Sloooow Stitching!

What is slow stitching?

 Join in—visit Jen Daly with her #100daysofslow stitching on Instagram

Or join with Jenny to stitch her monthly patterns

There are many forms of slow stitching—there is probably one just for you. 

I'm liking this slow stitching project.  I work up a few when I have time so when I sit to watch TV shows or listen to a book ( right now, I'm listening to Ernest Hemmingway's book

"A Moveable Feast" about his time spent in Paris.  Just lovely words describing the city, his friends, food, actions around the city.

My needle minder, Mr. Fox, is holding my needle.  I hate misplacing my needle—not with Mr Fox—I know where it is all the time!  

Another slow stitching event is hand quilting my heart quilt-- so many years in the making--definitely a slow work in process--might make this ready for next Valentine's Day.

 

What did you do last week?

 In the past few weeks there has been talk about reporting “what did you do last week?”

This report will hold me accountable!  I should like that—right?!  That is IF I can remember what I did last week!! Oh, I do have some proof with photos.  

• Here we go:
• Worked the February pattern for scarf--that was fun!  Once, I found my jar of beads!
  
  
  Now, this February’s pattern to my Estonian lace, with beads
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  Yay!  Finished a pair of socks!
  
  
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  One block from Riley Blake Designs—trying to use my hand dyed fabrics.  Must admit— this was a tough one!  Even had to rip out one corner--the square was turned the wrong way!
  
  
  
  Another block complete 
  
  
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  Sew with Me
  Block 2 --hope, this is a Christmas finish!
• 1
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  And of course, bought books!

• That’s pretty good for “what I did last week!”

Read! Read! Read!

I'm trying to read as many books as I can without a 'squirrel' moment--so far so good.  I'm back on an Agatha Christie--"Elephants Can Remember"  Didn't know about this book.  I am a member of an Agatha book club and every month, there is a different book featured--Many I haven't read--good thing.  I found a free recording and you can access it as well.  Listed below is the site.  In fact, there are many, many free recordings on this site.

This is a short book; one can listen to the whole book within 5 hours.  

I love listening to a book--a good reason to use your hands as your ears work too!

I just finished "A Girl Called Samson"  setting is Civil War;  went to Hollywood with "Severn Husbands of Evelyn Hugo"--Not one I enjoyed

Hit Paris with Ernest Hemingway in his "A Moveable Feast"--delicious reading; along came Great Gatsby author--Scott Fitzgerald--didn't know they were friends.

You can learn so much through reading

Now, I've moved into year 1377 with King Edward III--knew nothing about him at all!!

The descriptions in this book are outstanding--the leader through this year is Monk Athelstan and his assistant, the coroner of London Sir John Cranston, a drunk.  This is a first historical mystery series--I read all of Ellis Peters books and loved them.  

Not sure I would get into these characters but here I am on page 230 and wanting to finish so I can begin the second issue.

book is written by Paul Doherty, "The Nightingale Gallery"

Read on!!

Squirrel Here--Squirrel there!

 Just blew up my thinking!  Let me get back to what I was thinking—I was knitting away on Elizabeth Ravenwood section of February—Estonian Lace—it came to placing a bead—oops!  Where are my beads? I used them for January—so, it was a challenge to find that bottle of beads.

remember throwing the bead jar in ……….some bag.  But, what bag?  Well, took me to searching every bag I could find—nothing.  Did remember there were extra beads upstairs—okay, I’ll grab them 

Now!  I can continue—what was I doing before bead search begin?   About that time a friend texted with just a photo 

Oh my!  Knitted lights!  That took me on another search—looking at YouTube videos and thinking about ordering these tiny fairy lights to knit—good grief!  Such squirrel moments!!!

Then, I thought I could write about knitting with lights—let’s title our blog with something catchy! 

Another squirrel moments—

An email from grandson--he wanted to know if we had any photos from his FFA days--of course, I'll search our photo stream--you can imagine how that took me to other worlds.  I know we have some photos of him with his first lamb--

dinner is on--chicken/sausage gumbo--now, where is that rice for the gumbo??  and so the day goes........

Happy Mardi Gras!

 Splurge today as midnight comes and you've hit Ash Wednesday, the time to reflect, refresh and rejoice--it's Lenten season till April 20 (EASTER).

in that theme, tonight I'm preparing a traditional Louisiana dish.  For breakfast, we are having delicious Beignets, dusted with tons of powdered sugar and a cup or two of chicory coffee!  Yum! Yum!

Grits and Grillades

What is Grillades?  Simply a cheaper cut of beef that will cook up well in this recipe--slow cooking!

for grits, I prefer white but yellow grits are just as good.   This dish is excellent to feed a crowd and helped me empty some veggies from the refrigerator.

It seems beef is not cheaper these days and times, but I look for the best price for this dish--after all, it is Mardi Gras and tomorrow, we'll be leaning to seafood.

Beignet Recipe

But, I cheated!  I bought the mix from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans.  The last time we were in NO, this place was packed and the line to be seated was long--so, we went to the take away window and placed our order--quick and simple--no waiting in line.  We walked up the levee, sat and ate as we watched the river traffic.

And the coffee!! nothing like a cup of chicory coffee with hot milk poured in the cup with the coffee. 

why chicory in the coffee?

Chicory is added to coffee, particularly in New Orleans, because it provides a unique, earthy, and slightly sweet flavor that complements the coffee's bitterness, creating a richer, more complex taste profile; historically, it was also used as a way to stretch coffee during times of scarcity due to its lower cost compared to coffee beans alone.  

Enjoy your Mardi Gras!

Reading!

 I love books!!  I love to read--I'm using my ears to read also!  Did you know if you have Spotify, you receive 15 hours of Audible books free with your plan?  I find several books there if not listed on Audible, Everand, or Libby.  I am so overwhelmed with titles!  Where do I begin?  I’m obsessed with just collecting titles of books to read or listen to!! 

There are just too many outlets or should I say “enablers” or influencers out there!  Blogs galore!  Instagram—I favor mystery and thriller books—follow along with mystery book shops on Instagram

. Then, the challenges—read classics--

My classic this time is "Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway--didn't know about this autobiography--very short book for someone who lived a full life.

build a fabric block with a book; knit and read, read and cook a dish--Here is a site that will give you plenty of challenges!

Friends introduced me to Good Reads--a location to keep track of the books you have read.

Booksy quilt block for February--Booksy Quilt Project

Block for March!!  I love Bear Paw!

How can you read several books at the same time?!  It isn't possible--so I listen to book while I'm doing handwork; at night, I have a different book on my bedside; and if I have time, I'll pick up another book while having afternoon .break.  

Here is my list of books at the present time:

"The Restaurant of Lost Recipes"

"The Wedding People"

"The Medicine Woman  from Galveston"

What are you reading!?

There They Go!

 Throughout the year, I’ve been knitting hats amongst the regular clues of knit alongs.  It has been a pleasure to knit these various patterns, knowing each hat will be placed on the heads of those who need them. 

I know I should have sent earlier in the winter!  Procrastination is always there!  But, now I’ve gathered, made sure all loose ends have been sewn in, placed in a USPS flat rate box, labeled, and off they go!!  The group will be collecting all year.  I just need to remember that I can send even in the summer!

Here is the address  EHFHI, 112 Seminole Rd., Lafayette, NJ 07848 

Bringing some warmth to cold heads!!  

Now, I'll begin to knit hats again.  It helps practice different stitches, use different yarns and colors; a good way to use up all those stash yarns (some at various lengths)  the best pattern for using stash yarns is 

Musselburgh 

I thought long and hard about investing in this pattern, as I usually don't like to buy patterns that I might not like--but, this one is a winner!  I've made several hats using this method. Below is a standard pattern; also, check out Pinterest.  

Hat from Hobbii  Cast on 89 (93, 97, 101) sts and knit back and forth in pattern: 1st row: *k2, p2*, repeat from * to * to 1 st left, k1. Repeat this row until the work measures approx. 7.1” (7½”, 7½”, 7.9”) or 18 (19, 19, 20) cm. Start decreases 1st row, right side: *k2tog, p2tog *, repeat from * to * to 1 st left, k1 = 45 (47, 49, 51) sts. 2nd row, wrong side: Knit what the stitch pattern shows. 3rd row, right side: k1, *k2tog *, repeat from * to * across = 23 (24, 25, 26) sts. 4th row, wrong side: Knit what the stitch pattern shows. 5th row, right side: *k2tog*, repeat from * to * to 1 st left, k1 = 12 (12, 13, 14) sts. 6th row, wrong side: Knit what the stitch pattern shows. Cut the yarn, pull end through the sts and weave in end. Sew the hat together. 

Stitch, Cut, Rip!

 How was your Valentine weekend?  Anything like mine—just ordinary days!  Yes—I think my lover doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body!  Years ago, he did but as years tick by, that part of him has diminished!  

Here we go with another sew along.  Although, this is a year old project, so far there isn’t a hint as to the outcome.  I’m sewing along just because……

Lisa Bonogean is sponsoring this event.   Sew along with us.  Here is how we begin—

First, gather some half square triangles paper—her instructions want 1” triangles—me, thinking of how tiny those triangles will be; I opt for 1 1/2” papers.  Lisa has papers for sale on her site.  I printed mine off via above website.

It is time to cut papers down to size.  I like to do them in half—more variety.  

Place two pieces of fabric Right sides together sew along the dotted line

Stitch length on machine set 2

Cut apart on solid lines and ta da, you have a million little small pieces.  Tearing off papers is not tedious, just lazy work

Next step was to cut off the wings!  Lots of little tiny points gathering!  

Next

Press!  

And Now Something Different

 Several weeks ago we attended a luncheon that was to be a luau with food featured that would be served IF we were at a real Luau!  The food wasn’t very good🙁. The discussion afterwards was Hawaiian food, specially Spam!  Yes! Spam!   Growing up our mothers would prepare Spam in a variety of ways.  And the idea hatched!  Let’s have a Spam-or Not dinner!   Invite guests to bring a dish featuring spam.  You can imagine the looks we got!  Yes, some said I don’t eat that stuff—too much MSG.  Okay, bring a Not dish. 

The event happened!  And it was a blast!  My dish featured mashed potatoes with spam in potato cakes--I put Spam in part of the batter so I could also have a Not for those who were not partaking!  

 Another recipe I used was Spam pizza on flat bread--half Spam; half Not!  You can add anything you like for this pizza--instead of using pepperoni or other meats, I used spam!

Burnt Ends  one guest fixed these delicious bits!  Oh my!  Couldn’t tell this was Spam!  

Spam salad—made like tuna salad—very tasty!  Tiny tiny club house crackers—oh yes! 

These were awesome!  Looked like sushi, tasted like sushi!  It took lots of patience to build these gems.

Two of the NOT dishes were chicken pie and beef, potato tots—

 

There were two Mac and cheese spam

 dishes—each different

And delicious

And of course, spam baked like ham with pineapple!  

The evening was a success!  Each person brought a wine to accompany their dish. Couldn’t ask for a better dinner with friends. 

WIPS

Here’s what is on my studio table. 

First up

Sew with me!

A Christmas quilt for me

And I’m using my letter pins! To keep pieces in the right order

Step one—bow for top

Coriander Quilts

Block one

Booksy quilt along—where book covers become quilt blocks

ritual Quilt company

Valentine quilt along—step two

Figtree and Co—Instagram 

Step one

Step one

Hand stitching—slow stitching

Working up several before I sit to stitch  I got the larger package of hexagon templates from Amazon, but only used the smaller one.  This is going to be perfect for I Spy quilt.  You can find instructions on this here

 

Found my Mojo!!

 For a whole year, there were no new quilt blocks created!  Time was spent on quilt as you go research and building quilt tops. Now, almost caught up on tops, I’m anxious to make new blocks!  Must be someone who needs a quilt!!

We’re sewing again!  Just a few minor problems—I don’t remember where I left off!  There are several things lying around—I can’t believe I would leave things so disorganized!  But, I did!!  I just saw that reference book yesterday—did it sprout legs and walk off??  Most likely not!  

Let’s begin—one day, I cut the blocks, sorting through my stash; hoping to find pieces that will diminish the bin. 

Block #1

A Quilting Life. 18” square. Beginning a new year

Block #2

Optimism 2025 18” square

Aby Quilts

Block #3

“Optimism “

Aby Quilts

Block 1 Bloom and Grow

*RBDblockchallenge

And why not do some hand quilting in this cold weather?!

This quilt has been hiding in closet for years!  The other day when I opened the door, looking for a book to read, I spied this bundle.  Oh yes!! A perfect project to work on.  Soon, it will be finished! 

L