New Year

I rarely make resolutions for the new year but I do make plans. My husband says that I make plans for everything, that he lives his life by accident and I have a plan. That's pretty true. Besides running through ideas about future quilt projects, I plan my days, plan driving routes, think of the best order for accomplishing certain tasks. Right now I am thinking about the books I hope to read in 2014 including Richard Powers' newest one. That inevitably makes me think of good books I have read previously so I thought I would make a short list on this blog. On my Kindle I have the newest book by Robert Stone, Death of the Black-Haired Girl waiting to be read. I like his use of language and his point of view. I particularly like his Outerbridge Reach although there are numerous others worth your time and effort. Another favorite of mine is A Frolic of His Own, by the late William Gaddis. This book takes some getting used to as it is entirely dialogue but without any quotation marks or specific identification of the speaker. So one must pay attention early on to distinguish one character from another, but in the end this is one of the funniest books I have ever read. If you have any young girls in your house, there is a series by a man named Alan Bradley that is intended for young adults. They are mystery novels with an engaging heroine named Flavia de Luce. Even though these are supposed to be for younger people, my husband and I find them delightful. Another series we both enjoy is by Ian Sansom featuring a hapless librarian in Northern Ireland. Another author I recommend highly is Simon Mawer, His first book, Mendel's Dwarf, with its blend of science, morals, and ethics knocked my socks off and I have read everything he has written ever since.

When my sister lay dying in the hospital her most profound regret was that she wouldn't get a chance to finish Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel. Now that I am older than she will ever be, I feel similar regrets about all the books I will never read even if I live another forty years. My paternal grandmother lived to be 102 so there are certainly genes that might get me close to that age.

What a depressing thought to end on. I am not a sad person so I will now wish you peace and joy in the New Year to lift the tone. 

Planning Ahead

I am sure that I am not the only quilter who has visions of future quilts running through her mind. It doesn't even matter if I like the project I am working on because hand quilting itself is meditative, at least for me. Now that I am quilting Froggy, a project for which I don't have many positive feelings,  thinking about my next project gains more urgency. I do want to like my next project and I do want it to be "pretty", however one might define that idea. Right now I am leaning toward learning how to do trapunto. I have put a little trapunto in a couple of projects in the past but I think a white on white center with an appliqued border with trapunto in the center section might be nice.

Update: I had another idea for the next project--make something with my French material (see posts) and use a pieced center with an appliqued border based on the laurel wreath on the floor around Napoleon's sarcophagus (see posts).

New Year's is this week. My husband and I always hew to tradition on New Year's Day when we make lunch. Since he is Japanese-American we eat o-zoni, a soup with gobo (burdock root) and mochi (rice paste patties). It's supposed to be good luck. Years ago I asked my mother-in-law what it's called if it doesn't have gobo or mochi. Her answer--"Chicken soup."

We also try to do those activities on New Year's that we want to do for the rest of the year, an idea that is easier now that our sons are adults themselves, although the two who live nearby usually come for lunch so they can have good luck soup, too. So I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year's Day--be nice to those you love and do a good deed for a neighbor.

Froggy With Some Embroidery

I finished the applique and began the process of outline stitching around some of the elements of the Froggy quilt top. So far I have outlined the green parts of the frog, his fly, and parts of the dragonfly. See if you can tell the difference from the photo below.

 I am still not crazy about this piece--doesn't seem to have any rhythm or something--so I am not going to go ahead and add a border but I will complete this as a small piece. I am sure I will find someone to give it to. The fish and the sun will need outline stitching as well, but I have to finish the dragonfly wings first. You can see the needle and floss up there.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding Recipe

This is our traditional Christmas dessert. It is incredibly rich and indulgent so it's a good thing we only eat it once a year.

1 pound loaf of French bread (I think cheap store bread is best) cut into 1 inch cubes.
Toast these at 275 Fahrenheit for about ten minutes until they are lightly browned. Then turn the oven up to 350 Fahrenheit. Put the bread cubes in a 13 x 9 greased baking dish.

10 ounces white chocolate
7 egg whites
2 whole eggs
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
Dark rum,  kahlua, vanilla extract.
In a large glass bowl, melt together in a microwave set at pretty low (white chocolate burns easily), 10 ounces of white chocolate, 3 cups heavy cream, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon dark rum, 1 tablespoon kahlua or similar liqueur, 1 teaspoon vanilla. At my house this is about 5 minutes on power level 6 but microwaves differ. Just be cautious with the white chocolate.

While that is melting separate 7 large eggs, saving the whites for another use. When the chocolate/cream mixture is completely melted, whisk the egg whites and two whole eggs into the mixture. Pour about half of the mixture over the bread cubes and let sit for ten minutes. Then pour the rest of the liquid over the bread cubes, pressing the cubes down so that everything is covered and soaked. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake another fifteen minutes.

Serve warm with the following sauce.
8 ounces white chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
Dark rum, kahlua, vanilla extract.
Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream and 1 tablespoon  of rum, kahlua, vanilla. Stir vigorously to combine into a smooth sauce.

The funniest story about this dessert is that my chef son did a private chef gig for a famous rock star's manager a couple of years ago. He cooked for this fellow and his extended family for a week, knocking himself out with fabulous breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. I helped by making several of the desserts he served including this one. The only recipe the guy wanted after the week was over was this one. He even ate it for breakfast the day after it was served.

Merry Christmas To All

Merry Christmas everyone. Pork roast stuffed with apricots, prunes, shallots, and sage with roast potatoes and brussels sprouts for dinner here. Then there is white chocolate bread pudding and Kentucky butter cake for dessert. My daughter-in-law has some psychiatric issues involving OCD and anxiety syndrome some of which center around food so we always have to make that Kentucky butter cake.

 I wish your families the best--peace and joy to all.

Guess Who Just Got Married!

I have been involved in the lgbt rights movement for more than a decade, coaching a lgbt swimming team, serving on the boards of two international lgbt rights athletic organizations, traveling all over the world promoting equal rights, etc. The state I live in, Utah, is not only dominated by one religion, but it also is known for very conservative politics. Nevertheless a federal judge ruled that the state's constitutional amendment that declared marriage to be solely between a man and a woman ( ironic given Utah's history) and declared the state also forbade any form of equal rights that approximated marriage (civil unions, equal benefits, you name it), was unconstitutional by federal standards. so Friday afternoon hundreds of couple went to various county clerks to get married. This morning two dear friends, Mike and Mark, a couple who have been together for years, got legally married. Congratulations!

Helicopter Parents

About a month ago I scored a set of essays for a couple of classes of sophomores responding to a prompt about sustained allusion to "myths, the Bible, or other works of literature" as a way to enhance meaning. The novel they were studying was The Grapes of Wrath and one young lady wrote an essay about Steinbeck mentioning John Dillinger. Now this essay wasn't badly written, but try as I might I couldn't accept John Dillinger as a sustained allusion to myths, the Bible, or other works of literature. I wrote a note on the student's paper indicating that she had not addressed the prompt meaning she didn't answer the question she was asked.

Her mother came in to the school to raise holy hell with the teacher. "I teach writing at the university and this is a good essay!" The teacher said that after she got rid of the parent she took the essay to a department meeting to solicit other opinions on whether my judgment was correct or whether the mother's wrath would necessitate a change in the score. The faculty agreed with me that the parameters of the prompt were specific and the student had strayed too far outside the lines. Well, this week the teacher brought more essays to my house and told me what had happened. That probably wasn't such a good idea since the first action I took was to pull out the student's current essay on the use of setting in The Scarlet Letter to enhance meaning. Once again, the student wrote something sort of out of sync with the prompt though not to the same degree as the previous essay. This time her claim is that Hawthorne uses New England and England as primary settings to show that harsh judgments stifle humans. I had not read The Scarlet Letter in a couple of years (I do try to re-read all these texts periodically to refresh my memory), so I dragged out my copy because I couldn't remember any action taking place in England. Sure enough, Hawthorne makes references to England but the characters do not reside in England during the action in the book. It is a setting but the exiguous references treat England more as a notion of a utopia than a physical place. The student never indicates that at all, writing as if the characters were in England at least some of the time. Beyond that there are more obvious and apposite settings that fit with Hawthorne as a Romantic novelist and a transcendentalist with a strong bias against Puritan views. This student could have written a stronger essay making a different comparison. Still, given the mother's reaction to the last score her daughter received I was torn between scoring this essay as I thought it should be scored or puffing up the score a couple of points. Deciding that the extra points would not mollify the mother I gave it the score I thought it merited but if I hear that the mother complained again I think I might just resign my position. Since my husband and I are lucky enough to have plenty of money for our retirement, I don't do this job for the money. My net pay for scoring essays after our tax bite is well below $7 per hour and the tutoring I offer is free.

Anyway, another frustration is the Froggy quilt. My husband picked the background fabric and I don't think there is enough value difference. I will have to add a great deal of embroidery to make everything show up. Besides that it seems to lack sparkle. Look at the picture and let me know what you think. There is still one flower and a large fish in the water to add to what is here already.

Coming Along

I have been working on the Froggy Went A-Courting quilt at odd moments during this busy time. I had the frog more or less complete when my husband suggested that he have a tongue out to catch something (not the giant dragonfly over his head). So I redid the mouth and made a tongue but I haven't added a bug yet. Nearly everything in this quilt will have tons of embroidery to add detail and to make the images stand out more even though in real life most flora and fauna camouflage themselves. So the frog will be different when the quilt is complete but you get the idea. Still many plants and animals to add to what is here. After that there will be a border too. The temperature hasn't risen above 25 Fahrenheit in a while so this little fantasy land is soothing.

She Got In

For those who may be interested in the young lady who got the most recent quilt, she got in to MIT early admission. While it is her first choice she is still not sure that is where she will end up. Having skipped sophomore year, she is younger than most seniors. I don't know what her decision will be nor do I have any influence whatsoever--I am just a mentor.

Batting

I was looking at a magazine a couple of days ago and a quilting blog today and both had some information about batting so naturally I thought I would add my two cents. This two cents is not for machine quilters since I don't know anything about that. But for those who are still hand quilting or are just beginning to quilt I have two warnings and some personal experiences. Quilting stitches are judged as much by their evenness as they are by their smallness so if you can't quite achieve more than ten stitches per inch but your stitches are  evenly spaced and evenly sized, front and back, then you are doing fine. One way to force yourself to keep everything even is to quilt with colored thread that stands out from the background of your quilt instead of blending in. This can be in small places at first, say the veins on a leaf, or you can make an Amish style quilt with contrasting thread and work on your skills over the entire surface.

I have used pretty much every kind of batting that there is except the new green batting made from soda bottles. They vary in many ways but the most obvious one experienced first is how easy or hard they are to needle. Polyester batting is easy to needle, comes in many sizes, doesn't shrink, washes well, but beards a lot. There are many purists who would never use polyester batting at all--it will certainly last longer than either the surface or the backing of your quilt. Cotton batting or 80/20 blends are both harder to needle than polyester and both shrink more as well. Lots of people like the look and feel of cotton which washes well but takes longer to dry than polyester alone. Wool battings vary tremendously by manufacturer. Some are very fluffy, shrink like crazy, shift even as you work on them. Hobbs wool is easy to use and easy to quilt--one of my favorites to work with. I don't dry my quilts in the electric dryer--at most I spin them for only five minutes to get out excess water--so if it shrinks at all I wouldn't know. Wool filled quilts are lightweight but warm.  Silk is similar to wool in its ease of needling. It needs more caution in washing and drying than wool so if you give one as a gift you should send the care instructions with it. That's a good idea for most gift quilts anyway. Silk is lightweight so not as warm as any of the others.

Finally, the two battings I will never use again--bamboo and bonded polyester. Bamboo sounds like a great idea and perhaps if one machine quilts it is, but for a hand quilter it is a nightmare. I made a full sized quilt with bamboo batting, broke 46 needles doing so, couldn't get the stitches smaller at all, suffered through the worst bearding I have ever seen. Never again. The bonded batting wasn't that bad but the bonding layer made small stitches hard to achieve and made needling hard as well. It was supposed to minimize or eliminate bearding and it did do that so there was one positive note.

First Steps

Maybe it's the outside weather (6 degrees Fahrenheit and snow on the ground) but this scene looks so inviting right now. The sun circle is only partly sewn, the top of the tallest leaf is loose, and there is one spot in the flowing water that is waiting for another stem to  be inserted.

Cold But Sunny

The thermometer barely rose above 15 degrees Fahrenheit today but it was very sunny. That's a good enough combination to make being outside bearable. A friend and I took a long walk with our dogs today, up into a canyon near my house and then down toward the city and then back to my house. My terrier refused to go with us--the snow between his toes makes him crazy-- but the other two dogs and the people  behind them had a good time. The humans even got a little overheated since the walk was vigorous and we wore multiple layers of clothing. There isn't that much snow but what there is will probably hang around until Christmas because it is so cold.

I will post pictures of the progress on the new quilt tomorrow. It is moving quickly so far but I am only doing the features that are in the background at this point so pretty straight forward applique. Tomorrow some of the more intricate elements will get some attention. I will probably start with the sun and the dragonfly but it might be the fish.

Sarah's Quilt Finished

 

For some unknown reason this looks very crooked. Could be the way I held it up but it looks odd. Since I simply used a length of fabric, the width from selvedge to selvedge (in this photo the top and the bottom) is the same. I am not a perfectionist but I am picky so I apologize for the strange photo.

Anyway, Sarah's quilt is complete. I ended up calling it Catenaries and Anomalies. Early admissions announcement will be next Saturday so after she finds out she will come tell me and pick up the quilt. Given the vagaries of the admissions process there is no guarantee she will be admitted so I wanted to finish it either way before the day or way after. 

My next project is going to be an intricately appliqued piece inspired by the painted wood furniture of Helen Heins Peterson.

This is more or less the central portion of the quilt. It will have a pieced and appliqued border making the finished project approximately 48 x 42 inches. Other than knowing that there will be many bright batiks in the elements I haven't finalized the fabric choices yet. I am also going to add another animal to the bottom left in front of the large fish. It might be a smaller fish, it might be a crayfish, it might be a turtle.

I make my applique with freezer paper so the Sharpy pen bleeding through to the back side of the paper is a good thing. Saves me drawing it out again. 

Cold, Cold Weather

Last night the temperature fell to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. We never got the predicted seven inches of snow, more like two, but what fell stayed. The forecast indicates slightly warmer, at least into double digits, but more snow on Saturday. I don't know if that means a white Christmas but I am glad I had my furnace winter checked.

So with this cold I had to break out my mink jacket. Now this jacket is about 30 years old but still in good condition. It is a long haired mink designed by some well known designer in New York. I picked it up at a second hand store. It was stuck on a hanger with some old clothes. I took it to the owner and asked how much it was. I hadn't even tried it on at that point but it was clearly a quality product. She said, "Oh it's expensive." "How expensive?" I wanted to know. "$200." "I'll take it!" I have had it about ten years now. If I get killed in a car accident while wearing the jacket I might get misidentified since another woman's name is embroidered on the lining. Funny occurrence though--last year when we spent a weekend in NYC in December, we were walking back to our hotel when what did I see coming toward me but a young woman with a long haired mink jacket nearly identical to mine. Wonder how much she paid for hers?

Total Bedlam

Went to a local quilt store, Quilts Etc., yesterday. It's a long drive from my house but one of the best quilt stores in the country. First I have to drive on the interstate where everyone is driving at least 80 mph while also on their cellphones. Then I find out when I arrive at the store that it is their 25th anniversary so they are having a 25% off everything sale.

Seemed like every quilter in the area was there with at least nine bolts of fabric that needed cutting. If I had known about the sale I probably would have avoided the store like the plague but naturally since I was there I just added to the mayhem with my own nine bolts. I also picked up a giant refill of Mary Ellen's Best Press and some quilting betweens.

Good thing I went yesterday though since it is snowing pretty heavily right now. We are supposed to get about seven inches today. Must be time to hunker down under one quilt while working on another.

Three Chilis

I am sort of from Texas since I lived there from sixth grade through high school graduation. My father was the real Texan--a few generations worth so I knew the difference between a real Texan and me. That's sort of like these three chilis--not real Texans either.

Red Beef Chili

1 pound of beef stew meat.
Very coarsely chop the stew meat in a food processor by pulsing half a pound at a time. Aim for small chunks (half inch cubes) mixed in with some smaller grind (chili grind).
In a large pot heat a couple of tablespoons of neutral oil (canola or similar) until hot, then add a third of the meat at a time. Brown each smaller batch, remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl, cook the next batch, and so on. When you have all of the meat browned lightly, put it all back in the pot with any accumulated juices.

While the meat is cooking prep the rest of the ingredients.

Depending on how hot you like your chili, break three to five dried chilis or more(guajillos or Californias or a mix) into pieces, discarding the tough stems and the seeds. Put the pieces in a microwave safe container and put in enough water to just cover them.Microwave on high for one minute and then let sit until you are ready to put them in the food processor and blend.

One large yellow onion or two small ones cut in half crosswise and then each half cut into eight pieces.
Two or three fresh  Anaheim peppers, seeded and cut into pieces.
One or two garlic cloves sliced.
One jalapeno seeded and sliced.
Two tablespoons fresh oregano chopped.
Half a bunch of cilantro chopped stems and all.

Two to four tablespoons of dried ground cumin (some people like cumin less than others)
Two cans of undiluted beef broth
One 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
One can red kidney beans optional.

Add the fresh vegetables to the pot with the beef and cook until softened, about ten minutes. Stir in the cumin and then add the broth, the tomatoes, and your chili slurry from the food processor. Add two cups of water and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a simmer and then cook with the lid on  for an hour. Take the lid off and cook for another hour. If you want the kidney beans, add them at the second hour. Taste. This might need more cumin or more salt at this point. If you want it thicker, you can stir in a quarter cup of cornmeal with the cumin at the beginning or you can thicken it with a flour/butter roux or with cornstarch.

Vegetarian Chili

One eggplant peeled and cubed,
One zucchini, cubed.
Two or three anaheim peppers seeded and sliced.
One bell pepper, cubed
One jalapeno pepper seeded and sliced.
One large yellow onion cut into small chunks.
Two garlic cloves sliced
Two tablespoons fresh oregano chopped.
Two tablespoons chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
 One or two tablespoons ground cumin
One 28 ounce can chopped tomatoes or equivalent fresh tomatoes chopped
One 14 oz can of red kidney beans or pinto beans

In a large pot heat some canola oil to hot and then add the vegetables as you prep them. There is no particular order. Stir in the seasonings before the tomatoes and cook for about five minutes, then add the tomatoes and one tomato can of water. Cook for about half an hour. Add the beans and cook until they are heated through. Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary. We always eat this over baked sweet potatoes. That sounds weird but it tastes good.

White Chicken Chili

One whole boneless chicken breast cut into chunks  or three or four boneless chicken thighs cut into chunks.
Brown the chicken in batches as for the red chili. While that is cooking prep the vegetables.
One whole onion cut into one inch chunks.
Two anaheim peppers seeded and sliced.
One jalapeno pepper seeded and sliced.
One or two garlic cloves sliced.
One small can green salsa.
One or two tablespoons ground cumin.
One tablespoon chopped fresh oregano.
One 14 ounce can pinto or cannellini beans

One quart chicken broth.


8 ounces sour cream.

After the chicken is browned, add the rest of the ingredients except the sour cream. Cook for about half an hour and taste and adjust the seasoning. Add the sour cream and cook another fifteen minutes. This can be thickened with your favorite method.

Serve white chili and red chili with corn chips. Serve all chilis with grated cheddar cheese, some choppped cilantro.

My favorite method of thickening most dishes is to make a roux. Melt some butter, say about two tablespoons. Stir in an equal amount of flour. Now you have a roux that you can keep in the refrigerator and use as needed. Just scoop out a spoonful and stir into your chili--or your pan juices or whatever and heat until thickened. I wouldn't use this for Chinese food because of the butter but it thickens everything else up nicely and if you stir it in quickly you won't get any lumps.