Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Some Blocks and A Quiche

I've been doing a little pattern-testing for a couple of friends and here is another of Stitchin At Home Cindy's appliqué blocks for her Canada Quilt for her guild's BOM.
Isn't it a fabulous design?  And how about the Moda Grunge as a fabulous ice fabric?? Who knew...
I used Lara's (Buzzin Bumble) Crafted Appliqué method and it works like a damn!  (Sorry, but it really does, especially on fine details like those trees, gulp.)  Sidenote: check out that link to Lara's blog where she is having a giveaway of her book, and also is offering a beautiful free pattern she designed for a Christmassy tabletopper.

This hasn't been stitched down yet, but there's no lifting going on.  I thought the embossed flowers white fabric that has the palest of mauves mottled here and there on it would effectively replicate the blue-whites and mauve/pinky-whites of real snow as well as provide a contrast to the white of the ice.  I'd like to say I planned that white 'blob' area to land there to evoke the glare of the sun on ice, but nope, a happy accident!  This is an example of what Lara calls the need to back-coat some fabrics; see how the snow fabric became sort of opaque or see-through where it overlapped the mountain fabric?  I was really pleased with how well the brown fabric did work for the mountain.  I had chosen another grey/black denim-look fabric but then thought, hmm, I wonder if the white blotches here and there might evoke thoughts of snow... Yep!  Goes to show to try fabrics you would think would not work when doing appliqué.  This fabric has sketched-in-black flower shapes with bleached-out-looking areas and even has glitter on it!

I've also started a quilt along called 150 Canadian Women...150 blocks to be made which finish at 6".  Hope I can do better than I have been doing with Tula Pink's City Sampler blocks (gulp).  I need to do blocks 1-3 yet, but here are blocks 4-6:
From left to right: Major Margaret C. MacDonald, (first woman to attain the rank of Major in the Britsh Empire), Nellie McClung, (one of the Famous Five, one of Canada's greatest women's rights activists) and Alice Wilson (Geologist who was not granted a car to do her field work, but a bicycle, because women 'shouldn't drive' -- she went out and bought her own Model T!)
I get overwhelmed with emotion when I read about the accomplishments of these women in the face of incredible chauvinism, racism, and a multitude of other obstacles.  This is a BOM from The Next Step, a quilt shop in Calgary, Alberta.  I first saw it on a blog belonging to another Sandra, Quilting at the Cro's Nest and was intrigued by the symbolism and educational component (shocker, I know).

Tip Time!
I've mentioned this method before, but when I showed Beth and David at our retreat at Julie's in October, they hadn't seen it, and thought it a cool method for cutting your HST squaring up time in half.  So here it is again.  Two at a time!  Note that this method means you're going 'to the dark side' as Angela Walters does... one more day until her show, squeal!  In other words it requires pressing your seams to one side, the darker of the two.
1.  Lie two HSTs atop each other, nudging the seams together so they nest.  Peel back the top HST if you want to check, but you will soon develop a feel for the nesting with your fingetips.  You don't have to, but in order to not touch the nested pair, set them on a small rotary cutting mat which is on top of your larger one, or on a revolving rotary mat too if you have one.

2. Lay the 45-degree line along the seam, leaving a little wiggle room to eventually cut all the way around the HSTs.  I'm going for 2.5" squares, but you can see I have my left and bottom marks at about 2 3/8". Cut the first two sides, as I have done if you are right-handed.  It will be the opposite two if you are left-handed.  Rotate the mat.

3.  Now line the 2.5" marks on the ruler with the just-cut two sides, and the 45-degree line again along the seam. Trim both sides as before.

4.  Lift off the top HST and voilà!  (not viola, that'a a flower, or a musical instrument) you have two 2.5" HSTs.

The other day I had a hankering for quiche and decided to use a tried and true recipe that I've had and used for decades.  It was a hit, and I am very glad I doubled the recipe and made two!
Yum!  Enjoying another year's use out of my Snowman placemats.

Below is the recipe in case you'd like to make one! Now I cheat and just buy a pie crust (sorry Mum!) as I can't be bothered to make that part from scratch.  I omitted the bacon, making mine with cauliflower and broccoli.  We had a Caesar salad on the side.

Linking up with
Freemotion by the River
and woo hoo! Beth still has Main Crush Monday open at Cooking Up Quilts
Quilting Jet Girl for Tips and Tutorials Tuesday


Quiche Lorraine
May be frozen.  Line 36 muffin cups with pie pastry or a 9x9“ pie plate.

6 slices cooked (crisp) bacon
2 oz natural Swiss or cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1 c whipping cream or Half & Half
½ tsp salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp sugar

Heat oven to 400°.  Shred cheese.  Combine eggs, cream, salt, sugar, nutmeg and pepper.  Beat to blend well.  Sprinkle bottom of pie plate with chunks of bacon and then cheese.  Pour filling over.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.  Bake 30-40 min at 400° or until egg mixture has solidified.

13 comments:

  1. Oh wow that's so cute! Always in awe of my dear sister's talent! <3 :D

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  2. That is a really pretty block. I kind of do a disappearing act when people mention applique but I admit I've been curious about this technique.
    LOVE quiche and it has been far too long since I've made one;. Yours looks scrumptious.

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  3. Cindy's pattern is great, and you did a wonderful job bringing it to life.

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  4. The block is really beautiful Sandra and evokes the who,e feeling of a snowy day. It must be having lived near the Rockies that helped you do it so well. I'm also so happy that you like Crafted Applique. "Viola" hahahah.
    Learning about the 150 Canadian Women must be fascinating.
    I love your HST cutting tip and have tried it and it's a great timesaver.
    MMM... quiche! LOL

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  5. So very pretty! You have a knack for fabric selection :) You're ahead of me in the 150 blocks sampler. I'm enjoying reading the history lessons but so far, no blocks here at all! I'm saving the patterns and hopefully will make time sometime before July to sew some up.

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  6. Wow, 150 6" blocks is going to be an accomplishment. The red and white will be so striking (and are so appropriate for the theme), too. Thanks for linking up with your tip. Pressing to the dark side is perfect on occasion - and perhaps with your 2 for 1 more often than I have been doing lately!

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  7. The Moda grunge works beautifully and the block is great. Thank you for the recipe and the tip.

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  8. The grunge is PERFECT!!! Auditioning different fabrics can give wonderful surprising results. Thanks for testing Sandra. I hope to start making the 150 blocks soon, been thinking of going scrappy reds and whites.

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  9. The winter scene is beautiful, Sandra! Your fabric choices really have all the desired effects - snow, ice, frost and crispiness. The HST cutting tip is very clever, too, I'll try to use it next time I have to deal with a pile of those.

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  10. Thank you for the trimming tip; it'll certainly save time, and for the recipe.
    Your winter scene is delightful; the fabrics are just perfect.

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  11. Anything with grunge in it is so pretty (at least that's my professional opinion!) and Cindy's block is proof. You did a great job on it. Thanks for the reminder on the trimming HSTs trick! Your quiche recipe looks pretty yummy. I've never made quiche, but I'll be trying yours this weekend!

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  12. You're so busy, and accomplishing sew much, it makes me dizzy! XO

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  13. I love the piece you made to test your friend's pattern and I second your thoughts on Lara's Crafted Applique!

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