I Made My 1st Quilt!

Last fall, I was browsing in a quilt store near our hideaway and saw a super cute baby quilt made of flannel. I asked about it and they said it was a rag edge quilt.

I was intimidated because all I'd even sewn were a couple of pillow cases and some pot holders. But I have a friend who is an advanced quilter extraordinaire and I asked her about it.

Turns out that she's known for her hand-dyed rag edge quilts, (JB, sorry if i got all the terminology wrong, newbie sewer/quilter here bound to make major faux pas). In fact, several years ago she had made a quilt for a mutual friend at the time, but I had no idea it was a rag edge quilt. I'm oblivious like that till I become obsessed with the craft myself. Kinda like wall texture.

Anyhoo, in January or February I told JB that I'd try a rag edge quilt in the spring. I thought that if I said it out loud and someone was listening, I might actually keep my resolution. I donno why I thought this because it's never worked in the past. But this time it did! She helped me every step of the way and I got so excited about it, I finished it within 2 nights. I just need to wash it so the rag edges become more raggy and not look so stiff.

The finished size is for a baby's blanket. Here it is on our king sized bed.

This is the back of the quilt. No rag edges. For those not familiar with rag edge quilts, the rags are just on one side.

I'm officially obsessed. I'll be making a lot more of these. I just need occasions to make them.
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I'm baaaaaaack

I'm feeling like my old self and I have a spring in my step again. At least this week, ha!

It feels good to be silly, to laugh, to not feel drained and overwhelmed. Much of it has to do with Tuesday's events. But more of it just has to do with the people who surround me. Blessings being counted.

A boost in spirit gives me a boost in energy and a boost in creativity. I'm creating, crafting, imagining, sewing and dreaming.

Yesterday morning I took a mini-class with KB at a local scrapbook store. We made this super cute, super easy magnet clipboard notepad holder.

Later that evening, I got together with a few more friends and they taught me how to sew the cutest bear towels.
I shouldn't show the pics of these because they are going to my cousin's kids (surprise V!!), but they are so freaking adorable that I couldn't keep them to myself till after I mailed them. I'm the worst mailer. She might not get these for a month. Or more. (Sorry V!)

I've done a bit of scrapbooking, too.This is me.

And...
me, too. Yup. Dork. Not just dorky enough to take a self-deprecating photo like this, but uberdorky by actually putting it in a scrapbook. And then post it for all to see.
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Fall's weekend appearance

Couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. It rained Friday night into Saturday then the sun peeked out in the afternoon. Sunday the air was clear and crisp thanks to the previous day's rain and the cool breeze.

Saw Nights in Rodanthe with my MIL and SIL. It was good. Not great, but better than just ok. At the very least, entertaining and a workout on tear ducts. If you're susceptible to that. Did you see Diane Lane and Richard Gere in Unfaithful? So different from this one.

I've been learning how to make a basic potholder.I got the instructions here. I didn't know how to do a blind stitch but I easily learned after watching a tutorial on youtube. I love the internet.

Since the weather is cooler, I felt like making comfort food. Have you had heard of Mulligatawny soup? The first time we had it was at the Spaghetti Factory. It's served every Thursday at lunch. I needed to find a recipe and the one I finally ended up with is a combination from one I found on allrecipes.com, one I found in Cooking Light magazine and making substitutions that suit our tastes.
If you like chicken & rice soup and curry doesn't turn your stomach, I recommend it. At the very least, try it the next time you see it on the menu at a restaurant. It's fun to try something different. Here's how I make it:

Chicken Mulligatawny

1 onion
4 stalks celery
2 carrots
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
8 cups chicken broth
1 apple, cored and chopped

3/4 cup white or brown rice
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast half - cut into cubes
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup milk - nf is fine and what I usually use but use whatever you want including 1/2 and 1/2 if it suits you.

Directions

-Puree all vegetables
-heat oil in large stock pot and add veggie puree, cook for a few minutes.
-add curry powder and chicken stock. Mix well and bring to a boil. Simmer about 1/2 an hour.
-Add rice, chicken, salt, pepper and thyme. Simmer another 1/2 hr or until rice is done. -or- Simmer 2 hours for rice to thicken and become more 'hearty'.
-Add milk and apples, simmer 5 minutes. Serve.

Notes:
If you'd prefer your veggies chopped instead of pureed, then sauté veggies in oil for 5-10 minutes. Add 3 T flour and the curry powder to the veggies and sauté 5 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and continue on with step 2 above. You'll need the flour to thicken the soup. This makes a lot. You can 1/2 the recipe, but we like the leftovers.

And I leave you with snippets of the famous Seinfeld soup nazi episode:

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A pretty pillow to nap upon

Our couch has seen plenty of naps. In fact, I woke up from one about 2 hours ago. I'm happy to report that these new pillows:
cradled my dozy head quite nicely. The cool thing about them? I made them. Me, the non-sewer! Perhaps to those of you who sew, a simple square pillow can be done blindfolded, but I had to concentrate to make these. It wasn't hard, but getting to know a sewing machine is different than any other craft I've done.

I learned how to make this basic pillowcase in the class I took Wednesday night. But the one I made in class was smaller and the material I used doesn't match my couch, so I made these today. It took me about 3 hours to do the 2 pillows. But my favorite part is the teeny tiny bit of extra that I added that we didn't learn in class.
I added a couple of snaps to keep the pillow case closed in the back. They're the subtle shiny objects in the center of the pillow. I know how to attach snaps because of scrapbooking. It's not surprising that every craft is linked in some way or another.

I'm not sure yet if sewing will grab me like other crafts have in the past. I'm not a very precise person when it comes to measuring and it seems like sewing requires quite a bit of precision. And so far my least favorite part of it is the ironing. Ironing. No sir, I don't like it.

I'm fairly certain I won't get into sewing clothes. I'm planning on taking another class to learn a few more details. And I'm planning on taking a quilting class someday. This weekend I'm hoping to make a few potholders.

If you sew, what do you like to create?
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