Twin tops finished

It's a wonderful weekend in Show Low again, and I've finished twin quilt tops.  They are going to be backed with green flannel with dinosaurs.  Jackie wanted "primitive" in the same colors and fabrics as her bed quilt.  The twins' first quilts will be what she wants...future quilts will be what grandma wants to make or of the boys' choosing.  (well maybe!)  I've already made the faux piping binding for these quilts. 

 

The weather has been perfect here.  Cool nights, warm days.  I didn't even have to drive through rain, as Tropical Depression Geraldine had already passed east when I left. 

Today we're going to the quilt show here, and doing some retail therapy.

 

Sailors take warning?

We're supposed to have a 70% chance of rain today.  That would be most welcome since it's been a long time since we've had any.  This gorgeous sky photo is not photshopped.  Sometimes I enhance photos because what comes out of the camera just doesn't accurately reflect what I see, but this pretty much captured real life this morning. 

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 I have so many pictures of sunrises and sunsets here.  Anymore I usually just enjoy them without photographing.  I love the way the light affects ordinary things in the yard.

 

Our stucco wall is actually white instead of the pink hue it's wearing.  Looks like my geranium needs a little work before I bring it in for the winter.  Fall is quickly approaching.  

 

When I'm not quilting...

Fall is in the air, and I'm ready for winter with all my canning done...unless of course I come across any great deals on more produce.  We brought back apples, pears, and plums from our trip to Colorado.  Our old neighbors have an orchard and it was a good year.  Then last Thursday we picked peaches in Embudo.  I love them fresh, but canned, not so much.  Dale eats all this fruit in the course of a year with his hot cereal--which I'm also not fond of.  

Yesterday was our longarm meeting.  I took an "emapdão," the large counterpart of "empadinha," small, muffin sized savory pies stuffed with chicken or shrimp found in just about every corner bar in Brazil.  I got this recipe from a friend's daughter and it's become a family favorite, especially with my son-in-law, who doesn't mind that I hide vegetables in the filling. 

Empada Pie Crust

3 cups flour 

7 oz. butter cut into pats (about 2 sticks)

8 teaspoons olive oil

1 egg 

salt to taste

Cut butter into flour until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in beaten egg with olive oil with fork until mixture holds together, then mix with hands, until you can form a ball.  Use more flour if too moist, or more olive oil if too dry to hold together.  Let dough rest in refrigerator.

Divide in half.  Press half evenly into pie plate.  Fill with desired filling.  This is great for leftover chicken, vegetables, or a traditional Brazilian cream of shrimp and hearts of palm.  Olives are also included.

Roll out remaining dough between two sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap.  If you roll it out on a counter, it's impossible to lift off and place on the pie without it falling apart.  Bake in 350-375 degree oven until golden brown, about an hour.  (In Brazil they brush a beaten egg yolk over the top, but I figure the recipe is rich enough without it.)

 

This is the bakery within walking distance of our friend Cybelle's house.  You can get "empadinhas"  and all manner of treats, sweet and savory.  Food is cheap, delicious, and plentiful and cooking isn't a necessity.

Another kitty quilt

I've been working on taming the wild kitties outside, and quilting Pat's kitty quilt indoors.  Unlike our previous kitty quilts, these blocks are a bit more work.  

They need more quilting, and stitching in the ditch on the longarm is more work than a domestic machine.  I decided on rather dense quilting in the frames, and the black backgrounds.  But the kitties look a little puffy, since they're only outlined with a tail and whiskers added.  I'm going to take the quilt to the longarm meeting and see if the more experienced quilters among them have an idea for some kind of fill for the kitties.

 

I also decided to try the faux piping binding featured on this tutorial.  I liked the method, and will probably tweak the instructions a little because I like small binding.  I also worked the recipient's name in one of the kitty borders.

Repairs

I made this bear for Jackie twenty some years ago.  I was rather proud of it.  For some reason she decided to pull apart the soles of his feet, and partially unstuff his legs.  She also ripped the tabs that kept his coat closed, and I don't know what happened to his original hat.  I used regular (read "cheap") felt for the coat and soles, and she had no trouble inflicting the damage.  I was not in the mood to repair him at the time.  
 
She kept him all these years.  When we were visiting I asked if I could bring him back to NM and repair him.  Reluctantly she let me take him.  Fortunately I still had the pattern.  I used felted wool to make him a new coat, hat, and repair his soles.  She intends to put Paddington on a shelf in the boys' room.  Apparently she's the only one who will be allowed to love it quite that hard!  








 

Finished before leaving

As usual I was working down to the wire to finish quilts before heading up to Colorado.  I finished the lap quilt for Jackie with leftovers from her king quilt, but then wanted to make a quilt for one of her friends that recently had a baby girl.  I haven't participated in many block swaps, but it is sure nice to have a pile of blocks and be able to quickly put together a quilt. 

Jackie's ultrasound revealed two boys!  Jackie would like quilts with the same colors/fabrics as I used for their quilt.  I'm going to incorporate some other fabrics and come up with something.  

Our drive up was great, a beautiful day, and we went through Santa Fe, Taos, Fort Garland, and Walsenburg.  Hadn't been that way in a long time.  Of course there are a lot more houses and cities have expanded.  
 

Kittens!

Princess Sophia was indeed nursing kitties, and though there may have been more initially, two little intrepid survivors showed up visiting.  Baby animals are just the best, and though I've barely been able to touch one I'm hoping they get a little more tame and holdable!

This tiger striped one is my favorite.  It also has four "socks."  Oh it's so tempting to keep one, but then I'm already trying to figure out what's going to happen to them next week when we're gone.  Who will feed them, and keep working to tame them?   

Bear Paw done

 
I quilted Pat's spa quad, and then the companion doll quilt.  The bear paw was next on the queue.  I used a feather design on the borders and then Shades of Anasazi pantographs by Dave Hudson.  I can't compliment his pantos enough.  They have such a nice easy flow.  

I got a little creative with the backing.  I didn't have enough of the plain red flannel for the whole back.  The flannel print with the bear paws seemed appropriate because it was also from Rosie.  She'll have first right of refusal and then it will become a donation quilt.

It's been a busy week.  We helped Lindsay have a garage sale, and in that process I was able to score a Craftsman workbench with drawers and storage which will replace the drop leaf table as my cutting table in the sewing room.   Dale has a new small roll top desk.  Lindsay didn't sell much, but has less "stuff." 

Neither silk purse nor sow's ear

My friend Rosie, who never fails to remind me that many years ago when she went to take a quilting class that I said I wasn't interested...and that I'd not likely ever get into quilting, gave me the bear paw blocks to do something with.  She had meticulously hand stitched them many moons ago.  They were of varying sizes and were already sewn together into two strips.  I decided to separate the strips so that the varying sizes wouldn't be obvious, and I think this has turned out nice.  

Part of the reason I wasn't interested in learning quilting was that the class she took was all done by hand.  I didn't hand sew then and don't do much more than affix labels or embellish a little with hand stitching now. 

Princess Sophia

This sweet kitty showed up at our place drinking water out of the bird bath.  She is so thin, and we think she might be related to Frangelica, because of her small size and sweet disposition.  We suspect she has kittens somewhere as she she seems to be nursing, which would easily account for her lack of reserves.  We're feeding her and maybe she'll be a "studio" cat, since we really no longer want any more house pets. 

Tuesday I had a big box waiting at the post office filled with quite a lot of pinwale corduroy which I'm going to try out for quilt backings.  It all washed up soft, and I think will make some cozy quilts.  Thanks so much, Marje from east TX for sending it.