Sequestered Sewing II

Another baby quilt pieced and pin-basted this morning. This one has a Beatrix Potter print featuring Mrs. Tiggywinkle and Tom Kitten.

Sequestered Sewing

Nothing like 6+ inches of snow to keep one sequestered in the house with UFOs (sewing lingo for unfinished objects). I spent part of this morning getting Mabry's quilt ready for quilting. This is the pin-basting stage, making the sandwich (quilt top/middle batting/quilt back) ready for machine-quilting.

Mabry Mill is an old authentic gristmill on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia, at mile marker 176. Since this is a quilt made for a little girl named Mabry, I decided to use the mill wheel block in the layout, and I chose fabric for the borders that mimics flowing water.

Julia et moi

The weekend approaches, and so does significant snowfall, apparently. The prospect of being snowed in for the weekend brings eager anticipation of reading, sewing, and writing. Last night I finished My Life in France by Julia Child, with Alex Prud'homme. This is the story of Julia's years from 1948, when she and her husband, Paul, arrived in France, through 1992. Julia, with the narrative help of nephew Prud'homme, recounts treasured memories of the people, places, and foods of France she encountered in those many years. I treated myself to the newest hardback issue of Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking recently, and look forward to experimenting with French cuisine. I did make Quiche Lorraine last week, and when I checked the recipe in Mastering, I was surprised to learn that authentic Quiche Lorraine does not contain cheese. If you want cheese, then you make Quiche au Fromage de Gruyère.

My favorite quote of Julia's from My Life in France:

"I just liked eggheads, damnit!" Moi aussi, Julia!

Rainy Weekend

Spent part of the weekend at Gaothorne, but the forecast for upwards of three inches of rain, coupled with the ever-present fog, caused us to re-think our weekend and head back to flatter lands on Saturday afternoon. Nonetheless, it was a productive weekend. Read some short stories from Self-Help by Lorrie Moore (yes, that's one of the books in that picture below), made significant progress on Mabry's quilt, and even started cutting out the next long-overdue family baby quilt for Ryan, worked on two essays for class assignments, made some delicious French toast for Sunday lunch, and yummy homemade potato soup for Sunday supper. I hope to have some quilt pictures posted soon.

My Favorite Potato Soup Recipe:

Peel and cube 3-4 medium sized potatoes; place in pot with 2 chopped green onions and 1 large stalk chopped celery, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and between 1 and 1 1/2 cups water. Stir, cover, bring to boil, and simmer 10 minutes. Do not drain! Mash everything, add one can evaporated milk and 1/2 stick butter (use less butter, and non-fat evaporated milk if you want to make it somewhat healthier). Stir and heat (medium-low heat) until butter is melted. Serve with fresh ground pepper, additional chopped green onion, chopped cooked bacon, and/or shredded cheddar cheese. Serves about 4. Thickens up and tastes even better the next day.

Book Addiction

Tonight I discussed my book addiction with Alison. She wisely assured me that this is a healthy, wonderful addiction, and nothing to be ashamed of. The thing that I am ashamed of is the number of unread books that I have. Here is a photograph of some of the books that are sitting around the house currently, waiting for me to read them. Even as I type this, I see two books on a side table that escaped the photograph. There is no telling how many more books are hiding on shelves, in stacks on the floor, in closets, etc., that should be included in this collection. These books come from libraries (I have library privileges at not one but two libraries - a sure sign of a book addict), my own purchases, gifts from friends, loans from friends. Thirty-seven books begging for my attention, all of which have appeared in only the last three to four months. And I'm leaving out the library books that I have checked out and returned without reading - probably at least a dozen in the last two months. Books on evolutionary biology, spirituality, birds, race, etymology, and writing; books of literary fiction, southern fiction, short fiction. Perchance I should blog less and read more.

Ice floes in the New River

The New River, near Zaloo's Canoes (Ashe County, NC).

New Year's Eve Project

Alison requested that I make her a small bag for her iPod and accessories, so my New Year's eve was spent on this fun little project. We designed the bag as we went, and everything came from my stash of leftover fabrics, buttons, etc.

He is lined with a black starry sky fabric.