Civil War Remembered - Block 8

Cotton Boll

We are in Week #8 of Barbara

Brackman's Civil War Quilt.

http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/

I took photos as I made the block

with a few tweaks to aid in precision.

Cut 4 - 2 7/8" squares and cut on diagonal.

Cut 4 rectangles 3 3/8" x 7".

Use the same fabric for all 4 or

2 of one and 2 of another, the

choice is yours.

On the back, draw a line in the center.

Place the diagonal line on a square

ruler on top of the drawn line and

the point of the angle on the edge

of the fabric.  Cut excess triangles off.

Place long edge of small triangles

right sides together on long edge of

rectangles.  Overlap the point of the

triangle by 1/4" and sew.  Repeat to

the other side.

This is an important step for

precise points.  Press the triangle

seams of 2 rectangles to the inside

and the seams of the other 2 rectangles

to the outside.  If using rectangles of

the same color, just do 2 and 2.  If  using

2 different fabrics, press Fabric A

seams to the inside and Fabric B

 seams to the outside.

Square up the pointed edge

of rectangle as shown.

Now square up opposite side

of rectangle, unit should measure

to a 4 1/2" square.

Layout units as shown and sew

together in 2 rows.  Now this is

where the pressing of the seams

comes into play.  As you pin the seam

before sewing, take care to "lock" the

seams together at the mid section

of the seam.

By pressing and taking care you

will get very precise points.

On the two units press the

seams in opposite directions.

Sew final seam of block and

press seam open to reduce bulk.

Square block to 8 1/2".

Here is one I did using the

same fabric for the rectangles.

Check out everyone's blocks at:

www.flickr.com/groups/civilwarquilts2011/



I Speak American

A Spring Sunday in Madrid

We started out the day at the famous

Sunday morning flea Market, El Rastro.

Since it was so crowded we all said if we

got separated we'd meet back in Sol Square.

In the first block, we got separated.

The kids found Rob & I in an antique shop

but there was no sign of my brother.

After the market, we popped into a coffee

bar for pastries and cafe con leche and

who should walk in but my brother.

I guess we have the same taste in coffee bars.

We headed back to Sol Square

to check into our apartment rental.

We settled into our funky and

I mean funky with a capital F

apartment.  We took a little siesta

and headed back out to explore.

We spent the afternoon roaming through

the Museo del Prado admiring the works

of Goya and Velazquez.

And one of my favorites, Bosch's triptych,

The Garden of Earthly Delights.

By now we are hungry again so

we went to the wonderful supermercado,

El Corte Ingles.  We wanted to have tapas

and sangria our first night in our apartment

but we had no pitcher for the sangria.

I tried to ask the check out girls but I had

no idea how to say pitcher in Spanish.

I even did a quick sketch on the

back of the receipt and tried "vaso grande".

They sent me to another section of the store

where they sell paper goods and plastic ware.

Still nothing.  The cashier there was trying to

explain where I had to go to get this but even

though 4 of us had studied Spanish we had no

idea what she was saying.  Finally, she called out

to the other shoppers for an English speaker.

And here comes a gorgeous Spanish guy to

my rescue.    I showed him my sketch and told

 him I wanted to buy a pitcher.  He asked, "picture?" 

No, I explained, "I want to make Sangria." 

Now he understood.

He explained that I had to go to

another Corte de Ingles that is up the street

and they would have a kitchenware department.

But it closed in 10 minutes.

After I thanked him, en espanol, I ended the

conversation as I often do with "cool."

And then I heard "Coooooooollllll", we looked

in each others eyes and smiled.  And we both

realized, yes, he can speak English but he

just spoke like an American, and he liked it!

All this time a tiny Spanish Grandma

was standing behind us at the checkout.

Though she didn't speak English she

knew exactly what was going on.  We sent

Rob and the kids home with the groceries

 and my brother and I were off on the quest

for the pitcher and the little Grandma was in

on the caper.  She showed us the proper

door to exit from and took us to the correct

street and as we were thanking her, she

barked, "rapido, rapido!"  or we would never

make it before closing.  We got in and ran

up 6 flights of escalators and split up to search

and in the end... success.

And that night, over tapas & sangria,

we toasted all our Spanish helpers.

Salud!



Pillow Talk

My Moda Pillow

Last October I was in Houston for

International Quilt Market.  This is

a trade show for the quilt industry.

Sadly, I only have a few photos

because less than a half hour into

the show, I met the button guy and

he had me so enthralled with the

story of how he got the antiques shown

above that I dropped my camera ~ on

the concrete floor and destroyed it.

Does anyone know what they are?

The day before Quilt Market opens

is a day where you go to various lectures

lasting either 15 or 30 minutes and find

out about new fabric, patterns, tools, etc.

The Moda fabric lecture was called Pillow

Talk and each of their designers had to

make a pillow that told something about

themselves.  After the lecture we were

given the fabric hankie above and at Market

the next day we visited with all the designers

and they stamped our fabric with a design.

When I got home I didn't know

what to do with the hankie.  So since

the Moda theme was Pillow Talk, I

decided to make a pillow with it.  Now it

is on the day bed in my studio and

when I have worked too long,

I use it to take a cat nap...

Elle's Kitchen: Vegetarian Lasagna

Good & Good For You

2 - 10 oz. boxes of frozen chopped

spinach, thawed & squeezed dry

3 medium zucchini, sliced

24 oz. nonfat cottage cheese

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2 carrots, grated

2 onions, chopped

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 1/2 cups tomato sauce

no boil lasagna noodles

(I use the no boil because the large pot

of water needed for lasagna is too

heavy for me to lift, but if you only

like the traditional noodles, use them)

1 cup shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spray a 9" x 13"baking dish

with cooking spray.

In a non-stick pan add sliced zucchini,

cover with water and bring to a boil,

reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes, drain.

In a large bowl combine spinach, zucchini,

cottage cheese, mushrooms, carrots, onions,

eggs and parmesan.

Spread 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce

in the baking dish; arrange a layer

of noodles over the sauce.  Spread

with half the vegetable mixture.

Top with 1 cup of the sauce.

Repeat the layers, ending with lasagna

noodles; top with remaining cup of sauce. 

Cover with foil and bake 45

minutes.  Sprinkle with the mozzarella;

bake, uncovered, an additional 15 minutes.

Let stand for 10 - 15 minutes

before cutting.

This is a very healthy meal,

even if you are a volume eater

it's still healthy.



Kindred Spirits

New Friends, Old Friends & New Old Friends

Through the wonders of modern

technology we can be in touch with

the entire world.  I'm involved in some

online groups where fellow fiber artists

can share our versions of the projects

we are working on.

Just this morning I heard from Helen

in Australia about our common interest

in vintage sewing notions. 

I also get to see what Regina is doing

in Germany though I always have to

ask her to translate to English for me.

Thanks Regina!

Very often in my life I've found

special people who fit into a particular

area of my life.  We may share the

need for creativity or books or

history in our lives.  We may love

the outdoors or antiques or travel.

I recently reconnected with an old

friend through social networking.

This is my "new old friend" ~ someone

I know better now than I did when

we were young.  We share a love

of history and antiques, we are

history buddies.

He told me of a house he inherited,

filled with antiques and old stuff.

Though he could give many things

away, all the old sewing machines

and patterns and fabric and buttons

were thrown away because in the area

 he lives in these things aren't valued.

My heart was broken, I dream of

all the beautiful old things.  I once had

an old machine that was in terrible

shape so I saved the metal parts from

it because they were just so beautiful.

But I won't hold that against

him because when you connect

with a person that you feel you

could have a conversation with

for the rest of your life, that is

something to be treasured.



Me Time - February 15

Courthouse Star

I spent the day at Me Time

making a pattern for this block.

It is a traditional Courthouse Steps

block but the center is a star.

This block is 12 1/2" unfinished.

Sorry the fabric requirements were left

out of the first post, connection problems

caused a loss of content.

Fabric Requirements:

White Fabric:   1 - 3" square

     8 - 2" squares - Mark a diagonal line on back

Red Fabric:  4 - 2" squares

4 - 2" x 3 1/2" rectangles

Light #1:  2 - 1 1/2" x 6 1/2" strips

Dark #1 & Light #2:  2 - 1 1/2" x 8 1/2" strips

Dark #2 & Light #3:  2 - 1 1/2" x 10 1/2" strips

Dark #3:  2 - 1 1/2" x 12 1/2" strips

Place 2" white squares on rectangles and

sew a thread width below the drawn line.

Press to the corner and trim back 2

pieces to 1/4"

Repeat above procedure to opposite side.

Layout units as shown and sew

together in 3 rows.

Completed center unit.

Add Light #1 and Dark #1 as shown.

Add Light #2 and Dark #2 as shown.

Add Light #3 and Dark #3 as shown.

Square to 12 1/2".

Someone made pincushions.

A winter stitch project.

Someone brought their auction finds.

I'm so jealous!  I want them.

But the best thing is someone came

into the shop today and had just returned

from the longarm quilters with

one of my designs!

I love seeing someone's interpretation

of my design ~ great work!

It is beautiful!