butter for even more flavour but it wasn't really missed with this version; there is already a lot going on for the tastebuds. Most of the time I will still make my 'regular' macaroni and cheese but when I feel like shaking things up I will turn to this new recipe. You can find it from the Today Show HERE. Molly also kindly shares her recipe for Gruyere Mac & Cheese with Caramelized Onions so I guess I will be trying that one next!