Thursday, December 28, 2017

Two More for the Ongoing Leader/Ender Project

I'm continuing my new habit of leaders and enders. I have made six quilts so far (since about June 2017) by doing this. All will be for donation.


The latest two use black instead of the light neutrals of those before. Previous quilts can be found HERE (#1 and #2) and HERE (#3 and #4).


62" x 74"










68" x 74"





I'm working on a batik and black version now. I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can accomplish next year.

I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.




Sunday, December 24, 2017

On Ringo Lake--Part 5

The geese are once again flying over Ringo Lake!

In honor of Christmas, I give you Roast Geese.

Browned and delicious!





Note the nice dark color--our earlier geese were not yet roasted.

Unroasted Geese!




I'm loving the browns--I think there are more brown quilts in my future.



As a special treat, I'm providing a link to a tutorial on Roast Goose--our traditional Christmas dinner--in this case, presented by a guest chef. Just click on the chef's picture to see the video.
Enjoy!


Christmas Roast Goose



From my home to yours, a very Happy Christmas!

I'll be linking with Mystery Tuesday at Quiltville after the Christmas Holiday.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Two More Donation Quilts From My Leader/Ender Project This Year

I'm pleased to have finished these two quilts, and I have two more almost done!

This is my Leader/Ender project this year--a two-rail fence block.

Stairstep Layout





Stairstep Layout (backing detail)


Windmill Layout (backing detail)
Windmill Layout 






The previous two quilts can be found HERE.

I have two more near completion and one more underway--I'm really enjoying the process of finding different ways to use this simple block!

I'm linking with Jo's Country Junction UFO Challenge.



Sunday, December 17, 2017

On Ringo Lake--Part 4

We made wing units this week for the mystery--in my case, brown and green.

A few of this week's units.






The cutting took a bit of time, but the units went together really well. Bonnie writes great instructions--very clear.


I used some more "chocolate" browns:


and note, that at the top of this photo, you can see my "Ringo Stars"! :)  [Sorry, but I couldn't resist.]


Thanks for the fun, Bonnie! I am looking forward to next week.


I'm linking with Mystery Monday at Quiltville.
















Sunday, December 10, 2017

On Ringo Lake--Part 3

The mystery clue this week called for several karats of Diamond in a Rectangle units.


These are not sewn to one another--just lined up to show the mirror image units.





They weren't hard to make, at least until I needed to make the second half of the units mirror images of the first--Yikes! My mind rebelled for a bit, but I got one made and used it for a visual example. Spatial imagination is not my strong point. However, I did get them done--Yay me!

I'm loving this mystery and looking forward to next week's clue. I should be on Winter Break by then (if I get all my grading done!).

I'm linking with Mystery Monday at Quiltville and Fiber Tuesday 138 at The Quilting Room with Mel.





Monday, December 4, 2017

On Ringo Lake--Part 2

This week the clue was to make a gaggle of geese! 

Here are a few of mine:

Like real geese, they assumed the wedge formation.





My neutrals are a bit plain, but I found a bag of leftover bits and pieces leftover from other projects, and I wanted to use them up.

Clue 3 will be revealed on Friday, 08 December 2017. I'm looking forward to it!

I'm linking with Mystery Monday Sunday at Quiltville and Fiber Tuesday 137 at The Quilting Room with Mel.




Saturday, November 25, 2017

On Ringo Lake--Part 1

I am participating in Bonnie Hunter's annual Quiltville mystery again this year. The quilt is called On Ringo Lake in honor of a trip Bonnie took to Minnesota this year.

The suggested colors are chocolate brown, aqua, coral, and neutral. I'm switching the aqua for green since I'm not a big fan of blue.


Here are some of the fabrics I will be using. (I didn't photograph the neutrals.) I'm likely to find more fabrics to throw in as I go along.









The first clue had us making 9-patches.

Just a sampling--there are many more!



I took "chocolate brown" quite literally in some of the blocks.

These chocolate chips won't melt on the quilt!

I enjoy mystery quilts and am looking forward to the next clue of this one. The clues are given once a week on Friday until the mystery is completed. Happy Quilting!

I'm linking with Mystery Monday at Quiltville and Fiber Tuesday 136 at The Quilting Room with Mel.






Friday, November 10, 2017

Christmas Jacob's Ladder

I made this Christmas quilt for my son and daughter-in-law. I gave it to them early, so they could enjoy it this Holiday season.

Christmas Jacob's Ladder







The Jacob's Ladder block is not complicated.

Jacob's Ladder Block


I used a constant neutral throughout and combined it with many different Christmas prints.

Fabrics (detail)





Fabrics (detail)




Fabrics (detail)




Right in the center (you can just see it in the picture directly above--lower right corner) is a very light block that is made with leftover scraps from a Christmas shirt I made for my son--over 30 years ago! 


Because I had extra squares (I ALWAYS have extras!), I pieced a panel for the back.

Quilt Back with panel




Back panel (detail)




I quilted it on my DSM, and it finished at 86" x 86".

Flamingoes in Santa Hats!



This was a fun quilt to make--I really enjoyed both the block pattern and the fabrics. Happy Holidays (a bit early)!










Thursday, October 26, 2017

You Mean She Cooks, Too?

Most all of my posts are about quilting; however, I am The Eclectic Abuela, so today I'm posting something different!


I often buy ten-pound bags of chicken leg quarters. They are low in price, and I make several meals out of each bag.








 I prep the leg quarters by cutting them into three pieces.






On the left is the drumstick, the center is the thigh, and the right is the partial back section. There are usually 10-12 leg quarters in each bag, so I prepare them all this way.



The back sections go into a pot to boil for broth. Boil these for several hours until the meat falls off the bones. Strain through a colander, then refrigerate overnight. You will be able to skim the fat off the top easily after the broth has chilled.

Ready to boil







I usually prepare the thighs and the legs differently for variety. Today, the drums are going in a bag with about a cup of Frank's Hot Sauce to marinate overnight. I will use these to make Buffalo-Style drums tomorrow. The drumsticks are larger and less expensive than chicken wings--and they taste as good! I bake them, rather than frying them as traditional Buffalo Wings are cooked.

Drums marinating in sauce



Alternative flavors for the drums include using Asian spices, Berbere paste, Harissa paste...any flavor you would like.



I'm going to oven-fry the thighs today. I toss them with a little flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and arrange them skin side up on a broiler pan, so the fat can drip through.

Thighs ready to go in the oven

Again, there are many alternative ways to season these. You might choose a mix of Mexican spices, curry spices, Asian spices, lemon pepper...what ever you wish to use. Just mix your chosen spices in with the flour and dust lightly.




For the oven-fried thighs, I place the pan in a 400 degree F oven for about 40 minutes. I then take the pan out, and with a pair of tongs, carefully turn over the pieces to allow the bottoms to crisp a bit. After turning them over, I put them back in the oven for about 15 minutes. Because I want the skin to crisp a bit more, I usually pull them out after the 15 minutes are complete, turn them over again, turn off the oven, and allow the residual heat to brown them a bit more.

Oven-Fried Thighs





Out of this bag, I now have broth, Buffalo drums, and oven-fried thighs. Extras can be frozen for later. Of course, there are many other ways to prepare thighs and drums--experiment! Creating a variety of meals is easy--and at $.59-$.69 per pound (even less sometimes!), it is frugal, too.







Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Kaffe Fassett and QSTs

I combined large blocks of Kaffe Fassett fabrics with very subtle Quarter Square Triangles (QSTs) in this quilt for my stepdaughter. I didn't have a pattern for this one--I just made alternate blocks that I thought would be complementary to the prints.





The KF fabrics reminded me of vintage sheet prints.





Since the prints are quite bold, I toned them down a bit by using QSTs as alternate blocks.


The color difference is very subtle (almost too subtle, I think), but the QSTs are white and creme.




I used a small print for the backing and a purple blender for the binding. Many of the fabric prints contained some purple, so I think the color combination worked well.










The quilt finished at 82" x 82". I quilted it on my DSM with a simple meandering pattern.






I told my husband that the prints reminded me of vintage sheets. He said he had never thought of sheets as vintage before, but that he really liked the sheets we had on the bed now. I told him that since I got them new in the 1970s and have used them ever since, they certainly qualify as vintage!

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 133 at the Quilting Room with Mel.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Birds and Fruit

I wanted to make a quilt for a friend, and I decided to use some panels I bought quite a long time ago with her in mind.


I rarely use panels, so I worked up a quick layout by measuring them and constructing alternate blocks in the same size.

The dark rectangles represent the panels.







The construction was easy, and soon I had a top.

Top before quilting



Luckily, I bought some fabric to match the panels when I originally got them--it was perfect for the centers of the alternate blocks, the backing, and the binding.


Backing and binding detail



After quilting, I gave it a wash, and now it is ready to go!

Birds and Fruit  66" x 74"






I think the panels look good surrounded by the very simple alternate blocks--I didn't want it to be too busy.

I enjoyed making this--it can be fun to design around a special fabric you want to use.

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 132 at The Quilting Room with Mel.




Sunday, October 15, 2017

Rainbow Scrap Challenge--October--Pink

This month's challenge color is pink.








Once again, I made some diagonal blocks all pink and others half pink/half neutral. I also made some all pink straight-set blocks.

I've been thinking of how I will put this year's blocks together. I worked up a couple of ideas on EQ7 which I am still refining.




This one has arcs (like a rainbow!) of colors. I like it, but I'm not sure about it.




This one is straight-set--I'm thinking I like is better than the first. I would need to add a border to the top like the one I have indicated on the bottom.

More thinking is in order!

I am enjoying the challenge--thanks to soscrappy for hosting it.

I am linking to Scrap Happy Saturday Parade of Pink and Fiber Tuesday 131 at The Quilting Room with Mel.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

My Leader and Ender Projects

Each year Bonnie Hunter has a Leader and Ender challenge. This year, her project is a Checkerboard Rail Fence


While I may make her project down the line, right now I'm focusing on my own Rail Fence version. I'm doing a two-rail block (color + neutral) with 2"x 3.5"rectangles. These simple units stack up quickly alongside the other projects I'm working on. My goal is to see how many donation quilts I can make with the year's challenge.

So far, I have two finished tops.











They look very much the same even though the mix of scraps is different in each.

They do have different backing/binding fabrics, so I can keep track of how many of them I wind up with!









I also tried different techniques of quilting to see if one was preferable. One has a stairstep pattern of quilting, whereas the other has a simple SITD around the squares.


I have one more stairstep top that I think I will FMQ. I also have a completed windmill top (same units, just set differently) to finish.


I'm thinking I might mix it up a bit when I cut my next pieces--perhaps all bright solids with black? We'll see--right now, I'm having fun with these.

I'm linking with Fiber Tuesday 129 at The Quilting Room with Mel .








Monday, September 18, 2017

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Twirl Around

I'm excited to be a part of the Blogger's Quilt Festival (Fall 2017) at Amy's Creative Side.

Twirl Around is a Bonnie Hunter design from her latest book Addicted to Scraps. I changed the colors from pink and green to rust and green.








  
Thanks to Amy for hosting the Festival!