Under the Needle

What is under my needle?  

Monday I layered and basted  a section of the Scrappy Quilt. 

It is under the needle being quilted.

Because I have a tendency to quilt densely, 

this will take a while to finish the entire quilt.

For size reference, those circles in the diagonal curved blue strip

are about the size of a penny. 

As you can see, I am changing designs as I go.  Nothing is "perfect" as that

is not my goal. Rather this will be great practice for me.

AND

It will have fantastic texture when the quilt is washed.

So what is under your needle?

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

A Little Seasonal Fun

Last year I recorded a video of myself.  I was singing and being silly.  I thought it was perfect to share here while I am being less productive. 

And just because,  here is a painting I did several years ago to use as my Christmas card, that year.  

Merry Christmas Y'all

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Three

Three scrappy panels on top of a queen-sized bed, they look colorful and chaotic, but still an organized chaos.  

Creative types, Artists, Poets, Composers, Quilters - we all face chaos and try to tame it, organize it, make it fit. 

Here are quotes from a few creative souls:

-We live in a rainbow of chaos. (Paul Cezanne, painter/artist)

-Art is the opposite of chaos. Art is organized chaos. (Igor Stravinsky, composer/music)

-My goal is to communicate the organization and beauty that exists in our universe underneath the appearance of random chaos. (Aleta Pippin  Santa Fe contemporary artist )

-Human life itself may be almost pure chaos, but the work of the artist is to take these handfuls of confusion and disparate things, things that seem to be irreconcilable, and put them together in a frame to give them some kind of shape and meaning. (Katherine Anne Porter Journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist)

My hope is that I have taken a chaotic mess of scraps and orphan blocks and tamed them into a functional work of art.  

The colors are vivid and varied.  The cotton fabrics range from shirtings to batiks,  prints to solids, commercial to hand dyed.  I love them all - and I love them all together in this wild meleé of piecing that will become a quilt.   

Next up in the process is to layer and back each panel and then quilt them. After that I will make the strips and join the  panels into one delightfully fun quilt. (At least that is my opinion.)  This will most likely go right into the new year before it reaches a finish.   I hope the rest of your year is joyous and safe.  

I have no idea if I will be posting again before the end of the year, so let me remind you to be kind to all and to say "I LOVE YOU" to those that are dear to your hearts.  I wish you peace and joy. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Panel #2

Finally there is a picture of the second panel for  "The Very Scrappy Quilt" that I am slowly working on.  Today there was some sun and the temperature and wind were reasonably agreeable.  So I got a photo of that panel.  Here it is. 

There are some curved lines, a pineapple block, randomly pieced blocks and strips. And it all adds up to a very fun quilt panel to add to the other panel.  

Meanwhile, I have a lot of pieced sections that I need to get joined and create the third panel.  Of course, I may decide to layer and quilt one of these panels first.   I am waiting for a sign or a word from my muse. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

A bit of Piecing

There are many things that keep me busy.  Some of them would not be interesting or fun to write about. So days go by and I realize I haven't posted in a week!  For those who have asked/wondered, I am fine. 

I have two nice sized panels ready for the quilt I am slowly making.  I am considering adding a third panel to make the quilt bigger.   I will quilt these in sections and then join them.  I find that if the piece is too big, it is harder to quilt on my domestic machine.  

For the potential third panel,  I have made the following pieces.  Of course I will need a lot more to make the panel.  I find that sewing these random scrappy pieces is fun and relaxing for me. I try not to think about it much when I am doing it. Rather, I let the available fabric help make the choices.  FYI-the  "available fabric" is whatever is close enough to reach at that moment. 

First up is the largest piece, which is really two pieces that I joined with a strip of black. The left-hand side was made with two strips that had been sewn together.  I chopped and rearranged pieces to get this  look.  Subdividing a long pair of strips can make for quick piecing. 

The next piece looks a bit like a small house.

Apparently I was enjoying the "house-top" shape because this next piece has two of them. 

So there you go,  that is what I have sewn recently.  

I have been doing a lot of reading for pleasure.  

I enjoy mysteries and was allowed to read some that are pre-release.

The last three I have read have been "a book a day" because

I get started and can't put it down. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Creating in the Kitchen

Someone asked "How do you make your own yogurt?"  Someone else asked "What is full-fat yogurt?"

Full-fat yogurt is made with whole milk -not 2% or skim.  All of the milk fat is in it - and it tastes so much better!  Here is how I make it.  The only "specialty" equipment is an instant read thermometer, a 4-Cup measuring cup, and a six pack cooler with a towel to insulate the yogurt while it ferments. 

Here is how I make my own yogurt.  

 

Ingredients:

 

4 cups whole milk (I buy a  gallon and make four batches )

 

2 tablespoons plain yogurt with active cultures. (sit in small bowl on counter to come to room temp while heating and cooling the milk.) 

 

I put 4 c. milk in my quart pyrex measuring cup.    Heat in microwave until temp is at least 180 F but no higher than 190.  (I stir then use an instant read thermometer to check temps)  In my microwave this takes approx. 7 minutes at full power. 

 

Note - I remove the "skin" off the top at this point.

Stir again, let sit on counter until temp is between 110F and 120F.  118F is optimal but as long as it is in the range it will work.(timing depends on  temp of work area)   

 

Note - I remove the "skin" off the top again.

Take a Tbs of the warm milk and add to yogurt, stir.  Add another Tbs.  of warm milk to it and stir again (this is like tempering eggs)  I usually add at least 3 Tbs of milk to the yogurt...the idea is to slowly warm it so that the cultures aren’t “shocked” and made inactive when you do the next step.
 Pour the small bowl of yogurt/milk mixture into the pyrex cup.  Cover with plastic wrap. (Glad Press’n’Seal or a heavy duty standard plastic wrap.) This keeps anything from getting in it - and also keeps it from spilling.

 

Then I put this in a ‘Playmate’ six-pack sized cooler with a warmed towel to fill in the airspace. (towel in microwave for 20-30 seconds) 

 

Leave it in a warm place (room temp) for 8 to 16 hours.  I usually leave it overnight and pour it up the next morning. OR I make it in the morning and leave it all day.  I prefer at least 10 hours to fully develop the culture. Up to sixteen hours will not cause problems if the room is 70 degrees or higher.

 

You can then sweeten (or not) as desired. I usually sweeten mine when I am ready to eat it.  Stevia, monkfruit, or erythritol work well if you don't eat sugar. 

 

It is easier than you think and you should make more before you run out . You will need those two TBS of yogurt to make the next batch.   I haven’t bought yogurt since I started doing this.  The culture multiplies so it is as good (or better) than what you started with. 

And just so you have something pretty to see with this post - here are some photos of my various works.

Quilted Notebook Cover

Art Quilt

Watercolor painting

The quilt that is currently on my bed.

UPDATE:  I first made yogurt in the late 1980s.  I did that in a microwave that maintained the temperature using a probe.  (Honestly I am surprised that it worked!)   I didn't make it for a long time.  Then approx 20 years later  I found some full fat yogurt (it was much more expensive) but I got one and loved it. So I decided to look for an easy way to make it.  I found the "cooler insulation method" online. I bought a gallon of whole milk and a small cup of plain yogurt and tried it.  The gallon of milk was (and still is) cheaper than the quart of whole milk yogurt.  It is honestly so easy that I can't imagine buying the pre-made yogurt now. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.