Sunday, December 7, 2014

Cloth and Broth

During the last month, there has been a lot of knitting going on for our first grandbaby, Lucy--who is due in 3 months! No photos of the knitted items yet, but there will be eventually. (Still trying to keep those projects secret from Lucy's mommy.  :)

And on that note, shortly before Thanksgiving, the twin-size 'top-secret' quilt top for Lucy received its finishing touches. At that point it hit me that, for a couple of reasons I'll explain in a later post, this can't be quilted as originally planned--which was an overall, large-scale serpentine-line pattern on both diagonals. So, it was back to the drawing board...literally. After printing a black-and-white photo (why waste color ink?) of the quilt on regular 8-1/2 x 11 printer paper on 'poster' setting for 2 x 2 sheets, I taped them together and clipped them onto a drawing board, then laid a piece of clear vinyl on top.




























Drawing on it with dry-erase markers, I outlined certain elements for echo-quilting, then very roughly sketched some general stitch designs to fill in the border and the open areas. It will probably change, but at least now there is some direction to what at first seemed an intimidating prospect.

Then for a fun break I started another 'ghost quilt.' (See the first one at this link.) Finished this second one today (roughly the same size as the first one):



On Monday it was 'out of the studio and back into the kitchen,' where the carcass of our Thanksgiving turkey, plus the legs and thighs, went into a 16-quart stock pot along with lots of veggies and herbs...


...which, after simmering 4 hours and being poured through a strainer, turned into this...


...a total of 2 gallons of thick, rich, golden, turkey broth. Yum! Into the freezer, ready to be made into batches of hearty, hot soup this winter.





This week it's on to Christmas decorating and, I hope, cutting fabric for the back of Lucy's quilt. I decided to use the two yards of hand-dyed batik from Fabrilish, pictured at right, for the center panel. I'd been saving it for something special, and it doesn't get more special than a quilt for your first grandchild!

A wide border will be pieced in alternating blocks in a dark-green Hoffman batik and a light-blue print--overall, a much more peaceful look than the lively, colorful underwater scene on the front of the quilt.




Hooking up over at Lizzie Lenard's Free-Motion Mavericks blog, since I actually got some free-motion work done this week. I love the idea of sampling thread the way she does. Check it out! Also linking up with Sarah Craig's Whoop Whoop Friday blog. She has posted some lovely projects from other quilters. And I'd like to thank her (not!) for reminding us that there are only 20 (now 18) days until Christmas...YIKES!!!


Have a wonderful week.  :)

Linda

9 comments:

  1. I am soooo in love with your floral ghost quilting studies!

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    1. Thank you! :) I hope lots of folks will try this if they haven't already. It's so much fun.

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  2. I do love your ghost quilting! Your fabric combinations and artistic/quilting choices are very effective.
    Did you know you're a "no reply" blogger? If you are interested in receiving replies to comments you leave, a simple adjustment in your settings would allow it. :-)
    (You would need to make your email "visible". It doesn't make it public, but it does allow people to respond to your comments by email.)

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    1. Thank you, I'm enjoying these immensely! Oh geez, I changed my settings once, months ago, after someone gave me a heads-up about my being a no-reply blogger. Wonder what's happened. I'll have to check into it again. Thanks for letting me know!

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  3. Hello Linda,

    The ghost quilting is superb. You extend the design of the central panel so perfectly, and the print lends itself so well to this technique. I really must have a go... within the next year or two. And I love anything with butterflies. I saw a red admiral flying around in the last week of November, which was a thrill.

    Gosh, gallons of stock! Are you going to do it all over again for Christmas?

    Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!

    Love, Muv

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    1. Thank you, Muv! It's a great way to use some of that home decor fabric I lucked into this summer. That butterfly stopped me in my tracks when I first saw this piece. I'll have to look up the red admiral...don't know as we have that around here!

      For Christmas, I'll probably do a couple of lasagna casseroles from the Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks...decadent and yummy! I have made one batch of chick soup from the turkey broth, though.

      Enjoy your Christmas prep! Hoping to get a sneak peak at some of your goings-on at your blog.

      Love,
      Linda

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    2. Make that 'chicken soup,' not 'chick'...oh, that would be criminal!

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    3. Better than "Chick pee omlette with sausage", as seen on a Spanish menu.

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    4. Oh, did I get a cackle out of that!!!! :) :) :)

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